A recent article on AF.mil noted the Operation Deep Freeze runs by USAF C-17s flying from New Zealand to McMurdo Air Station, Antarctica. Most interesting, however, was the included photograph:
It seems benign at first, but if you look at the pallets between the passengers, you can see cases of beer…lots of cases of beer: Read more
The Navy reported that a T-45 Goshawk crashed in Florida on a training mission. Both of the two crewmembers successfully ejected.
The T-45 is used to train both Navy pilots and “naval flight officers,” or navigator/weapons officers.
FoxNews caught up to the previous article here on the 18 December launch of a Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the EMALS. The EMALS is an electromagnetic launch system designed to replace the steam driven systems currently in operation. Interestingly, the article notes
Newer, heavier and faster aircraft will require more force to catapult from the carrier decks than steam-powered systems can supply. Electromagnets will be able to deliver, and allow for smooth acceleration at both high and low speeds, increasing the carrier’s ability to launch aircraft, the Navy said in a press release.
Presumably, that’s a reference to the F-35, the only substantial new aircraft slated to enter naval service in the reasonable future.
The article contains a link to the Navy’s somewhat slow YouTube video of the launch.
A story at Wired.com notes the Air Force has completed its purchase of 268 MQ-1B Predators from General Atomics. The Predator made waves first as a reconnaissance platform and was subsequently retrofitted with a limited amount of weapons. The USAF continues to purchase the MQ-9 Reaper — with 57 so far in a planned purchase of 272 — a beefed-up version of the Predator designed to carry weapons.
The Military Times reports the X-47B, designed to demonstrate the capabilities of an unmanned strike aircraft, is preparing to conduct its first flight. The test aircraft has been conducting taxi tests at Edwards AFB, CA.
Though it is currently two years behind schedule, if it is successful the experimental aircraft would ultimately represent the first time an armed UAV operated off a naval carrier.
It is unclear if the X-47B, or its progeny, are intended to be entirely autonomous or remotely piloted to some degree.
The aura of steam is as expected on the deck of a Navy carrier as is the smell of jet fuel. The steam catapult has been launching aircraft from Naval aircraft carriers for decades.
The Electro-magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) of the new Gerald R. Ford class carriers hopes to change that.
The EMALS system would be the first new launch system since the Navy replaced hydraulic catapults with steam-powered systems in the 1950s. An electro-magnetic system has numerous advantages over steam. EMALS, which involves energizing a series of electro-magnets, is less stressful on aircraft and can launch a wider range of aircraft.
Of course, the entire concept is predicated on electromagnetic fields, so one wonders what kind of interference such a system will have not only on the ship on which it is installed, but also the aircraft its launching.
The EMALS successfully “launched” an F/A-18E Super Hornet on December 18th from a modified runway in New Jersey. Though the Hornet wasn’t tossed precariously over the water as with other carrier-based launches, it presumably reached its required launch speed at the specified distance.
The Stars and Stripes covers the 58th annual Operation Christmas Drop executed by the US Air Force over the Federated States of Micronesia.
The Christmas drop started in 1952 when the aircrew of a WB-29 bomber from Anderson flew over the Micronesian atoll of Kapingamarangi and noticed the islanders waving to them. [In the spirit of the holiday season] the crew quickly gathered some items they had on the plane, placed them in a container with a parachute attached and dropped the cargo as they circled back over, according to the Air Force… Read more
Edwards Public Affairs recently wrote on a visit by animators from Walt Disney Studios in nearby Burbank, CA.
The artists, a group of Disney animators, visited the base Nov. 18 for developmental research on a feature film idea…
Driven by research, the Disney animators paid close attention to the shape and design of the F-22 in order to help them produce an authentic aircraft with “militaristic sensibilities,” should they pursue their film idea.
Edwards AFB is a popular site for movies, and has previously been used to film various portions of Iron Man and Transformers.