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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0919.PDF
HEADLINES SPACEFLIGHT Rutan set for suborbital attempt Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites plans to attempt the first non government spaceflight on 26 June with a suborbital flight of its privately funded SpaceShipOne to an altitude of 330,000ft (100,000m). If the flight is suc cessful, Scaled plans a bid to win the $10 million Ansari X-Prize, which requires two flights within two weeks with the same three-seat vehicle. The announcement follows SpaceShipOne's third powered flight, on 13 May, in which it reached 211,400ft. On that flight, the vehicle's hybrid rocket motor burned for 55s, boosting the vehicle from an air launch at 46,000ft and 120kt (220km/h) to 150,000ft and Mach 2.5, after which it coasted to apogee then glided back to a runway landing at Mojave, California. For the spaceflight attempt, SpaceShipOne will be released by the White Knight mother ship at about 50,000ft and will fire its rocket for 80s, boosting the vehi cle to M3 in a vertical climb. After coasting to 100km, the solo pilot will turn using reaction controls, "feather" the wing and tail for re entry, then reconfigure the vehicle for the 15-20min glide to a runway landing at Mojave. Scaled's programme, which is funded solely by Microsoft co- founder Paul Allen, has not been without incident. SpaceShip One's left main gear collapsed at the end of the first powered flight on 17 December, and the avion ics had to be rebooted during the most recent flight. AIR TRANSPORT JULIAN MOXON / LONDON UK looks at new flight data system to prevent failures National Air Traffic Services may team with Germany and Spain to develop replacement UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS) is looking at teaming with Germany and Spain to develop a new flight data processing system (FDPS) as it investigates the cata strophic failure of its own ageing system at the West Drayton London Terminal Control Centre on 3 June. But NATS admits replacement of the existing FDPS "will not occur before 2011". NATS says it was "very disap pointed" by the failure, adding: "This was the first FDPS problem we have experienced using the lat est software, which has been work ing perfectly for months." The problem occurred during testing of an overnight installation of a future software upgrade. The system was successfully returned to service, but at 06:03 "errors were detected in the distribution of flight data between centres", says NATS. The entire FDPS was then "cold started", or rebooted. It was declared fully operational by 07:03 and flight capacity restrictions were lifted at 08:05. But it was too late to resolve the flight situation quickly. NATS controllers resorted to handwriting flight progress strips - normally produced automatically by the FDPS - to separate and sequence aircraft, limiting capacity to 50% of normal, and concen trated on incoming flights. NATS says it is "looking at all aspects of how the system was pre pared for off-line testing, at the exact nature of the software being tested and at the way in which it was returned to service". The failure raises concerns about the increasing complexity of the FDPS, which has received many software upgrades in its 30-year life, and about how essential test ing can be carried out without affecting the system. "The software had already been tested in a devel opment unit," says NATS. "This was a regular upgrade." West Drayton is the base for NATS' London Terminal Control Centre and oversees aircraft flying below 24,000ft in the London area. It works closely with the Swanwick London Area Control Centre, which is responsible for most of the airspace over England and Wales. The IBM mainframe-based FDPS has crashed several times in recent years, including twice in 2002. NATS had originally planned to replace the system by 2007, but this has slipped to 2011 at the earliest. "We believe the planned Spanish system could form the basis of a much more advanced FDPS," says NATS. Later this year it will decide on possible full partnership with Spain and Germany on a new FDPS that would be installed at Prestwick in 2009 and at Swanwick in 2011. DELIVERIES Kenya takes 777-200ER Kenya Airways has taken delivery of the first of three Rolls- Royce Trent 800-powered Boeing 777-200ERs that will be operated on long-haul services from its Nairobi hub. The other two 777s z on order are scheduled for deliv- o £ ery next year. The airline operates S an all-Boeing fleet of 737-200s, i -300s and -700s, and 767-300ERs. SIMULATION & TRAINING Raytheon beats off CAE to win RAAF contract Raytheon Australia has won a A$74 million ($52 million) contract to provide training systems for Royal Australian Air Force Boeing F-18s, with US firm L-3 Link supplying the simulators. The deal is another blow to CAE, which in March lost the Canadian Forces CF-18 training systems contract to a Bombardier/ Link team. The Hornet Air Crew Training System contract will see Raytheon's Australian subsidiary deliver two F-18 simulators and a debrief facil ity to RAAF Williamtown, New South Wales, and one simulator and debrief facility to RAAF Tindal, Northern Territory, in 2006. The simulators will reflect the RAAF's Hornet Upgrade Phase 2.2 configu ration, which includes a helmet- mounted cueing system. CAE had warned that losing the Canadian contract could damage its chances in other competitions. It has protested the award of the C$270 million CF-18 Advanced Distributed Combat Training System contract to Bombardier, and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal will rule on its appeal within four months. 8 8-14 JUNE 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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