Tag: Testing

Boeing’s 777-9 Certification Program Paused to Address Engine Component Crack

Aviation Week reports, “Cracks in engine attachment components that have stalled Boeing’s 777-9 certification program were found in a fourth test aircraft that has not flown in nearly three years, Aviation Week has learned. The latest discovery, on WH004, is expected to help narrow down Boeing’s investigation into the failures in the thrust links—assemblies that connect the airframe with the aircraft’s GE Aerospace GE9X engines.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Vertical Aerospace Completes VX4 Phase One Testing

Reuters reports, “UK-based Vertical Aerospace has completed the first phase of piloted testing of a prototype of its air-taxi, VX4, it said on Thursday, sending the company’s shares up 3.9% in U.S. premarket trading. The VX4 has 1,500 pre-orders worth $6 billion from companies including Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and Japan Airlines. The phase one testing included multiple piloted tethered flights and ground runs. It completed 70 individual test points to validate its safety in the real-world flight scenarios.”
Full Story (Reuters)

Self-Flying Cessna Begins Testing for FAA Validation

Flying Magazine reports, “Self-flying aircraft may be closer to takeoff than you think. On Thursday, Boston-based Merlin Labs announced it began what it claims is the first test campaign of a certification-ready, takeoff-to-touchdown autonomous flight system. The company’s Merlin Pilot is designed to one day allow small aircraft to fly with no humans on board.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

Boeing’s 777-9 Certification Program Paused to Address Engine Component Cracks

Aviation Week reports, “Cracks in engine attachment components that have stalled Boeing’s 777-9 certification program were found in a fourth test aircraft that has not flown in nearly three years, Aviation Week has learned. The latest discovery, on WH004, is expected to help narrow down Boeing’s investigation into the failures in the thrust links—assemblies that connect the airframe with the aircraft’s GE Aerospace GE9X engines.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Vertical Aerospace Begins Ground Testing New Air Taxi Prototype

Flying Magazine reports, “U.K.-based electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi manufacturer Vertical Aerospace is back to testing aircraft. The manufacturer has begun ground testing a new, more advanced full-scale prototype of its flagship VX4 air taxi after an initial prototype was damaged during an uncrewed flight test last year.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

Rolls-Royce Starts Testing New B-52 Engines

Aviation Week reports that Rolls-Royce “has begun tests of the F130 turbofan for the U.S. Air Force B-52H re-engining program in the bomber’s distinctive twin-podded configuration for the first time.” The company says that initial results have been “very positive” and could provide new life for the decades-old bomber platform.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Boeing Pauses 777 Testing After Engine Issue

FlightGlobal reports that The Boeing Company “has halted its 777-9 flight-test programme due to a problem involving a flight-test aircraft’s GE Aerospace GE9X turbofan, prompting engine evaluations by GE.” Both companies confirm “the flight-test pause but provide few details about the problem, leaving the extent of the issue and its potential impact on the 777-9’s certification timeline unclear.” GE says it “discovered the problem, later found to involve temperatures, following a borescope inspection.” Boeing’s 777-9 certification program “is already substantially delayed, with Boeing most recently – in April – pushing its expected first 777-9 delivery back two years, to 2025.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala to Confer Top Honors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Event Honors Aerospace’s Best and Brightest

March 23, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has announced the 2021 recipients of its most prestigious awards. Presentation of these premier awards will take place on Thursday, 12 August 2021, at the AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala. This will be a virtual event.

The AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala is an annual event recognizing the most influential and inspiring individuals in aerospace, whose outstanding contributions merit the highest accolades.

“Congratulations to our premier award winners,” said AIAA President Basil Hassan. “We are inspired by their hard work, skill, and achievements, and we thank them for their dedication to the aerospace industry. AIAA is committed to ensuring that aerospace professionals are recognized and celebrated for their achievements, innovations, and discoveries that make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous. I’m excited to recognize these trailblazers at the virtual AIAA Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala in August!”

The winners are:

AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award – Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, U.S. Air Force (retired)

AIAA Reed Aeronautics Award – Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft Company

AIAA Distinguished Service Award – Merri J. Sanchez, The Aerospace Corporation

AIAA International Cooperation Award –

  • Michael Watkins, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Michael A. Gross, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Frank Flechtner, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
  • Albert Zaglauer, Airbus Defence and Space

AIAA Public Service Award – Marcia S. Smith, SpacePolicyOnline.com

AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award – Benjamin Jorns, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

AIAA Engineer of the Year – Humberto Silva III, Sandia National Laboratories

AIAA Educator Achievement Award –

  • Suzanne Banas, South Miami Middle Community School Miami, Florida
  • Leesa Hubbard, W.A. Wright Elementary, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee
  • Mark Westlake, Saint Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights, Minnesota
Award Citations

AIAA Goddard Astronautics Award
The highest honor AIAA bestows for notable achievement in the field of astronautics. It was endowed by Mrs. Goddard in the 1940s as the ARS Goddard Memorial Award to commemorate her husband, Robert H. Goddard—rocket visionary, pioneer, bold experimentalist, and superb engineer whose early liquid rocket engine launches set the stage for the development of astronautics.
Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, U.S. Air Force (retired), honored “For outstanding and notable contributions to the U.S. Air Force, the field of astronautics, and the aerospace and defense community.”

AIAA Reed Aeronautics Award
The highest honor AIAA bestows for notable achievement in the field of aeronautics. The award is named after Dr. Sylvanus A. Reed, the aeronautical engineer, designer, and founding member of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences in 1932. Reed was the first to develop a propeller system composed of metal rather than wood. His aluminum alloy propeller gave Jimmy Doolittle’s plane the speed it needed to win the 1925 Schneider Cup race and brought the inventor much credit and many rewards.
Michimasa Fujino, Honda Aircraft Company, honored “For the invention of advanced aerodynamic and structural technologies implemented on Honda’s first aircraft, the HondaJet, creating new value in business aviation.”

AIAA Distinguished Service Award
AIAA recognizes an individual member who has provided distinguished service to the Institute over a period of years.
Merri J. Sanchez, The Aerospace Corporation, honored “For over three decades of leadership and distinguished service to AIAA that contributed significantly to the success of the Institute.”

AIAA International Cooperation Award
The award recognizes individual/s who have made significant contributions to the initiation, organization, implementation, and/or management of activities with significant U.S. involvement and that includes extensive international cooperative activities in space, aeronautics, or both.
Michael Watkins, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Michael A. Gross, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Frank Flechtner, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences; Albert Zaglauer, Airbus Defence and Space, honored “For outstanding leadership of the international consortium in the planning and implementation of the successful Earth gravity missions GRACE and GRACE-FO.”

AIAA Public Service Award
The highest recognition AIAA bestows on a person outside the aerospace community who has shown consistent and visible support for national aviation and space goals.
Marcia S. Smith, SpacePolicyOnline.com, honored “For a lifetime and ongoing public support of aerospace, providing cogent analyses of critical, high visibility issues to Congress, the government, and the general public.”

AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award
The award is presented for a notable contribution made by a young person, age 35 or under, to the advancement of aeronautics or astronautics. This award honors Lawrence B. Sperry, pioneer aviator and inventor, who died in 1923 in a forced landing while attempting a flight across the English Channel.
Benjamin Jorns, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, honored “In recognition of his seminal experimental and theoretical work on wave-driven effects in Hall thrusters and his contributions to the development of advanced thruster technologies.”

AIAA Engineer of the Year
This award is presented to a member of the Institute who has made a recent individual, technical contribution in the application of scientific and mathematical principles leading to a significant technical accomplishment.
Humberto Silva III, Sandia National Laboratories, recognized “For pioneering the modernization of re-entry vehicle probability loss of assured safety assessments including conduction, convection, chemical kinetics, radiation and associated thermophysical material uncertainty.”

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.

AIAA Statement on the Successful Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage “Green Run” Testing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 18, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) congratulates NASA on its successful “Green Run” test firing today. AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:

“The completion of the ‘Green Run’ test marks the completion of all testing on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket Core Stage – we now have hardware testing proof that America is ready to take our next steps to the moon and Mars.

“The core stage is the element of the system that gives it the main push to get astronauts and large payloads to the moon, Mars and beyond. This is the large ‘moving van’ needed to get people and material to places beyond low Earth orbit. It will allow the United States to build large new outposts on and near the moon and Mars more simply and more efficiently.

“This rocket is designed to take us to the moon and Mars, it provides a fundamental new capability that will also enable us to retain and grow U.S. leadership in space.

“I want to recognize the countless AIAA members involved in all aspects of the supply chain in this endeavor, including those who have helped design, build and test SLS. We salute and applaud the professional, young professional and corporate members for their important contributions to this much needed capability.”

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.

Russia Admits to Testing Anti-Satellite Rocket, Denies Endangering ISS

The Washington Post reports that the International Space Station “faced a menacing threat” Monday from “thousands of pieces of debris, scattered when Russia fired a missile that destroyed a dead satellite.” Mission control in Houston “had to wake the astronauts to inform them that they needed to evacuate the Space Station and take shelter inside their spacecraft.” The Post adds that “the debris missed, and the seven space travelers – four Americans, two Russians and a German – reentered the station, ready to resume their work on the orbiting laboratory.”
Full Story (The Washington Post)
More Info (AIAA Statement)

Pratt & Whitney Begins Test of GTF on A320neo

FlightGlobal reports, “Airbus and Pratt & Whitney have started development flight testing of a more efficient PW1100G geared turbofan – known as the GTF Advantage engine – on an A320neo aircraft.” Pratt & Whitney said, “This early flight-test campaign will continue to mature the engine by testing it in a variety of environments, including hot and cold weather and operation from high-altitude airports.” On the GTF, Pratt & Whitney President of Commercial Engines Rick Deurloo said, “[The GTF Advantage engine] enhances aircraft capability by increasing thrust and protects durability by running cooler. For airlines, this means new revenue opportunities and better operating economics. Our revolutionary geared-fan architecture is the foundation for more sustainable aviation technologies in the decades ahead, and the GTF Advantage engine is the next step in that journey.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

AIAA Statement on New U.S. Position on Destructive Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite Missile Testing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 19, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:

“We applaud the administration’s commitment to not conduct direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile tests and call for other spacefaring nations to follow this new international norm for responsible behavior in space. This comes following the Russian Federation’s reckless and irreversible ASAT test last fall, which created more than 1,500 pieces of debris that threatens national security and commercial assets and those aboard the International Space Station. Such a declaration will help preserve the security and sustainability of space going forward. The United States is leading by example, and we hope other nations will make the same commitment to work together and conduct space activities in a responsible, peaceful, and sustainable manner.

AIAA continues to call on the U.S. Congress to address the worsening orbital debris problem, as well as establish a domestic civil space traffic management function before a catastrophic event takes place. We believe this would provide stability and certainty so that the commercial sector can continue to innovate and experiment with new ventures that create a robust space economy.”

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

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, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

US Navy Tests MQ-8C Fire Scout for Maritime Expeditionary Operation Support

ExecutiveGov reported that the US Navy “tested the possibility of deploying a Northrop Grumman-built autonomous helicopter from a ship to land to support maritime expeditionary operations at a recent joint service training.” A MQ-8C Fire Scout remote helicopter “took part in the demonstration of the Navy’s Expeditionary Advance Base Operations concept during the Resolute Hunter exercise.”
Full Story (ExecutiveGov)

CH-53K Completes USMC Testing, Evaluation

ExecutiveGov reports that the CH-53K helicopter “has made testing progress toward initial operational capability later in the year and the green light for full-rate production in 2023.” The helicopter “underwent seven months of initial operational test and evaluation through March under Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One in North Carolina.”
Full Story (ExecutiveGov)

Sierra Space Marks Third Testing Milestone on Resilient GPS (R-GPS) Technology for USSF

Inside GNSS reports, “Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defense tech prime  announced today another successful demonstration of the company’s Resilient GPS (R-GPS) technology for the U.S. Space Force (USSF). In this third milestone, Sierra Space demonstrated an early integration of the R-GPS satellite technology through FlatSat flight software and hardware subsystem testing, in addition to successful communication with ground software.”
Full Story (Inside GNSS)