Sky Talk

Wanted: Way to cool off carrier decks

This isn't exactly breaking news to anyone who has paid attention to the V-22 Osprey program in recent years, but the Navy has found that when a jet engine dumps its exahust straight down onto the deck of an aircraft carrier or one its amphibious assault ships the heat does bad things to the steel.

Now, with the Marines MV-22 beginning to see service aboard ships and the looming entry into service a few years from now of the F-35B short-takeoff-vertical landing variant, the Navy is hoping somebody out there can find a solution that will keep these planes from wrecking its flight decks.

Both the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have put out bulletins calling for ideas from industry and researchers.

Here's the ONR's summary of the problem:

Navy studies have indicated that repeated deck buckling will cause deck failure at approximately 40 percent of planned ship life. With the upcoming deployment of he F-35B STOVL Joint Strike Fighter, it is anticipated that the engine exhaust plumes will have a severe thermo-mechanical impact on the non-skid surface and flight deck structure of ships. ...  During STOVL operations of these aircraft, engine exhaust is angled or positioned downward, directing the hot exhaust onto the horizontal deck surface, thereby subjecting that surface to higher than normal temperatures. For the MV-22 the localized region of heating, surrounded by regions of cooler deck plate and mechanical constraints of the deck structure (longitudinal and transverse stiffening beams are located under the deck plate) has lead to the observation of thermally induced buckling which appears after approximately 10 minutes of aircraft operation (while the aircraft is sitting on the deck turning rotors). Currently there are no available solutions.

And DARPA's hoped for technological solution:

Currently, there are no available strategies to mitigate deck buckling and thermal-mechanical deck failure other than heavy structural modifications.  The goal of this effort is to exploit thermal management technologies that incorporate a thermally and functionally stable non-skid surface which meets Navy requirements for application, safety, and performance.  Eligible technologies should consist of an integrated Thermal Management System (TMS) that mitigates the thermo-mechanical structural impact of the F-35B engine exhaust plumes.

See commentary at Aviation Week's Ares blog and at Defense Springboard.

- Bob Cox

 

 

 

Amarillo pays for Bell Helicopter expansion project

 The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation on Tuesday voted to issue $31 million in bonds to pay for expansion of the Bell Helicopter manufacturing facility there. Bell is expanding the plant to allow for increased production rates of the V-22 Osprey and Marine AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters.

Bell was lured to Amarillo a decade ago by the city's promise to build the manufacturing and aircraft assembly facility and lease it back to the company at very favorable terms.

- Bob Cox

Israel says no interest in buying V-22

Bell Helicopter and Boeing are still looking for someone other than the U.S. Marines and Air Force to shell out big bucks for the V-22 Osprey.

Flight Global reports today that Israeli Air Forceofficials say they are no longer considering buying V-22s.

Israel confirmed in 2007 that it was evaluating the V-22 tilt-rotor, but an air force source says its interest has now been terminated. "The V-22 is not on our current list," the source adds.

The need for a new vertical take-off and landing aircraft became more acute following a decision to phase out some of the air force's legacy CH-53s. As an interim measure, it is prolonging the service lives of some of these aircraft by upgrading them to the CH-53 2025 configuration.

"We will wait for the CH-53K and evaluate it when it flies," says the air force source. The new type will maintain almost all the basic capabilities of Sikorsky's previous CH-53E, but will be capable of lifting a much heavier payload.

- Bob Cox

New Osprey video -- fair, balanced and critical

Aviation Week has posted a short, but fact-filled video on the V-22 Osprey that is full of hard information about the aircraft's performance in Iraq. Operating costs are twice what was expected, more than $11,000 an hour, according to this report. Mission capable rates -- the percentage of aircraft that are ready to fly at any given time -- were in low 60 percent range (actually less than that, according to data the Marines supplied to Congress).

- Bob Cox

Marines to deploy Ospreys to Afghanistan soon

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has given the Marines approval to deploy a squadron of V-22 Ospreys to Afghanistan beginning next month to support the Marines combat operations in the southern part of that country. That word comes from The Hill, a Washington political publication.

No word yet on how the Osprey's will get to the war. The Marines have so far taken their birds close to the action aboard Navy ships before flying to the war zone. The high altitude and cold climate of Afghanistan's mountainous regions will be test for the Osprey, which was designed, developed and produced by Bell Helicopter of Fort Worth and Boeing.

- Bob Cox

V-22s coming. Grab the kids and the dog

Video out of Kentucky, where the local folks learned first hand about the strong downwash from the proprotors of the V-22 Osprey. Seems the Marines were practicing landing in a close quarters, urban environment and the rotor wash brought down a few tree limbs and scattered lawn chairs.

-- Bob Cox

Bell gets new CEO

Textron Inc. on Tuesday named John Garrison Jr. — head of the company’s industrial unit — to be Bell Helicopter’s new chief executive.

Garrison will replace Richard "Dick" Millman, who Textron said is retiring effective Saturday after 43 years with the company.

Garrison, who joined Textron in 2002, will become the fifth chief executive in eight years at Fort Worth-based Bell. He served as president of Textron’s industrial segment since November 2007, where Textron said he led operating improvements and new product introductions in the EZ-GO golf cart, Jacobsen turf maintenance equipment, Greenlee tools, and Kautex fuel systems and components businesses.

Read the full story here.

-Scott Nishimura

Bell Helicopter cuts 500 jobs

Bell Helicopter announced today it is cutting 500 jobs in the wake of the Pentagon’s recent decision to cancel the company’s contract to develop a new generation reconnaissance helicopter for the Army.

The announcement, in a press release issued this morning, confirmed rumors that were swirling in recent days. Bell did immediately break down whether all the layoffs were in its Fort Worth facilities or if some would be at its Mirabel, Canada plant.

Bell said employees were being notified today and would receive 60-days pay and benefits in accordance with federal law and severance pay.

The layoffs include a 20 percent reduction in Bell’s management staff, the release said.

- Bob Cox

Money well spent

Associated Press, reported here by Forbes, says Textron Inc. spent $1 million in the second quarter of the year lobbying Congress and the Defense Department, primarily to boost or maintain spending on Bell Helicopter programs like the V-22 Osprey and Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter.

--Bob Cox

Helicopter sale to Iraq planned

Reuters reports that the Bush administration has proposed the sale of $2.4 billion worth of military helicopters, rockets, missiles, other supplies and services to the government of Iraq.

The sale would include either 24 armed version of the Bell 407 civil helicopter, similar to the Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warriors and the planned ARH-70 armed reconnaissance helicopter, or an armed version of Boeing's AH-6 Little Bird, a version of an MD Helicopters civil aircraft.

The deal would also include large supplies of weapons and ammunition as well as support equipment, technical advice and training for the Iraqi Air Force. The details are included in this release from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

-- Bob Cox