FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0453.PDF
Cover story aircraft, to be recorded for use during ground debriefing. RAIDS pods "are almost definite", says Rowlands. Other considerations include the cock pit ergonomics and man-machine inter face, adds Rowlands. The Hawk already has colour liquid-crystal MFDs and HUD. Mechanical standby instruments will now be replaced by digital displays. Other new cockpit avionics could include direct voice input, Terprom terrain-avoidance/follow ing, helmet-mounted sights and a 3-5um FLIR. Such additions will be customer led, says Rowlands. Frontline emulation Wilson says the Hawk cockpit, with its three MFDs, reflects a typical fourth-generation fighter, and tailoring the design for a cus tomer allows the teaching of a frontline type's modus operandi. Hawk weapons and navigation systems can be adapted to oper ate like those in an air force's frontline type. Australia's Hawks mimic the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet. If a piece of information appears in the F/A-18's HUD, "we show it in the Hawk's HUD. We're making sure the pilot looks in the right place and presses the right buttons, to make it natural," says Wilson. BAE has also considered introduction of a fly-by-wire flight control system (FCS) and performed aerodynamic studies. Hawk com petitors often point to its lack of a digital FCS, subsonic performance and limited high-alpha performance. Rowlands says: "Do we look at fly-by-wire? Yes. But it does n't come up as a prime objective from potential customers." He adds that the cru cial question is "what value is fly-by-wire, what does it take from the OCU syllabus?" Transferring content from the OCU to advanced training provides a cost benefit; it is cheaper (or should be) to operate an advanced trainer than a frontline fighter. Fly-by-wire is an expensive option, notes Wilson, adding: "It's still in the melting pot, but I don't think it adds value, although we could do it for a customer." Rowlands talks of performing "a half way measure" to fly-by-wire. Addition of an autopilot would allow the aircraft to fly itself - as a fighter would, while the stu dent concentrates on formation manage ment and battle planning. Retention of a non-digital FCS will continue to provide a student with an aircraft that has to be flown correctly. "It teaches the student the reversionary procedures for when the digi tal systems aren't working," says Wilson. During advanced training an air force is still trying to determine who will "make the grade", says Wilson. If a pilot during advanced training "can demonstrate three- dimensional situation awareness, then they will 'hack' high alpha [AoA] manoeu vres", he adds. In a typical lOOh advanced HAWK EVOLUTION Hawk T1 Cockpit Analogue instruments, navigation utilising map, compass and stopwatch. Fin No yaw damper, powered rudder, or brake chute. Powerplant Adour151, Thrust 5,200lb, 1,200hTBO. Front fuselage No NWS, or avionics bay. Hawk 128 Cockpit Glass cockpit, with HUD, Wing Three station dry wing, no combat flap. Main and rear fuselage Structure strengthened, addition of APU and onboard oxygen three-colour MFDs and HOTAS. generation system Fin Strengthened fin with powered rudder and yaw damper, Q feel. Provision for RWR, chaff, flare, and brake chute. Powerplant Adour 951 gives thrust increase to 6,500lb. FADEC and engine usage monitoring. Front fuselage Extended nose to accommodate new avionics. HNDA aircraft: length overall Wing span (with Sidewinder) Wing area Crew Wing Strengthened wing, with improved leading edge droop and combat flap. 3,000kg payload on seven stations. FLIGHT TIM BROWN 2003 12.43m 9.94m 16.7m' 2 1 xR-R Powerplant training syllabus, high alpha would proba bly only be lh, "then it is not worth the investment", says Wilson. Supersonic flight is the same, he adds. Once there was an issue with trim changes as the aircraft approached and passed through Mach 1, but not any more. "It takes money to make an aircraft supersonic," he adds. Wilson believes the Hawk "is fast enough" for today's training requirements. The aircraft will fly at 540kt (l,000km/h) at low level, he says. "It does not accelerate the same as a frontline jet, but it stays there, and because of the engine's fuel efficiency it will stay there for a long time," he says. The Hawk can perform a 450kt initial point to target run like a frontline fighter, it can turn at Ag or 6g, similar to a combat aircraft, and fly a typical lh low-level mission, he adds. He adds that not every frontline fighter is supersonic or capable of high alpha manoeuvring. Wilson says the increased use of synthe tic environments to teach repetitive drills and actions before a sortie is flown makes it Operating empty weight (approx) 4,690kg Internal fuel load 1,300k External fuel load 930kg External stores* 3,000k *Five wing pylons and two wingtip missiles Adour 951 turbofan (Hybrid Developmental Engine) possible to shift large formation training from the OCU to advanced training. Typically, pilots do not fly four-ship forma tions until OCU, but this could be moved to the training school, allowing pilots to train in "four versus four and eight versus eight" scenarios earlier in their careers. Customer changes BAE has considered improving the air craft's aerodynamics, including the wing and intakes, and, while no decisions have been taken, Rowlands says "rather than be technically driven, we will only make changes to meet customer requirements". If the Hawk is to remain successful, BAE needs to ensure that it only makes desired changes, says Rowlands. It also needs to avoid ending up with a significantly new platform. Support requirements and through-life costs are now understood, and systems issues have been addressed, but this knowledge would be worthless with a new aircraft, he says, although it is a key advan tage in marketing the existing aircraft. • 34 25 FEBRUARY - 3 MARCH 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
