Aug. 25—Ninth Asia-Pacific Congress of Aerospace Medicine. Beijing. www.apfama.org/2014 Aug. 27-28—Fourth International Technical Specialists’ Meeting on Vertical Lift Aircraft RDT&E. Patuxent River, Maryland. vtol.org/pax Sept. 3-5—ALTA Aviation Law Americas. Miami. Call +1 (786) 388-0222 or see [email protected]
Dowty is engaged in an advanced composite design and manufacturing research effort to prepare for a coming wave of new-generation blades, whether they are longer, thinner propellers or large-scale, wide-chord blades for an open rotor.
Your August 4 issue provides an extensive overview of the state-of-the-art and future possibilities of aircraft tracking. What strikes me is that even though the disappearance of MH370 seems to have spurred the implementation of all these new technologies, none of them would have actually prevented the event from happening. It appears that MH370 was being tracked, but the transponder was deliberately turned off. Why can the transponder be turned off by the pilot?
I agree with the premise of the subject editorial that Pratt & Whitney’s silence regarding the F-135 problems is “disappointing but perhaps understandable.”
I agree with the premise of the subject editorial that Pratt & Whitney’s silence regarding the F-135 problems is “disappointing but perhaps understandable.”
In the editorial “Still Some Explaining To Do” ( AW&ST Aug. 8/11, p. 74), which covers the F-35 and the Pratt & Whitney engine, there appears this flawed statement: “This sort of engine failure is normally the kind of fundamental design issue engineers are expected to catch early in development.”
The fact that the British were even considering early retirement of the Royal Air Force’s airborne stand-off radar (Astor) system, “Staying Alive” ( AW&ST Aug. 4, p. 53), reveals an appalling ignorance about which military capabilities are important. Anyone with an elementary understanding of modern warfare should realize that vehicles have transformed how armies fight by providing them with mobility, heavy firepower, armored protection and supplies.
With regard to several letters in recent weeks referencing “False Promises” ( AW&ST July 21, p. 38) about false glideslopes, please note that transport pilots should use (most do) a 3-for-1 ratio as a backup for accuracy on descent to landing. Specifically, at 3 mi. the aircraft should be at 1,000 ft.; at 6 mi., 2,000 ft., and so on. If you are not on this ratio you are not on the proper glideslope. The 3-for-1 method helps to ensure arriving at the correct airport. It is simple and it works.
When the U.S. Army and, at some point, the Marine Corps select a new rotorcraft, they would do well to keep in mind the hard lessons of past wars. In tactical situations, steep, fast approaches and close-in maneuvering to tight landing zones are sometimes necessary. In such circumstances, tiltrotor aircraft with their relatively wide wingspans and more restrictive maneuvering envelopes are at a disadvantage compared with more conventional designs like coaxial rotor helicopters.
Reader Dan Patterson demonstrates a lack of basic understanding of unmanned aerial vehicle avionics and mission software in his “Breached Branch” comment about the Taranis unmanned aerial vehicle ( AW&ST Aug. 4, p. 8).
Antoine Gelain’s commentary “Out of Steam” ( AW&ST July 7, p. 12) covers BAE Systems’ recent lackluster performance post-divesting itself of assets that subsequently proved very profitable. This unfortunate process goes back 25 years or more.
Northrop Grumman has unveiled a vertical-launch, horizontal-landing reusable booster design for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s XS-1 experimental spaceplane.
