'Gulf Dispute' continues to draw comments; call for use of metric system in publication; a plan for X-47B's future; questioning pitch angle versus angle of attack; Japan's approach to future air control lauded;
Carter asserts U.S. right to surveil international waters in the Pacific, senators demand policy on space deterrence and FAA launches pilot mental health study.
As senior Pentagon editor, there are perks to being a scribe. May 26, I had the opportunity to witness aviation history with a small group of reporters invited to the USS Wasp amphibious ship to witness a few hours of the first-ever F-35B Operational Test (OT-1) trials off the coast of North Carolina. I'm posting some of the many videos I collected to give our readers a sense of what we saw on the boat. This is a long video -- 8 plus minutes. But, if you stick with it, here's what you'll see. And, a word of caution. Turn down your speakers or headphones, or grab a cranial. It's very loud. 1:19: Notice when the lift fan doors open and nozzle angles down (the scorch marks are from repeated take offs at this 400 ft. position).
Here is a rare glimpse (at least until the F-35B IOCs in July) of a SeaHawk taking off followed by an F-35 launch onboard the USS Wasp May 26 during OT-1. The helicopter is a requirement for search and rescue in the event of a problem. I captured the rescue SeaHawk taking off and a glimpse of Lee Hudson, managing editor of Inside the Navy. It's rare to see this combination of takeoffs...so I thought I'd share with our readers.
“Our goal is to build rocket engine parts up to 10 times faster and reduce cost by more than 50%,” says Chris Protz, lead engineer on the project at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. “We are developing a repeatable process that industry can adopt to manufacture engine parts with advanced designs.”
Astrosat, India’s first astronomy-centered satellite, is set for launch in about five months; the parameters of the spacecraft are “normal, which indicates everything is functioning well,” ISRO states.
Real-time space vehicle data will help the FAA deploy dynamic protective boundaries around a plethora of space activities set to begin in the next few years.
Low-boom supersonic drop planned; Airbus shortlists Fly Your Ideas finalists; compete to print a Mars habitat; JAXA flies electric propulsion; full-speed shots for electromagnetic catapult.
Parts are coming together for Rolls-Royce’s Advance3 core demonstrator—an architecturally all-new concept that, for the first time in over four decades, evolves the company’s big fan engine design away from the classic RB.211.
First flight under its belt, Sikorsky aims to prove Raider’s breakthrough performance, looks ahead to operational demonstrations and the possibility of making the high-speed helicopter optionally piloted.
Sikorsky’s S-97 Raider high-speed helicopter made an hour-long first flight on May 22 at the company’s development flight center in West Palm Beach, Florida. The rigid coaxial-rotor Raider hovered and maneuvered at low speed, with its pusher propulsor disconnected (but turning due to friction). The flight begins a year-long, roughly 100-flight-hour test program to expand to Raider’s flight envelope to meet Sikorsky’s key targets of 220-kt. cruise speed carrying weapons, hover at 6,000 ft. on a 95F day, and 3g maneuverability at speed.
