BOEING'S X-32B PASSES TRANSITION TEST.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Boeing's X-32B performed its first transition between conventional flight mode and short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing mode, the company said Monday. The flight Friday at Edwards Air Force Base began the testing for a major joint strike fighter A strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from an attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. requirement - being able to operate out of offroads, tiny airfields or small aircraft carriers for the U.S. Marines and the United Kingdom. The transition was made while the aircraft was flying at 9,500 feet and about 200 mph. During a subsequent flight, seven transitions were made between conventional and STOVL STOVL short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft (US DoD) flight modes. ``These initial transitions give us confidence that our system is working as designed (jargon) working as designed - (IBM) Conforming to a wrong or inappropriate specification; useful, but misdesigned. Frequently used as a sardonic comment on a program's utility or as a bogus reason for not accepting a criticism or suggestion. ,'' said Katy Fleming, Boeing JSF (JavaServerFaces) A standard framework of components for building rich user interfaces for Java applications. JavaServer Faces run on the server, but are displayed on the client. JSF - JavaServer Faces test director. ``The X- 32B flight-test program will help prove our direct-lift system is simple, reliable and low-risk.'' The ability of the aircraft to hover then change to normal flight is one of the major tasks the contractors competing for the joint strike fighter production contract have to demonstrate. The STOVL technologies are required by the U.S. Marine Corps and the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Boeing will complete a series of test flights at Edwards and will then move the test program to the Naval Air Station A Naval Air Station is an airbase of the United States Navy. Such bases are used to house Naval Aviation squadrons and support commands. List of Functioning US Naval Air Stations
The other contractor competing for the joint strike fighter, Lockheed Martin, plans to fly its STOVL aircraft, the X-35B, this summer. The joint strike fighter is being developed to replace the Air Force's F-16s and A-10s and the Marine Corps' AV-8B Harrier and F-18 fighters. The fighter will also augment the U.S. Navy's F-18 fighters. The United Kingdom is a partner in the program and wants the jets to replace its Sea Harrier and GR-7 jets. The United Kingdom is investing $2.8 billion into the development of the joint strike fighters. Combined, the two nations plan to buy more than 3,000 joint strike fighter aircraft. There is a potential for an equal number of sales to U.S. allies. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) no caption (Boeing's joint strike fighter, the X-32B) |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion