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Aviation History
2004
2004-02 - 0026.PDF
TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / MOJAVE GlobalFlyer prepares for take-off Attempt to set unrefuelled single pilot world circumnavigation record will follow airways using GPS navigation NASA wake-vortex sensing tests detect variety of aircraft types Virgin chairman Sir Richard Branson flanked by Fosset (right) and Rutan Digital autopilot in control The all-composite, twin-boom GlobalFlyer will be equipped with a digital autopilot that controls basic functions such as height, course and speed. The aircraft, which has a wingspan of 34.8m (114ft), features 17 fuel tanks in the wings and booms. Flight con trols are mechanical with electric bungee trim, while the landing gear uses a pneumatic retraction system and gravity to lower. At the end of the mission, the aircraft will weigh less than 1,800kg and be slowed for landing using parachutes deployed from the trailing edge. Virgin Atlantic chairman Sir Richard Branson, offi cially the reserve pilot for the attempt but unlikely to fly the aircraft, says the project has cost the airline "a couple of million dollars". -vorte t Steve Fosset's unrefuelled single- pilot world circumnavigation record attempt in the Scaled Composites-built GlobalFlyer air craft could take place as early as April, but it is more likely to occur towards the end of the year during the next season of strong jet- streams in the northern hemi sphere. The flight, sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, will begin from a 3,400m (12,000ft) runway less than 3,000ft above sea level in one of four loca tions: Austin, Texas; Lincoln, Nebraska; Salina, Kansas; or Wichita Falls, Texas. Virgin Atlantic will run the mission control centre (MCC) in New York for the 80h, 40,000km (21,600nm) flight. Powered by a single 2,3001b- thrust (10.2kN) Williams FJ44-3 turbofan, the aircraft will take off at a weight of 9,990kg (22,0001b) car rying 8,200kg of fuel. Scaled Composites estimates the aircraft will take around 12h to climb to its optimum cruise altitude of 45,000ft, where it will fly at 250- 270kt (460-500km/h). The route will take the aircraft across the North Atlantic and over RESEARCH EC calls for aeronautics proposals The European Commission has launched the second phase of its four-year, €840 million ($1 billion) Sixth Framework aeronautics research programme with a call for proposals for projects that include small-aircraft superson- ics, all-composite aircraft and the future aircraft cabin. The funding provides for 40 aeronautics topics in four areas: strengthening competitiveness, improving environmental impact with regard to emissions and noise, improving aircraft safety and security, and increasing the operational capacity and safety of the air transport system. Cork, in southern Ireland; London; Rome; Cairo; Saudi Arabia; Delhi; Wuhan in China; Tokyo; Honolulu and back to the launch site. The GlobalFlyer will operate on airways for much of its flight. Virgin Atlantic route planning manager Kevin Stass, who will be the mission control director, says real-time position reports transmit ted to the MCC via satellite using GPS will be passed to air traffic con trol via the aeronautical fixed telecommunications network. Communication between Fosset and the MCC will be made via an Iridium hand-held satcom tele phone. "Contact with Steve will be mainly via email," says Stass. The aircraft is undergoing ground tests at Scaled Composites' plant in Mojave, California ahead of its first flight, expected by early February. The test programme will comprise up to 50 flights, flown mainly by Scaled Composites pilots, and will include one 24h endurance flight test. Scaled Composites president Burt Rutan says there are no plans to fly the aircraft fully fuelled ahead of the record attempt. ACOUSTIC SENSOR Further tests of a NASA-sponsored wake-turbulence sensing system show the laser-based acoustic sensor can detect and track vortices from a wide range of aircraft on approach. In trials at Denver airport in Colorado, the Socrates ground- based sensor detected and tracked over 715 wake vortices created by aircraft ranging from regional jets to large airliners. The tests, led by NASA's Langley Research Center and the US Department of Trans portation's Volpe Center, were part of a project to assess acoustic wake- vortex sensors. Flight Safety Tech nologies is prime contractor, with Lockheed Martin as subcontractor. The Denver trial uses an array of low-power laser beams to detect air disturbances, and was the latest in a series that began with proof of prin ciple tests at New York Kennedy air port in 1997-8 and included more extensive trials involving NASA's Boeing 757 at Langley AFB, Virginia, in December 2000. The latest tests aimed to charac terise the wake acoustics of a variety of aircraft, says Dockheed Martin programme manager Walt Werner. The sensor, installed in a field on the runway centreline about 3km (2 miles) from the touchdown point, employed four 50m (165ft)-long laser beams parallel with the app roach path, 0.46m apart and 0.9m off the ground. Approaching aircraft flew over the array at about 500ft. "We were surprised we saw as many vortices as we did, and that we captured the vortices of small regional jets," says Werner. "We set a strict detection threshold: the sig nal had to be at least 5dB greater than the background." Vortices were detected in a variety of weather conditions, he says. Follow-on tests will see Lockheed Martin working under a $1.9 million subcontract from Flight Safety to improve vortex localisa tion by building a bigger array with between eight and 16 beams. 24 20-26 JANUARY 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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