Tag: flight

Joby Completes Landmark 523-Mile Hydrogen-Electric Flight

Aviation International reports, “Joby Aviation, a next generation aviation company, today announced it has successfully flown a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-electric air taxi demonstrator 523 miles, with water as the only by-product. The aircraft, which takes off and lands vertically, builds on Joby’s successful battery-electric air taxi development program, and demonstrates the potential for hydrogen to unlock emissions-free, regional journeys that don’t require a runway.”
Full Story (Aviation International)

EC-37B Compass Call Makes Debut Flight

Aviation Week reports that the USAF Compass Call eavesdropping and electronic attack suite has been successfully moved from the retired legacy EC-130H aircraft into the EC-37B. The new EC-37B Compass Call, a modified Gulfstream G550 business jet, recently conducted its first four-hour flight.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Aeronautic Groups Recognize Record Tamarack King Air Flight

Aviation International News reports, “A Beechcraft King Air 350 equipped with Tamarack Aerospace active load-alleviating winglets set two records during flights to and from Orlando, Florida, for NBAA-BACE 2022.” The records have now been recognized by the National Aeronautic Association and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. The first flight was “2,032.8 nm nonstop from Spokane, Washington, to Orlando on Oct. 15, 2022, in 7 hours 46 minutes.” During the second flight “six days later, the King Air flew 1,770.7 nm from Orlando to Las Vegas – with a stop in Albuquerque – in 8 hours 8 minutes due to strong headwinds.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

Final Antares 230+ Rocket Lifts Off to Resupply ISS

Spaceflight Insider reports that in near-perfect weather, the final Antares 230+ rocket “took to the skies to send the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station.” Carrying the autonomous NG-19 Cygnus resupply freighter, dubbed the S.S. Laurel Clark, the Antares rocket successfully “launched at 8:31 p.m. EDT Aug. 1 (00:31 UTC Aug. 2), 2023, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.” It flawlessly lifted off “from its launchpad, drawing a bright arc of light against the fading evening sunset, marking the start of another critical cargo run to the ISS.” Some 8,200 pounds (3,700 kilograms) of supplies, hardware and experiments “are aboard NG-19. It is expected to arrive at the ISS on the morning of Aug. 4 where it will be captured by the outpost’s robotic arm and attached to the Earth-facing port of the Unity module.” Over the coming weeks, members of the station’s Expedition 69 crew “will work to unload the cargo before beginning to reload it with trash.” After about two months, Cygnus “is expected to depart the ISS for an eventual destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Insider)

 

Video

Last Antares Rocket Using Russian Rocket Engines
Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Northrop Grumman Prepares for Final Antares Flight

Space News reports that a Cygnus cargo spacecraft “is set to launch to the International Space Station on the final flight of a version of an Antares rocket with Russian and Ukrainian components.” NASA and Northrop Grumman “completed a launch readiness review July 30 for the NG-19 mission, approving plans to launch the spacecraft on Aug. 1 at 8:31 p.m. Eastern from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.” The Cygnus is “carrying nearly 3,750 kilograms of cargo to the station, including experiments, hardware and crew supplies.” An on-time launch “would allow the spacecraft to arrive at the station early Aug. 4 and remain there at least three months.”
Full Story (Space News)

Argonne National Laboratory Researches Supersonic Turbulence, Publish Findings In AIAA Journal

HPCWire reports that researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory are using supercomputing to study the shock/boundary-layer interaction (SBLI) when an aircraft goes supersonic in order to “improve the performance of high-speed aircraft.” Researchers utilized the “Theta supercomputer at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF).” The research “was published as ‘Crossflow effects on shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions’ in Theoretical and Computational Fluid Dynamics and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal.”
Full Story (HPCWire)

AIAA Marks First Flight on Another Planet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 19, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) marks today’s historic first flight of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher issued this statement:

“What an amazing sight – an aircraft flying over Mars! The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made the first ever powered, controlled flight on another planet today. Congratulations to our corporate member, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the whole Ingenuity team. Your innovative and inspirational thinking continues shaping the future of aerospace.

“We all know the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright taking a huge risk and proving to the world that heavier-than-air, powered flight was possible. Today, we saw how taking off-world risks proves anything is possible. From this day forward, we’ll remember 19 April 2021, at Jezero Crater, Wright Brothers Field, Mars, just as we have remembered 17 December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Earth.

“Earlier this year, we watched the Perseverance rover’s landing on Mars, carrying Ingenuity onboard and showing us what your motto – Dare Mighty Things – means. We are eager to witness the team achieve the next mission milestones, especially Ingenuity’s next test flight. There’s more work to do as we accelerate our off-world future. Go Ingenuity! Go Perseverance!”

 First Video of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicpoter in Flight

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270.

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

NASA Shares Video of Ingenuity’s First Flight on Mars

The Washington Post reports that NASA “shared the full video of its Ingenuity helicopter’s flight on the surface of Mars on April 19. Engineers also shared a reconstruction of the flight as well as photos from chopper’s landing camera.” Florida Today reports that the flight “was captured on several cameras including a video camera on the Perseverance rover, which was standing by.” Over the “next few days, the helicopter team will receive and analyze all data and imagery from the test and formulate a plan for the second experimental test flight, scheduled for no earlier than Thursday.”
Full Story (Washington Post); More Info (Florida Today)

 First Video of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicpoter in Flight

Delta Invests $60 Million in Air Taxi Startup

The AP reports that Delta has invested $60 million to take a 2% stake in Joby Aviation and could invest as much as another $140 million as the manufacturer of air taxis hits key milestones. Joby makes electric-powered vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which the company says will begin flying in 2024.
Full Story (Associated Press)

GE Aviation Conducts First High-Voltage, High-Altitude Test

Aviation Week reports GE Aviation “is preparing for the start of ground tests of a modified hybrid-electric CT7 turboprop variant following the completion of what the engine-maker says is the world’s first test in simulated altitude conditions of a megawatt-class and multi-kilovolt hybrid-electric propulsion system.” The tests are part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, through which GE “is developing a megawatt-scale hybrid-electric propulsion system which will be flight tested on a Saab 340B powered by modified CT7-9B turboprops.” Aviation Week mentions that BAE Systems “will provide energy management components, including the battery and cabling.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Rocket 3.3 Returns to Flight Tuesday

Space News reports that Astra’s Rocket 3.3 returned to flight Tuesday “at 12:22 p.m. Eastern from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Kodiak Island.” The mission carried NearSpace Launch’s EyeStar-S3 satellite, the Portland State Aerospace Society’s OreSat0, and a payload from an undisclosed third customer.
Full Story (Space News)

Lockheed Martin Says UAV Made Record-Breaking Endurance Flight

FlightGlobal reports that Lockheed Martin “says a specially configured Stalker unmanned drone successfully completed a continuous endurance flight of 39h, 17min.” If certified “by the Switzerland-based World Air Sports Federation which governs aviation records, the flight would represent the longest ever by an aircraft weighing between 5kg and 25kg.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

SiFly Q12 Sets New Drone Endurance Record

Flying Magazine reports, “As the FAA nears a final rule on beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations that could unlock more expansive commercial missions, a California-based startup has set a new benchmark for the longest flight of a prototype electric drone weighing 5-20 kilograms.” UAS developer SiFly “this week said Guinness World Records validated a 3-hour, 11-minute flight of its Q12 drone, eclipsing the previous high by nearly one hour.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

Joby Performs First eVTOL Flight Between Two U.S. Airports

Aerotime reports, “Joby Aviation, the US-based company developing all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxis for commercial passenger service, has announced that it has successfully operated one of its demonstrator aircraft (registration N545JX) alongside other aircraft in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controlled airspace by completing its first flight between two US airports – Marina (OAR) and Monterey (MRY), both located in the state of California.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

Sikorsky Unveils U-Hawk, a Fully Autonomous Cargo Black Hawk

Aerotime reports, “Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has unveiled the S-70UAS U-Hawk, a fully autonomous variant of the UH-60 Black Hawk designed to operate as a heavy-lift cargo drone. Developed in just ten months, the prototype replaces the Black Hawk’s cockpit with actuated clamshell doors and a loading ramp, transforming the crewed helicopter into a platform capable of operating without pilots on board. Equipped with MATRIX™ autonomy software and a new fly-by-wire system, the aircraft can take off, fly, and land entirely under autonomous control.”
Full Story (Aerotime)