Air Force Times reports that the first flight of the B-21 Raider stealth bomber is expected to take place in 2023. The public unveiling of the bomber is expected later in 2022. The first B-21 “finished its first in a series of ground tests at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, earlier this month.”
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Tag: First Flight
Beechcraft Denali Performs First Flight
Aviation International News reports that Textron Aviation’s Beechcraft Denali turboprop aircraft “lifted off on its first flight this morning from Wichita Eisenhower National Airport on a flight over central and southern Kansas that lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes.” The Denali “reached an altitude of 15,600 feet and a top speed of 180 knots.”
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Rolls-Royce Accel Completes First Flight
Aviation Week reports that Rolls-Royce “has completed the first flight of its electric-powered Spirit of Innovation aircraft, also known as Accel.” The electric-powered Accel conducted its first flight at Boscombe Down airfield in Wiltshire.
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Ingenuity Conducts Third Flight on Mars
The New York Times reports that on Sunday, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flew on Mars for the third time, traveling further and faster than the previous two flights. The helicopter “perfectly executed its instructions from Earth.” The helicopter “lifted 16 feet off the ground, then flew a round-trip distance of 328 feet before landing back where it started.” The distance “was about 25 times as far as the second flight flew three days ago. The helicopter reached a top speed of 4.5 miles per hour, and the flight lasted about one minute and 20 seconds.”
Full Story (New York Times)
Ingenuity Unlocks Rotor Blades Ahead of First Flight on Mars
SPACE reports that the NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity “has unlocked its two rotor blades as preparations continue for the vehicle’s first flight, due to occur no earlier than Sunday (April 11).” NASA’s JPL said in a tweet Thursday, “The blades of glory, aka rotor blades of the #MarsHelicopter, have been unlocked and are ready for testing. … Next, we’ll do a slow-speed spin-up of the blades for the first time on the Martian surface.” NASA officials “have said they will test the blades first at 50 and then at 2,400 revolutions per minute before the helicopter attempts to fly.”
Full Story (SPACE)
NASA Delays First Flight of Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to No Earlier Than April 11
SPACE reports that NASA has pushed the earliest date for its Ingenuity helicopter to make its first flight on Mars from April 8 to April 11. NASA’s JPL said in a tweet that Ingenuity “is preparing to do something that’s never been done: controlled, powered flight on another planet. Takeoff is now slated for no earlier than April 11, with data arriving on Earth on April 12.” The helicopter, “located underneath the rover, has been unfurling from Perseverance’s belly, preparing for the” flight. On March 21, the Perseverance rover “dropped a protective shield, which helped the helicopter to endure the perilous descent through Mars’ atmosphere.”
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Final A380 Makes First Flight
CNN reports that on Wednesday, “the final A380 to be assembled took off from Airbus’ Jean-Luc Lagardere plant, a purpose-built facility at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southern France.” The aircraft was destined for “the Airbus manufacturing plant at Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport in Germany,” where “the cabin will be fitted out and the aircraft painted, Airbus media relations manager Anne Galabert told CNN Travel last year.” The aircraft will be delivered to Emirates upon completion.
Full Story (CNN)