May 29, 2017 - No. 043 In This Issue Research center plays big role in small engine testing Czech Airlines Technics Enters Into Nine-year Landing Gear Maintenance Agreement with Air France Group Glitch-prone Hong Kong air traffic control system needs regular reboots: report Air France Replaces Manual Aircraft Data Collection with e-Aircraft NASA drone traffic management tests take off in Reno Lockheed Martin marks maiden flight of LM-100J John Travolta donates plane to Australia aviation group Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in hold-down test for station resupply launch Research center plays big role in small engine testing The Small Engine Test Facility has helped improve missile and avaiation mechanisms for nearly four decades. The Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center facility evaluates and analyzes small air breathing propulsion systems used in unmanned or missile propulsion systems. The propulsion configurations tested in the facility range from turbojet, turboprop, turbofan, piston and rotary engines up to 150 horsepower and 1,000 pounds of thrust. A part of Weapons Development and Integration Directorate, the SETF began in the 1980s to perform test and evaluation of small turbine engine technologies for small tactical missile applications. The facility was originally developed to test, evaluate and provide data required to numerically model high performance, low cost, expendable turbine engines suitable for attack, loitering or target missions. At that time, experimental turbine engines were being developed as small as four inches in diameter and 10 inches long, and a test facility was needed to evaluate them. The facility later expanded to include unmanned aircraft propulsion systems to help the Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System Product Office with engine related failures. The personnel provided professional expertise and independent engine testing data directly to the product office to identify issues and evaluate propulsion system improvements which were later fielded. Robert Milton was the Airbreathing Propulsion Tech Base lead when the program started. "We are extremely glad that we were able to work so closely with the PdM (product manager), and had a role helping them make Shadow more reliable," he said. During the first three years of support to TUAS Product Office, the engine related mishaps of Shadow dropped 50 percent each year. "When the Shadow crashes due to an engine failure it is not completing its mission," Gary Kirkham, team lead, Airbreathing Propulsion Group, said. "It is our job to make sure the tools are ready to support the Soldiers in the field." Through the years, the facility has evolved to meet changing needs of the customers, and has tested the world's smallest, most efficient tactical turbofan engines developed in the High Efficiency Turbine Engine Program as the world's first solid fueled Air Turbo Ramjet. The facility is capable of performing routine endurance testing of TUAS propulsion system upgrades and alternatives, evaluating subsystem and component modifications, accessing engine acoustics/reliability/performance, developing engine performance specifications, participating in source selection board activities, and testing multiple engines types. The facility consists of several reconfigurable test cells capable of testing small turbine engines, from 18 to 1,000 pounds of thrust, small propeller engine test engines from one to 150 horsepower, as well as a 150 hp Dynamometer Test Cell that can do automated performance maps and in-cylinder combustion pressure measurements used for engine detonation testing. Each cell is supported by National Institute Standards Technology traceable instrumentation. The facility has additional testing support capabilities including on-site fabrication, machine shop, weld shop, on-site chemical analysis and metallurgical analysis capability. The personnel and facility continue to support the TUAS Product Office for the next phase of the Shadow platform as it continues to evolve and upgrade. The facility is working with the Shadow product manager to develop a program to provide engine rebuild and testing capability to the 1108th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group. There is only one other engine repair facility for the RQ-7Bv2 Shadow system; and the TUAS Product Office is seeking to add more engine repair facilities. "We have worked very hard to develop a high fidelity engine test facility that provides high value, low cost engine test and evaluation support to our customers," Kirkham said. "There are always improvements to be made and we are constantly looking for ways to expand and upgrade our capabilities." http://www.theredstonerocket.com/military_scene/article_c5799cb8-422c-11e7-bf80- ab79b949d236.html Back to Top Czech Airlines Technics Enters Into Nine-year Landing Gear Maintenance Agreement with Air France Group Czech Airlines Technics (CSAT), a daughter company of the Czech Aeroholding Group which provides aircraft maintenance services, has won a several-round tender and entered into a nine- year agreement based on which it will provide landing gear maintenance, component maintenance and lease of spare landing gear sets for Boeing B737NG to the Air France Group, namely to Transavia Airlines and Transavia France. "Victory in such a demanding tender proves that, long-term, CSAT has provided quality work which emphasises adherence to high safety standards and deadlines as well as a flexible approach to customers," Václav ?eho?, Chairman of the Czech Aeroholding Board of Directors, the sole shareholder of CSAT, said, adding: "During the nine-year term of the agreement, CSAT will perform the complete overhaul of at least 96Boeing B737-700 and B737-800 landing gear sets." Czech Airlines Technics has years of experience with Boeing 737 landing gear maintenance, having provided the service for 17 years, during which it has performed 360 overhaul to entire landing gear sets. Moreover, 11 years ago, as the second MRO (Maintenance Repair Overhaul) organisation in the world, it performed a Boeing B737NG landing gear overhaul. CSAT now has a total of four spare Boeing B737 landing gear sets: three Boeing B737NG (New Generation) sets and one Boeing B737CG (Classic Generation) set. Alongside high quality work, CSAT can take pride in one of the shortest turnaround general repair times as it takes CSAT workers 28 calendar days to complete the repair. "Purchasing our own, fourth in line, spare landing gear set is the first major CSAT's investment to be made this year, spending money on the development of its landing gear maintenance sector. Currently, B737NG landing gear general repair demand is on the rise," Václav ?eho? said, adding: "CSAT uses three production lines for performing landing gear maintenance with an average yearly capacity of 30 Boeing B737 landing gear overhaul. The company thus provides its clients with continuous landing gear repairs." CSAT provides its clients with complex services including transport of both landing gear sets and spare landing gear sets to be used on the aircraft to and from general repairs, i.e. the installation on and removal from the aircraft unless performed directly at the CSAT's workshop. Transavia France is a new CSAT client. CSAT will lend the carrier spare landing gear sets to ensure the uninterrupted operations of its aircraft for the time of the performance of all 19 planned landing gear general repairs. CSAT also provides another of its Dutch clients, Transavia Airlines, with base maintenance services. The new landing gear maintenance agreement includes, alongside the maintenance and lease of spare landing gear sets and components, removal and installation of landing gear sets from/to aircraft. As CSAT provides the service using its own resources, the required aircraft downtime is significantly shortened. In addition, next to the overall decrease in costs due to the time saved, decreased transport costs are also a significant factor. Based on the agreement, CSAT will perform 32 general landing gear repairs for Transavia Airlines. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12338645/czech-airlines-technics-enters-into-nine- year-landing-gear-maintenance-agreement-with-air-france-group Back to Top Glitch-prone Hong Kong air traffic control system needs regular reboots: report Aviation experts urged authorities to come up with long-term solutions for Hong Kong's glitch-prone air traffic control system after it emerged that the set-up required regular reboots. FactWire news agency revealed in a report on Sunday that 53 of 70 workstations for the new air traffic management system (ATMS) required a reboot every two weeks to prevent sluggish system operations. Manual hourly inspections of its subsystems were also required. The new ATMS workstations integrate data concerning aviation, surveillance, detection and communication as well as show the situation within the region for air traffic controllers to manage flights. FactWire obtained a manual about workstation restart schedules for ATMS workstations that was prepared by the Civil Aviation Department for the system's maintenance staff. Some workstations had been assigned a weekly restart, it was revealed, initiated from midnight to 7am local time - the least busy period for air traffic. Three workstations at the air traffic control centre and at least one at the control tower must be restarted daily. Sources told FactWire the measures were implemented this year to prevent sluggish operations or a "system crash", adding that such measures were "normally applicable only to systems that are very old and always malfunction, so it is shameful that the new ATMS has to rely on this to operate smoothly". Civic Party lawmaker and licenced pilot Jeremy Tam Man-ho told the Post it was "abnormal" for a new system to require regular reboots. "Of course if [the CAD] needs to resort to such emergency measures to ensure aviation safety, then it has to be done. But they can't continue on like this forever. They need a long-term solution to tackle the root of the problem," said Tam, a harsh critic of the new system. The HK$1.56 billion air traffic control technology, developed by US contractor Raytheon, has been hit with a number of glitches since it became operational last November. The US firm is expected to implement a software fix this month after the most recent glitch in April when a flight data processor malfunction caused information on eight flights to go missing on radar screens. Professor Anthony So Man-cho of the Chinese University of Hong Kong told FactWire that he had never heard of the old ATMS or any overseas system employing such regular restart measures. "I think it isn't very reasonable," he said of the reboots. "The measures are quite backwards, requiring a person to stand by and reboot the machine at a specific time. Everyone knows that even computers at home do not require constant reboots." FactWire also found that manual "health checks" had to be carried out by maintenance staff hourly for two subsystems incorporated into the new ATMS. On Sunday night, the CAD said it rebooted the workstations every one to two weeks and that the arrangement followed the contractor's recommendations It added that its "regular maintenance procedure" following the example of international cases and actual operations to ensure the system ran safely and smoothly. The protocol includes "closely monitoring the performances and functions of every subsystem, and carrying [out] all types of inspection and maintenance work regularly for every workstation at the new air traffic control centre and control tower (including a regular restart for workstations and sub-systems)". While the department did not state when its new practices commenced, it maintained that flights and aviation safety were unaffected. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2096020/glitch-prone-hong-kong-air- traffic-control-system-needs Back to Top Air France Replaces Manual Aircraft Data Collection with e-Aircraft Air France's Airbus fleet is currently using Sitaonair e-Aircraft DataCapture, Sitaonair said. The solution can help airlines optimize staffing resources and reduce the time aircraft spend on the ground. Air France has been using it since January. E-Aircraft DataCapture captures, dissects and can immediately delivery aircraft data. It collects, compresses and encrypts an aircraft's quick access recorder (QAR) or digital aircraft condition monitoring system (ACMS) recorder (DAR) data. The data is then automatically transmitted to a Sitaonair ground server and sent to Air France's data analysis system, where it is instantly analyzed and given a response. E-Aircraft DataCapture eliminates the need for manual collection during the overnight maintenance regime, or otherwise. "Our intelligent e-Aircraft DataCapture solution is already making aircraft data easier for airlines to access; reducing data retrieval time from days to minutes, without mobilizing maintenance resources," said Pierre-Yves Benain, head of Portfolio and Strategy for e-Aircraft at Sitaonair. "Thanks to DataCapture, airlines can get an immediate detailed picture of all parameters recorded inflight by a QAR or DAR recorder. With our Cloud-based solution, our intention is to provide an end-to-end, expert data management service at business continuity level, freeing up airlines to focus on their core operations and engineering priorities." http://www.aviationtoday.com/2017/05/26/air-france-replaces-manual-aircraft-data-collection-e- aircaft/ Back to Top NASA drone traffic management tests take off in Reno NASA and its partners are in the midst of testing the next, more complex version of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) technologies with live, remotely-operated aircraft, or drones, at six different sites around the nation. The three-week campaign, known as Technology Capability Level 2 (TCL2) National Campaign, began May 9 and is focused on flying small drones beyond the pilot's visual line of sight over sparsely populated areas near six of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) test sites. Current testing of TCL2 marks the second year in a row NASA has taken its UTM technologies on the road to further assess and refine their capabilities. During April 2016, NASA and its partners tested TCL1, which involved line-of-sight operations, and then began the first phase of TCL2 demonstrations in October. "Being able to design, build and test each TCL phase at NASA, and then take it to the six FAA UAS test sites for more in-depth analysis, is a productive way to conduct comprehensive evaluations," said Tom Prevot, associate project manager for NASA's Safe Autonomous Systems Operations Project and lead of NASA's UTM efforts. "We have a great relationship with the FAA and truly appreciate their support and collaboration through the NASA/FAA Research Transition Team," Prevot said. For TCL2, participants are interacting with the UTM research platform by entering their drone's scheduled flight plans. The UTM system then checks for conflicts, approves or rejects the plan, and notifies users of any potential constraints. Meanwhile, engineers at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley monitor operations and system load, and gather qualitative feedback to identify opportunities to expand capability and further refine the UTM working models. "Industry will have a major role to play in the implementation, operation, and maintenance of UTM systems in U.S. airspace Airspace and this campaign of test activities will provide a glimpse into how they will play these roles by connecting their system prototypes and components with NASA's UTM research platform" said Arwa Aweiss, the TCL2 National Campaign Coordinator. As opposed to last year, when drones were flying simultaneously at six test sites, this time each test site is operating on their own schedule. As the UTM Lab at Ames monitors these flights, researchers can introduce simulated aircraft into the same airspace as the real drones to add more complexity to the system. This mixing of actual flights with virtual flights provides additional insight for future tests and helps to further refine and improve the UTM concept. As part of the testing, the drones are flying profiles that simulate real-world uses for the aircraft, such as package deliveries, farmland surveys, infrastructure inspections, search and rescue missions, and video surveillance operations. "This campaign demonstrates how teams from a variety of agencies can collaborate and find solutions that address the technical hurdles facing Federal regulators," said Chris Walach, director of the FAA-designated Nevada UAS Test Site. "Nevada stands ready to become a premiere service provider as drone use becomes more prominent." In addition to the FAA and the NIAS, NASA's partners include the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority, University of Nevada Reno, Flirtey, Drone America, AirMap, Gryphon Sensors, FlySpan, Harris, and T-Mobile. Together they are using relatively new technologies to include geofencing and conformance monitoring, airborne sense and avoid, communication, navigation, and surveillance, and human factors related to UTM data creation and display. Two more phases, TCL3 and TCL4, each progressively more complex and involving flying drones with specific tasks over increasingly populated areas, are scheduled for 2018 and beyond. NASA turns over its UTM research to the FAA in a sequence of research transition products linked to the TCL tests between now and 2019 for further testing and implementation. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-nasa-drone-traffic-reno.html Back to Top Lockheed Martin marks maiden flight of LM-100J Lockheed Martin performed the first flight of its new LM-100J Hercules airlifter on 25 May. The latest civil variant of the military C-130J departed the company's Marietta production facility in Georgia for a maiden flight that its test pilot described as 'flawless'. This milestone, which follows the rollout in February, clears the way for a flight test campaign and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) type certification. Lockheed Martin has launched this 17th mission capability that it has developed for the C-130J to broaden its market in the face of shrinking of global defence budgets in general, and of Pentagon budgets in particular. As with the earlier L-100 variant of the Hercules that was built between 1964 and 1992 (during which time 115 were delivered), the LM-100J is earmarked for a range of civil applications such as oversized cargo transport; oil dispersion/aerial spray; oil and gas exploration; mining logistics operations; aerial firefighting; aerial delivery; medevac/air ambulance; humanitarian relief operations; personnel transport; austere field operations; and search and rescue. Although billed as a commercial platform, the LM-100J will also be targeted at governmental and military users who perhaps do not require some of the more advanced, and consequently more expensive, features of the C-130J. For example, secure communications and electronic warfare equipment, racks, and wiring are all eliminated in the civil aircraft. As well as reducing the procurement cost (Lockheed Martin has previously given a unit cost of about USD60 million and USD70 million for an LM-130J, compared to approximately USD100 million for a C-130J), this reduces weight and fuel costs, as well as maintenance and sustainment costs. As such, the company sees a particular application with the militaries of some of the less developed parts of the world, such as Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia. Military customers that have acquired the L-100 have included Argentina, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, Libya, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. http://www.janes.com/article/70833/lockheed-martin-marks-maiden-flight-of-lm-100j Back to Top John Travolta donates plane to Australia aviation group LOS ANGELES (AP) - John Travolta has donated his personal vintage Boeing 707 airplane to a restoration group in Australia. He said in a statement Friday that the plane will require maintenance before for the trip from his Florida home to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society in Albion Park, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Sydney. The craft, which the society hopes to keep in the air, was originally in the Qantas fleet, delivered in 1964 and later converted to private use. The actor, a pilot, hopes to be on board when the plane makes it voyage to Australia. The timing of that is uncertain. Travolta said he has fond memories of the plane and is pleased it will continue to fly "well into the future." http://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/John-Travolta-donates-plane-to-Australia- aviation-11178131.php Back to Top Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in hold-down test for station resupply launch SpaceX ran through countdown and fueling procedures with a Falcon 9 rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, culminating in ignition of the booster's nine first stage Merlin engines in a customary check of the launcher's readiness before liftoff Thursday with a Dragon supply ship for the International Space Station. The two-stage rocket was lifted vertical at pad 39A before dawn Sunday, and SpaceX's launch team loaded the Falcon 9 with super-chilled kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants before the launcher's nine Merlin 1D engines ignited for more than three seconds at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT). Fire crews were dispatched to a wildfire near pad 39A Sunday afternoon caused by the static fire test, according to a tweet from the Brevard County Emergency Management Office. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the four-acre blaze on a small island near pad 39A was contained after "numerous" water drops from a helicopter. The static fire test is a customary milestone in SpaceX launch campaigns, used as a rehearsal for launch day and a check of the readiness of the Falcon 9 for liftoff. SpaceX will lower the Falcon 9 rocket horizontal and return it to a hangar a quarter-mile away at the southern edge of the historic launch complex, where ground crews will mate a Dragon supply ship to the launcher. The unpiloted Dragon spacecraft is already filled with most of its cargo load, which includes nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies and equipment for the space station. The Dragon spacecraft's payload manifest includes a NASA experiment to study quick-spinning neutron stars, collapsed super-dense stellar remnants left behind by supernova explosions. Other items to be delivered by SpaceX include rodents that scientists will use to help study medical remedies for bone loss and osteoporosis, an experimental new solar array that could be employed on future satellites, and an Earth-observing camera platform. The cargo capsule's primary structure was previously flown on a logistics mission to the space station in September 2014, spending 34 days in orbit before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Thursday's blastoff, set for 5:55 p.m. EDT (2155 GMT), will be the first time SpaceX has reused a Dragon spacecraft's pressurized compartment. The rear trunk segment, designed to accommodate large external cargo modules, is new because it burns up in Earth's atmosphere at the end of each mission. It will SpaceX's 11th cargo launch to the space station since 2012. The California-based company, headed by Elon Musk, has two separate NASA contracts covering at least 26 resupply launches to the space station through 2024. NASA has also signed a contract with SpaceX to develop a human-rated version of the Dragon spaceship to ferry astronauts between Earth and the orbiting research outpost. The Dragon supply ship will reach the space station June 4, assuming an on-time launch Thursday. It will return to Earth on July 2. The upcoming cargo delivery will mark SpaceX's second flight to the space station this year, and company's seventh launch this year. Five of SpaceX's previous six flights this year have departed from pad 39A, a former Apollo and shuttle launch facility that SpaceX leased from NASA in 2014. Modifications to pad 39A required for Falcon 9 launches were fast-tracked last year after a Sept. 1 rocket explosion significantly damaged SpaceX's other launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Repairs to neighboring Complex 40 are on track to allow launches to resume there in a few months, giving SpaceX two operational launch pads in Florida. Pad 39A will be taken offline for a few months later this year to finish upgrades for launches of Falcon Heavy rockets, SpaceX's huge triple-core launcher set to debut before the end of 2017. Thursday's launch will be the 100th space mission to blast off from pad 39A since Saturn 5 moon rockets began test flights there in November 1967. SpaceX plans to attempt a landing of the Falcon 9 first stage at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station following Thursday's launch. https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/05/28/falcon-9-rocket-fires-engines-in-hold-down-test-for- station-resupply-launch/ Curt Lewis