onsdag 17. april 2024
Boom goes supersonic - AW&ST
Credit: BoomIn what the FAA has termed “a major federal action,” the U.S. aviation regulator has granted Boom permission to conduct supersonic overland tests of the company’s XB-1 demonstrator.
The special flight authorization (SFA) is the first ever issued by the FAA for tests of a civil supersonic aircraft, as all non-military aircraft are currently prohibited from operating above Mach 1 over land in the U.S. The authorization follows the first flight of the XB-1 at Mojave Air and Space Port in California on March 22, and opens the way for the expansion of the flight envelope over coming months.
The SFA permits supersonic XB-1 test flights to be conducted in the restricted airspace R-2508 Complex and specifically in the Black Mountain Supersonic Corridor and in a portion of the High-Altitude Supersonic Corridor within the R-2515 airspace around Edwards AFB. The SFA also allows Boom’s civil registered Northrop T-38/F-5 chase aircraft to accompany the XB-1 at supersonic speeds.
The FAA authorization covers expected supersonic flight profiles up to 30,000 ft. and is limited to a total of 20 paired flights of the XB-1 and chase aircraft between now and April 2025.
Boom says that, following the FAA action, the XB-1 test team “will systematically expand the flight envelope to confirm its performance and handling qualities through and beyond Mach 1. This includes in-flight checks of all systems, as well as multiple test points demonstrating safe margin to flutter boundaries. There are a total of 10-20 flights planned before reaching supersonic speeds.”
The initial supersonic test flight will be flown by Boom test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenberg. Speaking earlier to Aviation Week, Brandenberg says, “the plan is three supersonic flights. We will do Mach 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3. The reason for that is each one of those points takes so much gas and airspace that you only have time to do one of them, so we will be on condition for several minutes, we’ll get a flying qualities and handling qualities block, and be out of airspace or out of gas and have to come back home.”
Boom’s chief test pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker, who conducted a flying qualities assessment during the XB-1’s initial 12-min. flight, is scheduled to fly the second test mission. This will “take it up to 16 deg. AOA (angle-of-attack) and will also evaluate the sideslip which will expand the envelope in order to give us a little bit more margin on a nominal landing. It will also be the first time the ‘dampers’—or stability augmentation system—is used,” Shoemaker adds. The landing gear will also be retracted and extended for the first time on the second flight.
Brandenburg is scheduled to fly the third mission which will evaluate the XB-1 flutter excitation system. Flutter is a self-excited instability which can occur because of interactions between aerodynamic and inertial forces.
Advanced Air Mobility - Oppdatering - Future Flight
Ukraina - USA svikter Europa, og Europa svikter seg selv - Media
Fra USA kommer det klare indikaksjoner på kaos når det gjelder støtte til Ukraina. 60 milliarder dollar var lovet, men kun 300 millioner kom på bordet. Støtte til Israel står det imidlertid ikke på. Samtidig kommer Europa Ukraina til unsetning med for lite for sent. Putin følger med og presser nå på, koste hva det koste vil. Litauerene er nervøse nå og tenker på "Suwalka linjen".
Varsler ønsker alle B787 satt på bakken - AVweb / AW&ST
Whistleblower Wants 787 Fleet Grounded
A Boeing engineer and whistleblower is calling for the grounding of all the more than 1,000 Boeing 787s for an issue Boeing says has been addressed and signed off on by the FAA. In an exclusive interview tonight on NBC Nightly News, Sam Salehpour says he’ll tell a Senate committee on Wednesday he believes the aircraft are in danger of coming apart because of out-of-spec gaps where major assemblies are joined. “The entire fleet worldwide, as far as I’m concerned right now, needs attention,” he told NBC’s Tom Costello. “And the attention is, you need to check your gaps and make sure that you don’t have potential for premature failure.”
Salehpour, who was an engineer on the Dreamliner program but has since been assigned to work on the 777. He went public with his warning last week and Boeing was quick to discount it. “We are fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner. These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft,” Boeing said in a statement last week. “The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under FAA oversight.” The improperly shimmed gaps were first found more than five years ago and the FAA stopped deliveries of the 787 while Boeing came up with a fix. The existing fleet at the time was inspected and repaired and new aircraft were presumably built to spec.
Salehpour says those repairs were not adequate and there is a danger of fatigue failure. Boeing said the fix has been thoroughly vetted and “these issues do not present any safety concerns” or durabilitiy problems. It said it will be on the lookout for problems, noting it encourages employees to “speak up” about any safety concerns. “Retaliation is strictly prohibited at Boeing,” the statement said. The FAA says it is investigating the allegations.
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Space - NASA sier farvel til Ingenuity - Space.com
Space.com
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars
Helicopter Team Says Goodbye … for Now
April 16, 2024
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, right, stands near the apex of a sand
ripple in an image taken by Perseverance on Feb. 24, about five weeks after the
rotorcraft’s final flight. Part of one of Ingenuity’s rotor blades lies on the
surface about 49 feet (15 meters) west of helicopter (left of center in the
image).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS
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