aviation

It appears that that Air India crash might have been caused by Pilot Error. While it's still early to be conclusive the black boxes do seem to confirm that there were no mechanical issues and that the fuel was cut off and caught the attention of the pilots.

The captain had 10,000 hours and the first officer had 3,400.

Lockheed Martin, the lead developer of the project, has officially announced a possible delay in the delivery of the new APG-85 radar, which could affect the course of the entire program.

The main question now is: how to maintain the pace of production if the key part of the upgrade – the latest radar – is delayed?

Conflict between speed and reality

According to internal company correspondence, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Ticlet personally issued a warning to the U.S. Air Force leadership: starting with the 17th production batch, there is a high risk of schedule failure due to the unavailability of the APG-85. To avoid stopping the assembly line, the company is proposing to redesign the forward fuselage of the aircraft so that both the new radar and its predecessor, the APG-81, can be installed there.

However, these changes will not be implemented before the 20th series. That is, the next batches of F-35s may be assembled without the promised technological upgrade.

The reasons for the delay remain behind the scenes. But experts point to one of the main difficulties - the creation of a compact AESA radar, which at the same time must meet all the requirements for integration into the existing aircraft architecture.

Who is responsible for the deadlines?

Interestingly, Northrop Grumman, the radar developer, warned in advance that the deadlines set by the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin were too ambitious. However, customers insisted on accelerating the process. Now the experts' predictions are coming true, and with them, problems on the production line.

To temporarily resolve the situation, Lockheed Martin purchased a stock of old APG-81 radars - they will be enough for the first batches. This will allow the conveyor to continue, but does not solve the issue of modernization in the long term.

Choosing between a pause and a compromise

If the situation does not stabilize, customer countries will have to make a difficult choice: either suspend deliveries of new F-35s or receive the aircraft without a full set of equipment. At the same time, not all partners of the program are ready to accept the APG-85 - some countries have not yet approved its installation.

The question also remains open: will the change in the fuselage design really be able to unify the fleet? After all, any deep modifications require additional testing, especially when it comes to an aircraft for which stealth is one of the key parameters.

When the CEO writes the letter

The fact that the head of the company personally brought the problem to the attention of the Air Force leadership speaks volumes. This is not just a technical delay, but a situation that has reached the level of strategic management. And if an effective solution is not found, this could become one of the most painful episodes in stories F-35 programs in recent years.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20547599

Captured this guy doing some sort of low-flying surveying. The way they were flying around erratically and extremely low got me curious. Looked up the aircraft: the leasing company photos didn’t show this device.

Transcript for the comic embedded in the link: An XKCD comic about how to decode a METAR:

METAR - "Meter" (Usually misspelled)

KNYC - Station ID

251600Z - Time (25:16:002)

18035G45KT - Wind speed has been 18,035 knots for a good 45 minutes now.

6SM - Observer is a size 6 small.

VCFCFZVA - Sorry, the station cat walked on the keyboard.

+BLUP - Weird noise the sky made earlier.

NOSIG - The observer has no significant other :(

LTG OHD - We overheard someone saying there was lightning.

A3808 - Hey look, an Airbus A380-800!

RMK - Remarkable!

A02 - Fanfic archive equipped with a precipitation sensor.

SLP130= - Observer got sleepy around 1:30.

Image alt-text on the website: "In the aviation world, they don't use AM/PM times. Instead, all times are assumed to be AM unless they're labeled NOTAM."

Here is an article: https://www.thesun.ie/sport/13888559/sao-paulo-blimp-botafogo-copa-libertadores-brazil/

I have a few friends who have their own pilots license (private pilot i assume). How safe is it to fly your own plane?

I have acrophobia so learning how to fly is not high on my list but would like to know about how safe it is to assuage some fears. To be it seems scary because if something goes wrong, you wouldn't be the only person getting hurt (as would be the case for scuba diving or skiing) but you might also risk hurtings others like your plane crashing out of control.

edit: i'm asking on the off chance i feel like one day getting a private pilots license like my friends. i'm not planning on flying with the friends anytime soon; they live on the other side of the world.

Picture taken at 01:30 on 5.7.2023 at EFHK.

Alaska Airlines CEO: "Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 #Boeing 737-9 aircraft."

https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/operations/as-1282/

@aviation

#boeing737

GE Aerospace Demonstrates New Rotating Detonation Combustion (RDC), could power super-efficient hypersonic aircraft with longer range that exceed MACH 5, or >4,000 MPH

https://www.geaerospace.com/press-release/other-news-information/ge-aerospace-demonstrates-hypersonic-dual-mode-ramjet-rotating

@aviation
#aviation

Moored at Allegheny County Airport outside of Pittsburgh, PA.

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration N516AS performing flight AS-1288 from Seattle,WA to Santa Ana,CA (USA), landed on Santa Ana's runway 20R at 23:14L (06:14Z Aug 21st) but touched down hard causing the left main gear strut being punched through the left wing. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway and was disabled. There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage however.

See for more information this AVherhald article

I got a better pic of the planes headed out of DIA

The flight crew reported that the first officer (FO) was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring. The departure from EWR and the cruise segment of the flight were uneventful. Upon arrival at IAH, they were cleared for the DOOBI2 arrival and the ILS 26L approach. According to the flight crew, the airplane was fully configured for landing, on speed and in compliance with the company’s stable approach criteria and the initial touchdown on the main wheels was normal. The FO stated that after the main landing gear touched down, he held aft pressure on the control yoke to keep the nose wheel from hitting the runway; however, the nose wheel made contact with abnormal force. The airplane appeared to bounce, and he reacted by pulling aft on the control yoke, in an effort to keep the nose wheel from impacting the runway a second time. Subsequently, the speed brakes deployed, and the auto brakes engaged which resulted in a second bounce of the nose wheel. He deployed the thrust reversers, and the airplane began to decelerate. The captain assumed control of the airplane and the remainder of the landing rollout was normal with no risk of runway overrun or excursion.

A preliminary review of the flight data recorder (FDR) revealed that after the initial touchdown on both main wheels, the airplane rolled to the left and right main gear lifted off the runway’s surface. Subsequently, the nose wheel touched down with a gravitational force equivalent (g) of about 1.4 g and bounced. The speed brakes deployed, and the nose wheel impacted the runway a second time with a force of about 1.6 g followed by another bounce. The right thrust reverser (TR) deployed, and the nose wheel impacted the runway again with a force of about 1.6 g followed by the deployment of the left TR.

A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the crown of the upper fuselage.

Source