willedoo

Today marks the 50th. anniversary of the first manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin, orbiting the Earth in Vostok 1, his one & only spaceflight. Yuri died in 1968 in a controversial Mig 15 UTI training flight, along with instructor Vladimir Seryogin.

 

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Improved RD-33MK engines will be installed on MiG-35 fighters which the Russian Federation defense ministry plans to purchase in accordance with the new arms program, Aleksandr Novikov, general director of the Moscow Chernyshev Machine Building Enterprise, reported to Interfax-AVN.

 

“The Chernyshev MPP is ready to implement fully an order for the assembly of improved engines for the MiG-35,” Novikov said.

 

He didn’t specify when production of these aircraft engines may begin. “At the present time, the enterprise is continuing production of modern RD-33MK engines, mostly in the interests of foreign customers,” A. Novikov said.

 

The RD-33MK engines, according to the general director, are being installed on the ship-based MiG-29K/KUB fighters being delivered to India and also on the export modifications of the MiG-29M1 and MiG-29M2 fighters.

 

“In the event an order is received from the Russian Federation defense ministry for the ship-based MiG-29K, the RD-33MK engine will be installed on them, too,” A. Novikov said.

 

The RD-33MK engine has a maximum thrust in afterburner of 9,000 kilograms of force and thrust at maximum power without afterburner is 5,400 kilograms of force. Dry weight of the engine is 1,055 kilograms. Designated service life is 4,000 hours and mean-time-between overhaul is 1,000 hours.

 

Source: 06.04.11, Interfax-AVN

 

 

Cheers, Coop.

 

It sounds like a nice old classic.

 

 

Friendly reminder to post news articles in the International or Australian News forums. More importantly those that you link to.Thanks

Hello Glen,

 

Yes, I suppose links to general aviation news articles would probably be better off there all in one section. I was just wondering if other aviation is the best place for links to news items about military & space travel as per the heading description. Posting news items on these subjects can be directly related to or initiate discussions in this field, whereas if they were posted in international aviation news, they would be very quickly lost in the volume of newsbot reports. Just asking.

 

Cheers,

 

Willedoo.

 

 

Sounds like a very memorable trip Coop, that's a beautiful part of the world up there, would have been good to see it so wet & green. What type of Auster is it?

 

Cheers,

 

willedoo.

 

 

the F-15 and 18s are used by NASA'S Dryden Flight Research Center.to conduct research into sonic booms,collision avoidance technologies,

aerodynamic, instrumentation, propulsion,flight control technology,

Looking at their photo of their F15, I noticed it has canards, so decided to look up a bit of info on it. It's got quite a bit of history going back a long way. Based on the 2 seat trainer variant F15B, the main mods seem to be the fitting of canards & thrust vectoring nozzles, the canards deriving from F18 tail fins which explains the large size of them. It can land in 500 metres & perform aerobatic maneuvers like Porgachev's Cobra. It seems to have been a test bed for a lot of programmes, I imagine a lot of the thrust vectoring research data would have gone into the Raptor & JSF development.

 

Here's an index of NASA's photos of it:

 

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/F-15ACTIVE/index.html

 

Photo of the Dryden fleet as of 1997:

 

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Sounds like they've got a foot in everything, research wise. Having access to their data must have really streamlined the development process of new aircraft. Have read up a bit on the engineering of the F4 Phantom in pre NASA days & McDonnell & the Navy sort of had to just stumble around a bit until everything eventually fell into place. They probably would have given their left arm to have something like NASA involved in research back then.

 

 

Found a link to an inventory page of some of NASA's aircraft. I'd be curious to know what they do with the F15 & the FA18's.

 

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/ad/na.html

 

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Yes Scott, now you mention it, I do remember reading about the US getting a couple for aggressor training. I found this reference to the Pride Flankers still on the market in January, so they must have only recently sold.

 

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/01/own-the-coolest-jet-on-your-block/

 

So I guess they're not the same birds, have heard of the Pride ones being the only civilian registered ones in the US, so I suppose the others are registered to the Air Force.

 

There seems to be a bit of second hand stuff coming out of the Ukraine lately. They only have Antonov in the new market, all the other former Soviet military aircraft manufacturers have incorporated under the Russian owned United Aircraft Corporation & they're planning one big facility at Zhukovsky AB near Moscow. I think they will still operate under the separate design bureaus & have common overall management. Seems to be the way the US has gone with all the amalgamations over the years, only really Boeing & Lockheed Martin making fighters now.

 

 

Pride Aircraft imported the first privately owned SU27's into the States from Ukrania about 18 months ago & has since sold both. Does anyone know where they ended up? From what I can gather, Pride are war bird restorers, sales & maintenance & flight training. The SU's were US registered, I'd assume they might have sold within that country, but haven't heard anything about them since Pride sold them.

 

Cheers,

 

Willedoo.

 

 

Just finished reading the news bot link about US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, announcing future Air Force directions & planning.

 

It all makes good sense, more spending on reconnaissance UAV's etc. He supports the production halt in the F22 & the more I read about the issue over time, the more one would have to agree. It was dropped for a number of operational reasons as well as financial. One problem was outdated electronics (compared to the F35 & possibly the T50) & it looks like they have decided to borrow the radar & other electronics from the F35 to prolong it's viability. Further into the future, I would guess the F22 will have a National Guard, civil air defense & reserve role for some time yet. If they lifted the export ban it would be a good air superiority & border patrol fighter for nations with close neighbors, like some of the Asian countries, where limited range & role capability wouldn't be such an issue.

 

The other interesting part of the announcement was the funding to research a long range, nuclear capable strategic bomber. This comes at the same time Russia has announced similar plans. Conventional wisdom since the end of the cold war has been that this type of system is no longer required, but that all seems to be changing. Possibly they will have some future use as conventional bombers to justify the huge expense in development.

 

Everything seems to be pointing in the right direction, not too sure about the bombers though, they're only as good as their ability to be defended & avoid interception. With the current carrier & submarine capability, I wonder if there's a role for them in the future.

 

 

The PAK FA T50 stealth fighter prototype started supersonic speed testing for the first time last week over Siberia.

 

 

 

 

 

The T-50 (PAK FA) prototype of the future Russian fifth generation fighter has broken the sound barrier during flight tests, Lenta.RU reports.

 

According to an agency source, the first supersonic flight took place “in the past week” and was recognized as a success. At the present time the prototype of the airplane is undergoing a program of flight tests at supersonic speeds. Two prototypes of the airplane are taking part in the flights; in all 40 test flights have been made.

 

The first T-50 prototype has been making flights since January 2010, and the second such airplane joined the test program in the beginning of March 2011. According to the schedule, the PAK FA airframe tests will be completed in 2011 – 2012. Russia’s defense ministry will receive ten experimental aircraft of a preproduction batch in 2013 hat will undergo tests for combat use. The fighters will join the Lipetsk Center of Combat Application and Cross Training of Flight Crews. Series purchases of the T-50 will begin in 2015.

 

At the present time, Russia’s defense ministry plans envision the purchase of 60 fighters, not counting the airplanes of the experimental batch. Purchase of the airplanes will be within the framework of the state arms program for 2011 – 2020, the amount of financing which will be 19 trillion rubles of the military authority’s line item. The need of the Russian air force for the PAK FA on the whole is estimated at 150 units; however, precise numbers for purchases of the fighters are still unknown.

 

Technical details about the T-50 are classified. Earlier official sources announced only that the airplane will be distinguished by high intellectualization of the aircraft, will be able to take off and land on runways 300 - 400 meters long and will be able to carry out combat missions in any weather and time of day and night. Moreover, the Russian fighter will be ultra maneuverable and able to cruise at supersonic speed.

 

Source: 14.03.11, Avia.RU

 

 

Tried it with the missing tm on the end & it seemed to work. A couple of times it stalled out & had to hit the refresh button.

 

Cheers,

 

Willie.

 

http://www.gillesvidal.com/blogpano/cockpit1.htm

 

 

and another one:

 

 

 

Growing list: Another AI pilot caught faking marks

 

New Delhi: Air travellers' biggest fear of being flown by a fake commander is getting even bigger by the day. On Saturday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) detected yet another pilot, Captain J K Verma working with national carrier Air India, who had became commander by allegedly faking mark sheets of the airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) exam. According to sources, he has been handed over to the police.

 

This is the third such discovery in four days and the fourth fake commander detected since February-end — two with IndiGo and one each with AI and MDLR. The DGCA has now changed its strategy after the last discovery. The two allegedly fake commander detected four days back – Meenakshi Sehgal of IndiGo and Swaran Singh Talwar of MDLR — are learnt to have gone missing, possibly to evade being arrested.

 

"On Saturday afternoon we detected that J K Verma had also reportedly faked mark sheets to become commander and informed the police first thing. The pilot, belonging to erstwhile Indian Airlines that's now Air India, has been picked up by the cops," said highly placed sources.

 

The new strategy of informing police first so that the accused are nabbed has been devised with a purpose. "We want these people to be caught and know how they got fake mark sheets of ATPL exam (that co-pilots need to pass to become commander) made. Is someone inside DGCA or coaching institute part of this racket?" said senior officials.

 

13/03/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

 

 

Hello again, Darren.

 

The reason I asked about the helmet ID is that I collect military flight gear, helmets & O2 masks in particular. The sph4 sound protection helmet came out, I think around 1970 & underwent a few upgrades due to the problems of helmet retention & impact absorption. They had a couple of liner upgrades, the last of which was 1982 & gave them more than 30% energy absorption over the original model.

 

It's a bit hard to tell from the video, but if yours is a sph4, it would be post 1980 by the look of the chin strap. Good to see people wear a bit of history on their heads.

 

Looking forward to seeing more video if you make any.

 

Cheers,

 

Willedoo.

 

 

Recent developments in Russian defense planning make this video possibly a bit outdated. The video was made a while ago & plans were recently announced to develop a long range strategic stealth bomber by 2025. Other recent plans to prioritize development of strategic nuclear forces have led to talk of modernizing the blackjacks & bringing them back into service as a strategic nuclear bomber.

 

 

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

 

Two more pilots land in trouble for fake licences

 

New Delhi: Investigations by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), initiated after a woman pilot was found repeatedly landing wrongly on the nosewheel of the plane, have thrown up two more pilots who forged their qualifying papers. Fake captains are fast emerging as the biggest threat to safe flying in India.

 

The duo was commanding aircraft after allegedly forging papers that showed they had cleared the tests to graduate from co-pilot to the captain's seat. One of the allegedly fake commanders, Meenakshi Sehgal, was flying with IndiGo, which has since grounded her. The other, Swaran Singh Talwar, was a commander with MDLR, an airline that has not been operational for months now.

 

What's worrying the aviation industry is that the new cases have tumbled out within a week of DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan ordering an unprecedented drive to verify pilot licences.

 

The action was sparked by suspicions about a woman commander of IndiGo who often landed the aircraft with the nosewheels touching down before the belly tyres.

 

The pilot, Parminder Kaur, was grounded for refresher training as per rules, but alongside a regulatory probe of her papers revealed that she had allegedly become a commander by giving fake marksheets of the airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) exam, which is mandatory for co-pilots to clear to become commanders. The DGCA issues this licence only after co-pilots complete 1,500 hours of flying, irrespective of when they clear it. And airlines consider even those who clear ATPL for command only after they fly for 2,000-3,000 hours as co-pilots.

 

The discovery of fake ATPL commanders has left the aviation ministry deeply worried due to its immense safety implications. "We are examining pilot licences and have found two more cases (of fake ATPL papers). While the licences have been revoked, these cases have also been referred to the police for further action," Bharat Bhushan said, adding that there would be no compromise on safety.

 

09/03/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India.com

 

 

Flying fit abroad, but are unfit here

 

Mumbai: Six expatriate pilots of a low-cost airline have failed Indian medical tests in the last few weeks. The tests, which were only being taken by Indian pilots, have now been made mandatory for foreign pilots employed with the country's airlines to ensure common medical standards among cockpit crew.

 

"The pilots were declared temporarily unfit and have been told to undergo additional tests. They could be grounded for weeks or months," a source said. In the coming months, all the 400-odd foreign pilots employed in India and those planning to take up employment will have to undergo the tests conducted by Indian Air Force (IAF) doctors. The common vein in the Indian airline industry is that many foreign pilots will fail these tests though it does not mean that they are generally unhealthy.

 

"The high failure rate among expatriates will prove that India follows unrealistically stringent medical standards," a senior commander said. "Our commercial pilots are measured with the yardstick used for combat-ready IAF pilots who fly Sukhois and MiGs," he said, adding that perhaps only in India annual medical tests for civilian pilots are carried out by defence personnel.

 

"Many foreign pilots who have been declared medically fit in their home countries, like the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Serbia, Australia and Thailand, will find themselves deemed unfit by India," he added.

 

A commander pointed out: "Most countries have a list of approved drugs for conditions like hypertension and insulin-treated diabetes. The doctors handle it on a case-to-case basis. Foreign pilots with hypertension and diabetes can fly if their condition is well under control."

 

He said India did not have a list of approved drugs.

 

09/03/11 Manju V/Times of India

 

 

Suspended lady pilot held for forgery

 

New Delhi: A woman pilot, suspended following hard landing of a flight, has been arrested for allegedly using a forged marksheet to get a pilot’s licence, police said today.

 

Indigo Airline captain Parminder Kaur Gulati, 38, was held by Delhi police from her Kirti Nagar residence yesterday following a complaint filed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

 

She had obtained the mandatory airlines transport pilot licence (ATPL) after allegedly producing forged documents, deputy commissioner of police Ashok Chand said.

 

Gulati was grounded on January 11 following hard landing of an Indigo flight in Goa.

 

“The DGCA director of training and licencing, D.C. Sharma, had filed a complaint that Gulati had obtained an ATPL using forged documents,” he said.

 

During initial inquiry by the DGCA, it was found she had allegedly submitted a forged marksheet of the pilot licence examination of January 2009 for obtaining an ATPL.

 

“It emerged that the result card of the pilot licence examination submitted by Gulati as proof of passing air navigation and radio aids and instruments subjects in January 2009 session for obtaining ATPL licence was forged,” Chand said.

 

09/03/11 PTI/The Telegraph

 

 

United Aircraft Corporation president, Mikhail Pogosyan, shows off the Sukhoi PAK-FA T50 prototype to Vladimir Putin.

 

 

 

Have been looking up a bit of RAAF history & have come to a dead end. I was wondering if anyone out there knew anything more about the six RAAF exchange pilots who flew F4 Phantoms with the USAF in Vietnam from 1965 to 1971 approximately. This is about all I've been able to find so far:

 

Flying with United States forces

 

 

 

A Phantom F4-D in flight over Vietnam in 1971. Distinguished by the rondels of the RAAF and the United States Air Force, this aircraft was flown by an RAAF pilot, Flight Lieutenant Lindsay Naylor, who was attached to the United States’ 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Only six Australians flew operations in United States aircraft of this type during the war, some of them over Laos and North Vietnam, even though Australian personnel were not authorised to operate outside South Vietnam. The war was winding down by the time Naylor began operational flying with United States forces but he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in a hazardous ground-support mission over a fire support base outside Pleiku in April 1971.

 

Here is the relevant photo of the F4 with dual Australian/US markings:

 

 

 

A very historic day, John. I can still remember sitting in the school library watching the first moon walk on TV. Where to from now? Read recently that there was a space shuttle prototype at maks this year, but I've no idea whether it's a government space programme one or one of the private joyflight type ones aka Richard Branson & co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new generation future Russian bomber will be built no earlier than 2025, reports Lenta.RU referring to a source in the Russian aviation industry. The state arms program for 2011—2020 provides for the allocation of funds for the development of a future long-range aviation aircraft complex (PAK DA), but series production is still not being discussed. In the opinion of the agency’s source, a “minimum of 15 – 20 years” is needed for construction of the new aircraft.

 

According to preliminary information, the new bomber will be created using low-observable technology. Russia’s first deputy defense minister, Vladimir Popovkin, announced on 24 February 2011 that the Russian state arms programs supposes the allocation of funds for scientific research and experimental design work on the PAK DA program. “We are not forcing development of the complex. We plan to define its appearance by 2015,” the deputy minister noted.

 

For the time being practically nothing is known about the future bomber. It earlier had been reported only that the Tupolev company is involved with its development. According to a preliminary estimate, the airplane will begin to reach the inventory in 2025 - 2030. The Tupolev company’s president, Aleksandr Bobryshev, announced at the end of December 2009, that research on the PAK DA project would be completed in 2012 and experimental design work in 2017.

 

The Tupolev general director, Igor' Shevchuk, reported on the contract for the development and creation of a principally new strategic bomber in August 2009. According to Bobryshev, the contract was drafted for a period of 3 years. Source: 03.03.11, Avia.RU

 

 

 

Well, it will be an interesting couple of decades to come for defense planning & acquisition among the major players. Russia has only just recently announced plans to re-visit a few old ideas that had gone out of fashion since the fall of the union.

 

 

 

Very interesting account, would have been a bit crowded with 136 people in the Herc.

 

 

The second prototype of the Sukhoi T50 5th. generation stealth fighter has undergone it's first flight test in Russia.

 

http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2011/3/3/188/