Navy flight mechanics train locally

PENSACOLA, Florida – They are the Navy’s unsung heroes: the men and women chosen to work on the mechanical aspects of the fleet. They train at the Naval Air Technical Training Center.

As Petty Officer First Class Pawel Mikolakjewski said, aviation structural mechanics are responsible for 80 percent of the plane, and some of the repairs those sailors make will stand true for 30 years. They have to be precise, as much more hangs in the balance than an instructor’s reprimand.

“So many lives are in their hands. The pilots get on the aircraft, and they hope to come back to their families. These guys make sure that they do,” said Mikolakjewski.

“It’s a big responsibility. I think that we do have a lot at stake, messing something up, so we have to do everything to the T,” said student Moies Ochoa.

Wednesday, students worked on a simulated wing assembly. When they finished, instructors give them new repairs to make.

“All of the structure is ours. All of the hydraulics are ours, and after that, all that’s left is engine and electronics,” Mikolakjewski said.

FOX10 News caught up to those handling some of the other 20 percent of the aircraft. Aviation machinist mates work on F-18 engine components to practice for their days aboard the ship.

“During their six-week training here, they go through aviation physics and theory, as well as all the major sections and components of the engine, preparing them for what they’re going to be doing on the fleet,” said Petty Officer First Class Russell Lloyed, an instructor at the training center.

“It’s like every good race team needs a good pit crew. We maintain and make sure that the pilots can complete their missions and support the troops on the ground. Without us, the planes don’t fly,” said student Andrew Strillchuk.

F-18 engines put out 18,000 pounds of thrust per square inch. That’s the equivalent of putting a Corvette engine on a go-cart.

The sailors go through at least six weeks of training at the Naval Air Technical Training Center on Naval Air Station Pensacola.

 

-fox10tv.com

No Babies Allowed on Malaysia Airlines First Class

Malaysia Airlines recently revealed that it’s banning babies from traveling in first-class on its recently purchased Airbus A380 super jumbo jets.

The airline will begin flying these new A380 planes in 2012.

Babies will be welcome in business and coach class.

This decision comes after the airline said it wouldn’t accommodate infants in its Boeing 747-400 fleet. These planes fly between Kuala Lumpur and Sydney as well as London and Amsterdam.

News of the initial ban was first released through a series of tweets sent out by Malaysia Airlines CEO Tengku Azmil on June 19, when the press approached him about a rumored “no babies” policy.

This week Australian Business Traveller sent Azmil a tweet asking if the “no babies in first class policy” would be implemented on the new A380. “Yup,” the CEO tweeted back.

Babies on planes have long been a controversial topic, especially among business travelers who often complain that fussing children disrupt their peace and quiet. In February, a campaign was launched to encourage airlines to create child-free flights and zones on planes, and Virgin, Emirates, and British airlines implied that they’re looking into this, according to MSNBC.

-sfgate.com

Small plane crashed at birthday party

GUSTAVUS – A fatal airplane crashed Sunday during a child’s birthday party and claimed the life of a Brazilian immigrant who had come to the area to work on a northern Trumbull County farm, sources said.

The accident claimed the life of Douglas F. Bacconi, 30, of Sharpsville, Pa., and injured Brian N. Betts, 38, of Williamsfield.

Bacconi is survived by his wife, Abbey Miller Bacconi, and three children, including infant twins. He was a native of Brazil who came to Ohio to study agriculture, and later worked at a farm in northern Trumbull County.

A close friend described Bacconi as an ”asset to society,” and said Bacconi was one of the hardest-working individuals he had ever met.

Dave Harden, of Brookfield, was invited to the family gathering at the airfield along Gardner Barclay Road near state Route 11 in Gustavus. Harden intended to fly model airplanes as entertainment for the children in attendance, but he never got the opportunity.

The Trumbull County 911 Center reported that Harden was the first caller to report the plane crash. He placed the call at 2:51 p.m., according to the 911 center supervisor.

Harden did not see the plane, which was piloted by Betts, the aircraft’s owner, but he saw the wreckage in the field shortly after it went down.

“Our group was there having a picnic, just having a family-type gathering,” Harden said.

Betts was transported to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown with non-life threatening injuries. He was listed in stable condition Monday night, according to the hospital.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the engine stalled shortly after takeoff, causing it to lose altitude. The left wing of the plane then hit the ground and forced the nose into the ground. The accident is being investigated by the patrol’s Southington Post.

The patrol is working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to determine if the accident was caused by a mechanical malfunction or pilot error. The initial incident report should be complete within two weeks, said Ohio Highway Patrol Sgt. Mike Harmon, but determining a cause could take longer, he said.

According to the FAA, the airplane was a 1946 Luscombe fixed wing, single engine plane. Tony Molinaro, FAA spokesman, said it is not at all unusual for World War II-era planes to still be in service. He said maintenance on those crafts is vigorous and thorough, and he did not think the age of the Luscombe craft was likely a contributing factor.

 

-tribtoday.com

Southeast Asian 737 Operators orders from Airbus

Airbus has made further inroads in Southeast Asia with Garuda Indonesia and Thai Airways International ordering Airbus A320s.

These two airlines currently operate Boeing 737s on short-haul routes. Garuda mainline uses Boeing 737-800s, but it has decided its low-cost carrier Citilink will operate A320s. Citilink recently secured A320s on lease, and at the Paris air show this week it placed a firm order for 15 A320s and 10 A320NEOs (new engine option) with options for 25 more.

The first 25 aircraft will be delivered from 2014 to 2018 at a rate of five per year, says Garuda. No engine selection was announced, but Citilink’s leased A320s use International Aero Engines.

Thai Airways, meanwhile, has decided its short-haul operation in the future, to be branded Thai Wings, will operate A320s. Thai Wings will replace Thai’s 737-400 mainline business. Thai has placed a firm order for five A320s and is also in the market to lease A320s.

 

-aviationweek.com

Boeing and American Airlines to conduct 737-800 ‘ecoDemonstrator’ test flights

Boeing and American Airlines announced a partnership at the Paris Air Show, June 22, Wednesday, to bring an “evolutionary ecoDemonstrator program” to reality next year.

A 737-800 will be used to flight test and “accelerate the market readiness of emerging technologies,” the companies said.

The AA 737-800 and a twin-aisle plane to be identified later this year will serve as the flight test component for US FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy Emissions Noise (CLEEN) program first announced at ATW’s 2010 Eco-Aviation conference.

Boeing and an AA engineering team are finalizing plans for installing the initial technology applications aboard the 737-800.

Installed on the aircraft, which will conduct the test flights in 2012, will be adaptable trailing edge technology that reduces noise and emissions during all phases of flight including takeoff, cruise and landing.

Another onboard technology will be the variable area fan nozzle, which reduces community noise and enables advanced engine efficiency technologies.

Boeing will include regenerative fuel cells for onboard power.

 

-atwonline.com

Boeing 787 Dreamliner in France

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, ZA001, has joined the historic line up of Boeing airplanes on display at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France. The all-new jetliner will be on display for the next two days.

“We are making great progress toward finishing certification of the 787 with Rolls-Royce Package A engines,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “It’s an honor to bring the 787 to the Paris Air Show on behalf of all of the hard working men and women around the world who have designed and built this amazing airplane.”

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Boeing states that it is the company’s most fuel-efficient airliner and the world’s first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction.

The longest-range 787 variant can fly 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles (14,800 to 15,700 km), enough to cover the Los Angeles to Bangkok or New York City toTaipei routes. It will have a cruising airspeed of Mach 0.85 (561 mph, 903 km/h at typical cruise altitudes). The 787-8 and −9 will be certified to 330 minute ETOPS capability.[123] External features include raked wingtips and engine nacelles with noise-reducing serrated edges. The two different engine models compatible with the 787 use a standard electrical interface to allow an aircraft to be fitted with either Rolls-Royce or General Electric engines. This aims to save time and cost when changing engine types; while previous aircraft can have engines changed to those of a different manufacturer, the high cost and time required makes it rare.

More than 800 787s are on order by more than 50 airlines, a testament to the airplane’s unique capabilities. Launch customer ANA is expected to take delivery of the first 787 in August or September.

Source : Boeing, Wikipedia

Fire damages Taurus II engine

An Aerojet AJ26 engine destined to power the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus II launch vehicle in the run-up to commercial resupply flights for the International Space Station (ISS) was badly damaged in a fuel fire June 9.

“There was significant damage to the engine,” Orbital spokesman Baron Beneski said June 21.

NASA is counting on the Taurus II/Cygnus and the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9/Dragon combinations to help resupply the station when the space shuttle fleet retires after the upcoming final flight of shuttle Atlantis.

Beneski and Glenn Mahone, a spokesman for Aerojet, say the AJ26 engine shut down prematurely after a fuel leak developed during a hot-fire acceptance test, and the leaking kerosene fuel ignited. While the engine was damaged, the test stand at Stennis Space Center suffered only minor damage, the spokesmen said in separate telephone interviews.

Mahone says a team of rocket engine experts from Aerojet, Orbital and NASA is investigating the cause of the mishap and the extent of the damage to the engine.

“How much we’re not sure,” Mahone says. “There is an investigation going on. The engine did not burn up.”

The results of the investigation and prognosis for the engine and the Taurus II should come together by the end of this week or early next week, Beneski says. Two other AJ26 engines have completed hot-fire acceptance testing without mishap, according to the Aerojet website.

Beneski said the engine mishap potentially affects the testing planned to get the Taurus II ready for operational missions to resupply the ISS. The new Taurus II pad at Wallops Island, Va., should be completed in two weeks, he says, and ready for a NASA certification process that will take six to eight weeks.

The Cygnus cargo carrier that will ride atop the Taurus II is being prepared for shipment from the Thales Alenia manufacturing facility in Turin, Italy, to an integration facility at Wallops Island. Orbital is building the spacecraft service module at its satellite factory in Dulles, Va.

Original plans called for a hold-down hot-fire test of the two-engine Taurus II’s Ukrainian-built first stage at Wallops, a test flight, and the qualification flight required under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation System (COTS) seed-money effort before the end of the year.

“A lot has to go right for all of that to happen in 2011,” Beneski says, noting that acceptance tests are conducted to avoid problems later in the launch flow.

The AJ26 is a modification of the Soviet-era NK-33 engine originally developed for the N-1 heavy-lifter in the 1960s. Aerojet acquired 40 of the old engines, and is refurbishing them for the Taurus II. It also has proposed using the AJ26 to power a liquid-fueled strap-on booster for NASA’s planned heavy-lift Space Launch System, and is beginning development of a U.S.-built follow-on that would raise the engine’s thrust from about 340,000 lb. at sea level to 500,000 lb.

The final flight of Atlantis will carry enough supplies to buy Orbital and SpaceX an extra year of development time without requiring station managers to trim the six-member crew and cut scientific experiments, NASA managers have said.

 

-aviationweek.com

C-130s doing well in Afghanistan

Every day there are Airmen at BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan supporting combat airlift missions for Operation Enduring Freedom through the use of the C-130 Hercules.

The C-130s at Bagram Airfield are deployed with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, which is part of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. Its Air Force fact sheet states, “Basic and specialized versions of the (C-130) perform a diverse number of roles, including airlift (and airdrop) support …and aeromedical missions.”

“Using its aft loading ramp and door, the C-130 can accommodate a wide variety of oversized cargo, including everything from utility helicopters and six-wheeled armored vehicles to standard palletized cargo and military personnel,” the fact sheet states.

The flexible design of the C-130 also “enables it to be configured for many different missions, allowing for one aircraft to perform the role of many. Much of the special mission equipment added to the Hercules is removable, allowing the aircraft to revert back to its cargo delivery role if desired.

Additionally, the C-130 can be rapidly reconfigured for the various types of cargo such as palletized equipment, floor-loaded material, airdrop platforms, Container Delivery System bundles, vehicles and personnel or aeromedical evacuation.”

From Bagram Airfield, C-130s help airlift and airdrop cargo to forward operating locations throughout the country in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

Source: U.S. Air Force

A350-900 still with the production-weight issues

Airbus is pressing hard to ensure the A350-900 program will not suffer another delay, but also is having to look at cutting weight off the twin-widebody.

The first development aircraft are heavier than Airbus wants, says A350 chief engineer Gordon McConnell.

“We are about 2% away for the first aircraft from where we want to be,” McConnell says. The design for the first production aircraft is not locked, yet, so the weight savings program for in-service aircraft continues.

But McConnell stresses he has “no doubt at all” the weight mitigation program will be sufficient to meet performance guarantees made to airlines. Detailed design optimization should yield the improvements. “We are in reasonably good shape,” McConnell says.

Moreover, Airbus and its suppliers are pressing to prepare the first aircraft structures for the pre-final assembly line (FAL) process at major Airbus sites, before the FAL process itself is to begin by year-end. The first aircraft to be built is the static test model, followed by the first flight aircraft (MSN1) in 2012.

An area being watched closely is the large number of clips and other smaller items that are needed to assemble the aircraft, says A350 Executive VP Didier Evrard. “It is not rocket science, but it is a question of coping with the volume” on the accelerated schedule, he adds.

Evrard acknowledges there is pressure on the A350 program at major suppliers, but insists there are “no blockers” to the pre-FAL. In some places Airbus is working with suppliers and also helping them manage their own supply chain.

Once the pre-FAL process starts, Airbus feels it will have more control over the process, although Evrard notes that program challenges will remain.

Evrard says “traveled work” will be unavoidable, the kind of late work that has to be undertaken in the FAL, rather than earlier where it was supposed to be done; an abundance of “traveled work” crippled the Boeing 787 production ramp-up. Evrard says managing the amount of “traveled work” will be important.

Although the decision to delay fielding of the -800 model by two years was not required to keep the -900 on schedule, Evrard acknowledges “that it will definitely help” as extra engineers will be on hand to perform design clean up on the digital mock up that generally is required once assembly starts.

 

-aviationweek.com

Germany seeks to continue Tornado training at Holloman AFB

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Wednesday of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Germany for base services for its Tornado aircraft operations, including associated equipment, ammunition, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $300 million.

The Government of Germany has requested the continuation of base services for the German Air Force Tornado aircraft operations at Holloman Air Force Base (AFB), New Mexico. Base services provided will be for operations and logistics support including training, fuel, munitions, base operating support, and other related operational/logistics requirements.

Holloman AFB is the only location where the German Air Force trains aircrews in Tornado aircraft operations and tactics. These operations began at U.S. Air Force facilities in 1989.

Implementation of this sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. government or contractor representatives to Germany.

Source: Department of Defense