L O C K H E E D
M A RT I N
A E RONAU T ICS
COM PA N Y
THIRD
QUARTER
2007
COLLIER TROPHY FOR F-22 HURRICANE HUNTERS F-35 ENGINE TESTING
LOCKHEED MARTIN PHOTO
When the US Air Force was established sixty years ago on 18 September 1947, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the new service’s front line fighter and first truly operational jet aircraft. During its career, the P-80 (redesignated F-80 in 1948) set numerous speed records and was the victor in the world’s first jet-vs.-jet aerial combat. Shown are four of the 917 P-80As built.
Vol. 22 No. 3
Third Quarter 2007
EDITOR
LO CKHEED
MARTIN
AERONAUTIC S
COMPANY
Eric Hehs MANAGING EDITOR
Catherine Hernandez-Blades ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Jeff Rhodes
ART DIRECTOR
Stan Baggett
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HURRICANE HUNTERS Flying Through The Eye In A WC-130J
VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS
Mary Jo Polidore
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION PRESIDENT, AERONAUTICS COMPANY
Ralph D. Heath
PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
Send name, address, and $20 for a one-year subscription (four issues) to PO Box 5189, Brentwood, TN 37024-5189. Foreign subscriptions are $30 (US). Some back issues are available.
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VERTICAL POWER F135 Engine Testing In Florida
ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBERS
Send correspondence to Code One Magazine, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, PO Box 748, Mail Zone 1503, Fort Worth, TX 76101 Editorial office phone number: 817-777-5542 E-mail: eric.hehs@lmco.com Web address: www.codeonemagazine.com Fax: 817-777-8655 Distribution information: 888-883-3780 This publication is intended for information only. Its contents neither replace nor revise any material in official manuals or publications. Copyright © 2007 Lockheed Martin Corporation. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint articles or photographs must be requested in writing from the editor. Code One is a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Code One is published quarterly by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. ISSN 1071-3816 A07-21678 ABOUT THE COVER Front: The F-22 Team was recently awarded the prestigious Collier Trophy. See the first page of the Events section for details. Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga Back: Mount Rainier is framed by a C-5B from Dover AFB, Delaware, during Air Mobility Rodeo 2007, Air Mobility Command’s biennial readiness competition. Coverage of Rodeo 2007, held at McChord AFB, Washington, will appear in the fourth quarter issue of Code One. Photo by John Rossino
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NOT JUST SPARE PARTS An Overview Of Global Sustainment
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EVENTS
HURRICANE
HUNTERS ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY JEFF RHODES
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he colors inside and outside of the WC-130J Weatherbird are what stand out when flying into the eye of a hurricane. The radar first displays the bright green of the outer storm
bands. Proceeding on course, the mustard yellow areas of more severe wind and heavy rain come up on the screen. Next comes the red of the areas of the highest winds and drenching rains. Finally, the eye—the area of comparably light winds, highest temperatures, and lowest barometric pressures in the middle of the storm—shows up as a black hole. The WC-130J crew has seen nothing out the windows but solid clouds the color of plowed dirty gray-white snow flying in the storm. Breaking through the eye wall, a patch of crystal clear blue sky appears overhead. Jagged whitecaps churn in the pea-green Caribbean a few thousand feet below. It is here the crew is busiest. “Our mission is to fly weather reconnaissance and provide the location of the storm to the forecaster s at the National Hurricane Center as well as barometric pressure and wind readings,” says Lt. Col. Bobby Harder, an instructor pilot with the 5 3rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the Air Force Reserve Command unit at Keesler AFB, near Biloxi, Mississippi, known as the Hurricane Hunters.
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The 53rd WRS began operations with new WC-130J Weatherbirds in 2003, when the unit dropped weather buoys ahead of tropical depressions. The squadron started flying into hurricanes full time with the WC-130J in September 2005. The H-model Hercules aircraft were retired or sent to other C-130 units.
“IF THERE IS A STORM OUT THERE, WE HAVE AN AIRCRAFT AIRBORNE. WE’LL KEEP FLYING UNTIL THE HURRICANE DIES OR MAKES LANDFALL.” – LT. COL. BOBBY HARDER Weather Recon History Like many milestone events in aviation, flying into severe storms began as a barroom dare. On 27 July 1943, Army Air Corps Maj. Joe Duckworth won the challenge as he f lew a two-place, propeller-driven, single-engine AT-6 Texan trainer into the eye of a tropical storm and survived. Duckworth’s two sorties are generally considered to be the first airborne attempts to plot the position of a tropical cyclone—the formal name for a hurricane—as it approached land. In September 1945, a crew from the 53rd was the first to f ly into a hurricane. Over the next decades, the active duty Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and the US Navy all f lew weather reconnaissance. The Navy discontinued the mission in the 1980s, and the active duty Air Force followed suit several years later. Since 1993, the 53rd WRS has been the only operational unit in the world flying weather reconnaissance on a routine basis. Over the years, the 53rd WRS has flown a variety of mostly four-engine modified bombers like the WB-17, WB-29, and WB-50. In 1962, after a ten-year stint in the six-jet WB-47 medium bomber, which could only be used to fly around the edge of storms, the Hurricane Hunters switched to the four turboprop WC-130B. The improved WC-130H entered service in the late 1960s. 4
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Hurricane Dean A tropical wave formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean on 13 August. The next day it turned into Tropical Storm Dea n, t he four t h na med s t o r m f o r 2 0 0 7. T h e Hu r r i c a n e Hu nters deployed t h ree a i rcra f t, t hree crews, a nd a cadre of for t y ma inta iners a nd suppor t sta f f to their forward operating location in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, to be closer to the storm as it intensified. “If t here is a storm out t here, we have a n a ircra f t a irborne,” notes Harder. “We’ll keep f lying until the hurricane dies or makes landfall.” The deployed home of the Hurricane Hunters is a warehouse at Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport. The unit f lies a war readiness spares kit, complete with a replacement propeller, to St. Croix every May in preparation for hurricane season, which runs from 1 June to 30 November. A pair of modular buildings inside the
facility serves as the operations and maintenance ready rooms. Whenever a storm brews in this part of the Atlantic, the members of 53rd WRS arrive, turn on the lights, and start f lying. The Hurricane Hunters were f ly i ng t hree missions a day a s D e a n b e c a me a hu r r ic a ne on 16 August. The hurricane continued to strengthen as it moved closer to the Lesser Antilles islands. Storms are categorized using the Safir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, which gives an estimate of the potential property damage and f looding expected along the coastline from a hurricane landfall. After Dean became a hurricane (winds above seventy-five mph), it quickly intensified from a Category 2 hurricane (ninety-six to 110 mph winds) to a Category 3 storm (111 to 130 mph). It reached Category 4 status (131 to 155 mph) on 18 August. Dean was a Category 5 storm (more than 155 mph) when it hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula two days later. This storm finally dissipated in the Mexican mountains on 23 August. Hurricane Dean was responsible for forty deaths and millions of dollars in damages across the Caribbean and Mexico. But the damage and loss of life could have been worse. “Sa me br ief i ng , s a me m ission, different day,” joked pilot Lt. Col.
John Loughery as the seven aircrew members gathered for the day sortie on 18 August. Getting down to business, t he outbound crew received i n for mat ion about Dea n’s w i nd s (144 mph) as well as its barometric pressure, size, location, and predicted track from the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The crew on the night f light had run into some heavy lightning as well as hail, which had taken the paint off their aircraft in a couple of places. Hail damaging the composite propellers, initially an issue with the WC-130J, was resolved in 2004 with the addition of a taco shell-shaped composite shield on each propeller blade shank. “On the road, we try to stay with the same crew,” notes Harder. “We are a Reserve unit, so some people can stay on ly t wo week s, whi le some can stay three, depending on their civilian jobs. With three crews on a deployment, we fly a continuous cycle. One crew goes into crew rest at the same time that another gets ready to fly.” Hu rr ica ne Dea n’s prox i mit y to St. Croix on 18 August meant that flight time to the storm that morning was only thirty minutes. Harder ran the storm pre-entry checklist almost immediately after takeoff. On the f light deck, the pilot calls up engine data and the radar display
on his color multifunction displays, or MFDs. The co-pi lot works t he radios and coordinates with air traffic control, and calls up the moving map display and the radar on his MFDs. The radar picture is a lso brought up on the navigator’s MFD, as well as at the station of the aerial reconnaissance weather officer, or ARWO, and on the loadmaster’s station in the aircraft’s cargo hold. The importance of the radar for this mission cannot be underestimated. “The radar in the C-130J is great for weather avoidance, but that’s not what we do,” notes Maj. Greg Lufkin, one of the squadron’s senior navigators. “Normally, the knowledge that
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there is a storm at a particular spot is enough, and the crew can steer around it. But we need to see exactly how bad the storm is and, just as importantly, what is beyond it.” B e fore t he Hu r r ic a ne Hu nter s could f ly into storms, the Northrop Grumman AN/APN-241 low-power color radar, standard in all C-130Js, had to be modified. Development and testing of a major software change to the radar took time, but it was worth the wait because the radar can now look through the storm cells to measure winds and determine the intensity of the rainfall more accurately. “The pilots look at the radar and ask me to plot a course around the worst weather,” adds Lufkin. “They couldn’t do that in the H-model aircraft.” The crew f lies what is known as an alpha pattern into and around the storm. Starting at 105 miles out from the eye—a standard reference point—the crew takes a wind measurement. As the WC-130J goes through the eye, the ARWO directs the flight. The crew then continues on the same course and f lies 105 miles out the other side of the storm to take another wind measurement.
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On this particular mission, the crew entered the storm from the northeast and flew to the southwest. At the 105mile point, the navigator set course to the east to f ly with the counterclockwise wind motion of the storm. For the second penetration, the crew flew southeast to northwest, followed by a crosswind leg to the south. On a normal mission, the crew makes four passes through the eye. The f lights are planned so that after the last pass, the crew comes out on the side of the storm closest to base so that the crew can fly a direct route home. “The crosswind legs average about 150 miles,” notes Lufkin. “Kids sometimes ask me why they need to learn math. Well, the storm is moving at twenty or twenty-five knots, so the alpha pattern is not just a big X on a stationary target. We have to figure out approximately where the eye will be when we get there. Trigonometry works well for us.” Ironically, the more organized and intense the storm is, the smoother the ride. A Category 3 or 4 storm is often less bumpy than a more disorganized Category 2. Notes Lufkin, “The storms are given individual names for
a reason. Every storm has a unique personality.” The turbulence on this day’s flight is not bad. However, during a flight into Hurricane Felix, a Category 5 storm in early September, the bumps were so severe that the flight through the eye had to be terminated early. “Nine times out of ten, the f lights are not as bad as you might think,” notes Loughery. “That tenth one sometimes causes us to question our career choice.” For consistency of the measurements, the crew has to f ly at a pressure altitude of 10,000 feet through the eye. The crew enters the eye at 10,000 feet, but is descending. At the center of the storm—the point of lowest pressure—the WC-130J crew members could find themselves only 8,000 feet above the water and need to climb and accelerate in preparation to exit the other side of the eye. “The WC-130J has a lot more power than an E- or an H-model, which is critical for us.” notes Harder. “It can also fly faster.” The ARWO and loadmaster are busiest when f lying into the eye. “In the eye, the ARWO, a professional, college-degreed meteorologist, acts as
the mission director,” explains Lt. Col. Jonathan Talbot, the chief meteorologist for the 53rd WRS. “We pass data to the National Hurricane Center and tell the meteorologists there what we are seeing. We make sure they get the best data so they can build a better forecast.” By actually flying in a storm to collect data, the Hurricane Hunters increase the accuracy of the National Hurricane Center’s forecast by roughly thirty percent. The ARWO operates the computerized weather reconnaissance equipment from a palletized station on the left front side of the cargo compartment, just behind the flight deck bulkhead near the crew entrance door on the WC-130J. Both the ARWO and the weather reconnaissance loadmaster, whose console is on the right side of the cargo hold, can see outside through thirty by twenty-four inch windows installed in the aircraft’s emergency exit door. “The location of the two consoles leaves room in the aircraft for additional cargo,” says CMSgt. Robert E. Lee, one of the loadmasters. “Now, we can self-deploy.” “We collect raw data every second and compile it every ten seconds,” notes Talbot. “We get a lot of informat ion f rom t he a ircra f t sensors and the data bus. We use software to build the mission plot. The computer auto-generates messages and sends them to the National Hurricane Center via SATCOM radio every ten minutes so the Center forecasters know our exact location.” A new piece of equipment for the Hurricane Hunters t his season is the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, or SFMR. This instrument, mounted in a pod under the aircraft’s right wing, continuously measures winds at the ocean’s surface directly below the aircraft. The SFMR, known as “smurf,” senses microwave radiation naturally emitted from foam created on the sea surface to determine wind speed. In the past, the ARWO would have to estimate winds by looking at the sea surface and use data extrapolated from dropsondes released into the storm.
The Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, or SFMR, mounted in a pod under the aircraft’s right wing, continuously measures winds at the ocean’s surface directly below the aircraft.
Dropsondes, or sondes, are eighteeninch reinforced cardboard tubes that contain weather reporting instruments that measure conditions from the aircraft to the surface of the ocean. The sondes measure temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and duration. The loadmaster uses a spring-loaded launcher to eject the dropsondes from the bottom of the aircraft. During their descent, the sondes are slowed by a ballute—a cross between a parachute and a balloon. “We get data from the dropsondes for about four minutes. Then they hit the water and short out,” says Lee, who is no relat ion to his fa mous namesake. “I used to spend about fifteen minutes to dredge the data down and build a wind chart. Now, the process is automated, and I can send the data in about seventy seconds.” Lee started with the Hurricane Hunters in 1983 and will retire this fall. This f light through Dean was his 319th pass through the eye of a hurricane. The first dropsonde is released at the eye wall. The ARWO then tries to fix the exact center of the storm where the second dropsonde is released. The third sonde is released as the WC130J penetrates the outer wall and back into the clouds and rain. On this mission, Talbot is training 1st Lt. Doug Gautrau, a new ARWO making
his third f light in a storm. Gautrau, running the weather console, hit the bull ’s-eye on his second pass into Dean’s eleven-mile wide eye. Where the sonde was dropped, the recorded w i nds were t wo mph. A n A RWO has to make ten flights and accumulate about 100 hours in storms to be fully qualified. At the National Hurricane Center, Talbot and Gautrau are in constant contact with a small group of Air Force Reser ve civ i lia n personnel assigned to the 53rd WRS. These civilians are the interface between the Hurricane Hunters and the Hurricane Center forecasters. After the third pass on this day’s mission, the Center’s meteorologists note a slight change in the storm’s track. One of the f light’s crosswind legs was cut short, and the crew made an immediate north-to-south pass through the storm, then an immediate southeast to northeast pass, essentially flying a giant K-shaped pattern. This sent the crew through the strongest part of the storm cells, but the data was needed. “And we were getting along so well with the forecasters today, too,” Harder quipped. After the fifth pass through the eye, the crew was pointed in the right direction for a quick flight straight to St. Croix. “People who live on the coast tell us what we do means a lot to them,” observes Harder, who has been flying into storms for twent y-one years. Harder was one of the many people at Keesler whose life was disrupted by Hurrica ne Katrina in 20 05. “ The accuracy of the National Hurricane Center’s forecast is critical. A difference in twenty miles in landfall is the difference between a hurricane hitting Fort Lauderdale or Miami. That information is impor tant to emergenc y crews. Evacuat i ng a n area costs roughly a million dollars a mile. So the better the predictions are, the more efficiently and effectively the right people can be helped. What we do is important.” Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.
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F135 Engine Testing In Florida The C12 engine test stand rises above the flat Florida terrain like a massive metal insect. Five steel pipes, up to eight feet in diameter, connect at a central arm that supports the vertical lift system that will power the F-35B Lightning II. The structure rises high above the cooling ponds at the Pratt & Whitney Florida test site in West Palm Beach.
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V E R T I C A L P O W E R
“We put about three million pounds of concrete and steel reinforcements in the C12 stand bringing the weight of the stand to about five million pounds to improve the accuracy of the thrust measurements,” explains Gordon Boggie, who manages system engineering and validation for Pratt & Whitney at the Florida test site. “We had to add four legs to the structure to raise the natural frequency of the stand during engine runs.” One engine run will convince any visitor of the necessity for the additional bracing. In full-power afterburner, the F135-PW-100 emits a blue flame and generates up to 40,000 pounds of thrust. The exhaust sends whitecaps rippling across the nearby cooling pond and sways pine trees standing more than a hundred yards away. “Without the reinforcement,” continues Boggie, “the stand would oscillate slightly and affect our measurements.” Accuracy of 0.5 percent for a 40,000pound thrust class engine equates to 200 pounds. According to Boggie, the test setup is well within that margin of error. Such accuracy is not always as critical when testing a typical commercial or military aircraft engine. For these powerplants, plus or minus two hundred pounds is inconsequential. Besides, these engines play a relatively small part in the flight control system. In vertical flight modes for the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, however, thrust becomes the primary source of controlling flight. An extra 200 pounds in the wrong direction can mean the difference between stability and its opposite. “We’re not just testing an engine, we are developing a STOVL propulsion system,” Boggie explains. “The C12 test stand as well as the C14 stand next to it accurately measures forces in six axes: pitch, roll, yaw, vertical, lateral, and axial. The data taken from these system tests is used to refine the flight control software for the STOVL version of the F-35.”
F-35B Vertical Lift System Explained The STOVL propulsion system on the F-35B includes a lift fan behind the cockpit, roll posts on the underside of the wings, and a three-bearing swivel exhaust nozzle on the engine. The lift fan provides almost half of the downward thrust needed for a pure hover mode. The fan’s two sets of counter-rotating blades are driven by a driveshaft connected to the face of the main engine fan. A clutch at the forward end of the driveshaft engages the lift fan. The lift fan, which is covered from above by an aft-hinged door, opens as the aircraft transitions to hover mode. Thrust is controlled by the speed of the lift fan, a set of variable inlet guide vanes that reside above the rotating blades of the lift fan, and by a device called a variable area vane box nozzle on the lower side of the fan. The vane box nozzle contains a set of six vanes (or louvers) that direct and control the amount of downward thrust emanating from the lift fan. Third Quarter 2007
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The two roll posts together contribute about ten percent of the downward thrust. More importantly, they are used to control aircraft attitude in the roll axis. The posts are at the exit end of a duct that taps into the fan section of the main engine. Thrust for the posts comes from cooler air that normally bypasses the engine’s turbine section. The exhaust areas of the two roll posts can be varied independently. The posts, therefore, control roll by expelling different amounts of thrust between the port and starboard sides of the aircraft. The remaining vertical thrust is provided by the three-bearing exhaust nozzle on the main engine. The nozzle can swivel ninety-five degrees downward from the horizontal for lift and pitch control. The nozzle can sweep approximately twelve degrees left or right for yaw control.
Engine Testing Roundup Pratt & Whitney is planning to test a total of seven STOVL lift systems and at least five conventional engines by
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the end of the current system development and demonstration phase of the F-35 program, which is scheduled to end in 2012. Most of the Florida STOVL engine testing will be completed by the end of 2009. That testing falls into three major categories: developmental, endurance, and altitude. Developmental testing verifies the design of the hardware. Stresses, pressures, and temperatures are confirmed against the intent of the design. Endurance testing demonstrates the durability and the life expectancy of the hardware. One of the STOVL engines in Florida is experiencing more than seven years of operational use in about six months. During these tests, the engine is taken through duty cycles it will experience in typical flight test missions. Altitude testing involves operating the engine at a wide range of pressures and temperatures, simulating sea-level to high-altitude conditions. While most of the altitude testing has taken place at Arnold Engineering Development
Center in Tennessee, Pratt & Whitney is adding altitude testing to its facilities in Florida.
Development Testing In Detail “Most of our development testing in Florida is associated with low speeds and low altitudes, the lower left-hand corner of the flight envelope,” notes Mark Tracy, manager of test operations for Pratt & Whitney at the Florida test site. “We are mitigating the risk for the powered lift flight test program for F-35B. Our work here verifies that the propulsion system will produce the amount of downward thrust needed for
a successful flight test program for the F-35B and later for a successful realworld operation.” Recent developmental testing in Florida has focused on a redesigned inlet shape for the lift fan to get more lift and performance and to reduce flow distortion at the face of the lift fan. “The inlet is at ninety degrees to the airflow, so it presents a unique situation,” explains Tom Sylvester, a senior engineer for Lockheed Martin present for these particular tests. “We used traditional methods for the initial design, but they just don’t work well for a lift fan inlet because of the short distance between the inlet lip and the face of the fan. Unlike more traditional inlets, the airflow doesn’t settle out before it gets to the fan surface.” The differences between the original inlet (called the development inlet) and the redesigned inlet (called the flight inlet) are imperceptible to an untrained eye. “The lip of the new inlet is only slightly different—an inch or two wider on the sides and a little taller,” Sylvester explains. “The fan itself didn’t change, but the inlet door was re-contoured to close securely against the new shape.” Northrop Grumman produced a metal/composite model of the new inlet shape. The model includes an aerodynamic fairing that replicates the fuselage area around the inlet that affects airflow into the inlet. The C14 test stand structure was modified for this model, which was installed on the stand with the rest of the vertical lift system in March 2007. The vertical lift system with the new inlet and door combination was put through 116 hours of testing. During these tests, a crosswind generator used for testing effects of crosswinds on commercial jet engines was set up next to the test stand. The performance of
the new inlet design was evaluated in crosswind angles of ninety degrees and wind speeds up to thirty-five knots. The testing reduced a lot of uncertainties. “The lift fan performed better than we predicted,” Sylvester explains. “The thrust numbers needed for hover are there.” The biggest success is the additional thrust achieved from going to the development inlet to the flight inlet. “We increased the thrust and reduced the distortion in the lift fan, which will improve the durability and longevity of the system.” “The results were excellent,” says Fran Ketter, research engineering director for Lockheed Martin and the program management interface for F-35 propulsion integration.
“The inlet redesign resulted in significant improvements.” The performance achieved with this design meets the requirements and exceeds it in some areas. Just as important, the amount of thrust developed from the installed vertical lift system is now a known quantity. “That’s a number we didn’t have for the X-35B until that airplane did its first press up on the hover pad in California,” continues Ketter. “We know that the lift system is going to produce adequate thrust margins and that we will be able to do everything planned for the upcoming flight test program for the F-35B.” Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One.
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“Two-thirds of the cost of owning an aircraft comes after it is delivered,” says Marillyn Hewson, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s new Global Sustainment organization. “Spare parts, life-cycle costs, upgrades, and supply chain management may not be the most glamorous parts of aviation, but they are among the most important.”
Not Just Spare Parts The Global Sustainment organization came about in late February 2007 when several organizational changes within Lockheed Martin Corporation were announced. These changes were made primarily so the corporation could better align with its customers and how they operate. One of those announced changes involved the Lockheed Martin Logistics Services group. This organization was moved from Information Technology and Global Services to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. Logistics Services and the legacy worldwide aircraft sustainment business already operating under Aeronautics were then combined into a single organization—Global Sustainment. PHOTOS BY JOHN ROSSINO
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“Global Sustainment provides Lockheed Martin customers with knowledge, expertise, and technology combined with a low-cost sustainment services option for their aircraft,” notes Hewson. “Customers get a single point of contact, greater availability of aircraft, and affordable solutions tailored to address their specific needs wherever and whenever required. Of course, we provide support for all the Lockheed Martin aircraft, but we also can apply our expertise to aircraft produced by other companies.” Encompassing all aspects of aircraft operation, Global Sustainment services include depot-level airframe maintenance; engine maintenance; repair and overhaul;
spectrum, Global Sustainment can manage a customer’s entire fleet of aircraft, as it does for the US Air Force on the F-117. “We are responsible for total life-cycle support for the Nighthawk,” continues Hewson. “The Air Force doesn’t have to worry if an aircraft has parts or is upgraded with the latest software. The operators can focus on the mission. Between those levels of complexity are the programs in which customers bring aircraft or engines to us for depot-level maintenance. “We have a strong organization in terms of sustainment, support services, and in operations,” Hewson adds. “But new platforms, such as the F-35, bring new requirements. When that aircraft returns to base, its systems will tell us what kind of maintenance or parts it needs. When it lands, the parts and personnel will be there to fix it and turn it around for another mission.” Global Sustainment supports more than 6,000 aircraft worldwide, with that number increasing with future sales of the F-16, C-130J, and F-35. “As we have more aircraft and people deployed around the world, we need to make sure our systems and processes support the aircraft efficiently and effectively,” notes Hewson. “We need to upgrade our training continually and stay ahead with new technology at the same time. We must sustain our talent base to meet the needs of our customers.” Code One will cover Global Sustainment topics in future issues. In the meantime, the following list provides several examples of major activities and programs that fall under this new organization. maintenance management; spares; field support; engineering support services; training; business processes; sustainment integration; modifications and upgrades; technical publications; and supply chain management, or managing the entire process from planning and buying parts from a vendor to installing them on the aircraft. Global Sustainment is organized into two primary business segments: Sustainment Operations and Sustainment Services. Sustainment Operations, the product support group, is responsible for engineering support services, supply chain services, business processes, training, technical publications, and sustainment integration. Sustainment Services includes a facility in Greenville, South Carolina, where aircraft are maintained, repaired, overhauled, and modified. Kelly Aviation Center in San Antonio, Texas, maintains, repairs, and overhauls military engines. Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina, or LMAASA, located in Cordoba, Argentina, provides aircraft and engines for the Argentine Air Force. LMASSA also produces the AT-63 Pampa trainer/light attack aircraft. “Our customers have many different levels of need,” says Hewson. “Our work can be as basic as supplying spare parts or as vital as sending a field team to a deployed location to make repairs or as fundamental as training customers to maintain their own aircraft.” At the other end of the Third Quarter 2007
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Integrated Prime Vendor Contract This program provides bench stock items, or items stored at the workstations, for the Air Force Air Logistics Centers at Warner Robins, Georgia; Ogden, Utah; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. More than 96,000 parts and 300,000 bins are managed; 30,000 bin replenishment purchasing transactions are conducted per week; and 4,500 to 5,000 parts kits are assembled per month. Spares And Repairs Spare parts and repaired parts are provided to the US Defense Logistics Agency and numerous international customers as part of supply support programs. Propulsion Business Area The Kelly Aviation Center in San Antonio, Texas, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin, GE Aviation, and RollsRoyce, is a public/private partnership with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. This venture provides engine and component overhaul services for the TF39 engines used on C-5 strategic transports, T56 engines on C-130 airlifters, F118 engines on the U-2S high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, and the CF6-50 engines on KC-10 tankers. All overhauled engines are tested on-site. Technicians at Kelly also assemble F110-GE-129 engines for some F-16s. One way Kelly Aviation Center gets those technicians is through an innovative partnership with the San Antonio Independent School District called the Aerospace Academy. Begun in 1998, this program provides high school juniors and seniors practical training and experience in becoming jet engine mechanics. The students graduate high school with approximately thirty hours toward an associate’s degree. Twenty-six students have completed the program so far. Aircraft Maintenance, Repair And Overhaul, And Major Modifications The facility in Greenville, South Carolina, has several contracts with the US Air Force, US Navy, US Coast Guard, and several international customers to provide depot maintenance, repair, and overhaul; inspections; and painting, as well as major avionics upgrades and modifications primarily for P-3s and C-130s. Some examples of current programs in Greenville include repair and preventive maintenance on AC-130 gunships, 14
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complete depot maintenance and major upgrade of used C-130Es being sold to Pakistan plus Pakistani maintenance personnel training, depot maintenance for US Navy and US Customs and Border Protection P-3s, and missionization of US Coast Guard C-130Js to the HC-130J long-range search and rescue aircraft standard. Greenville also deploys field teams to provide on-site support for international and domestic customers, such as the teams installing the C-5 Avionics Modernization Program kits at Dover AFB, Delaware, and Travis AFB, California. C-5 Galaxy Upgrades The Global Sustainment organization has two C-5 Galaxy transport upgrade programs currently under way. The first upgrade program supports and assembles Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures, or LAIRCM, Group A equipment plus spares for seven C-5B aircraft. Installation of this equipment on the first aircraft has been completed at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia. The second upgrade program contracts for long-lead tasks related to installation of the first production C-5M Super Galaxy Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program modification kit. Joint C-130J Upgrade The joint C-130J upgrade program with the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and Denmark is designed to provide upgrade aircraft with common components. This collaboration also allows these C-130J operators to add unique capabilities particular to their country’s requirements. The upgrade includes enhanced communications, navigation, and surveillance equipment; takeoff and landing data update systems; a common flight management system; and a terrain awareness warning system with both audio and visual cues. Mubadala Development Company Partnership A memorandum of understanding with the Mubadala Development Company was signed in June 2007. This agreement allows Lockheed Martin and Mubadala Development Company to explore a partnership for military aircraft sustainment in the Middle East and southwest Asia regions. Turkish F-16 Upgrade This modernization program provides upgrades to the existing Turkish Air Force F-16 fleet, including software and hardware avionics upgrades. Support efforts include flight testing, technical training support, and sustainment
activities. The work for this program is conducted at the Lockheed Martin facilities in Ankara, Turkey, and in Fort Worth, Texas.
twenty-seven percent increase in aircraft availability over the past six years and a fifty percent reduction in depotlevel scheduled maintenance costs.
Norwegian P-3 Service Life Extension This program provides life extension kits and new wings to add more than 15,000 hours of service life to each of the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. These service life hours equate to twenty-five years of additional service life.
C-130 HIOS The Hercules Integrated Operational Support, or HIOS, program ensures the Royal Air Force C-130K and C-130J fleets remain at a high level of readiness at all times. Begun in 2006, HIOS is a partnership between Lockheed Martin, Marshall Aerospace, and Rolls-Royce. This program is expected to save British taxpayers approximately $500 million (US$) over the next twenty years.
F-117 TSSP The Total System Support Program, or TSSP, provides complete logistics support to the US Air Force F-117 Nighthawk fleet. The F-117 comprises about seven percent of the Air Combat Command, or ACC, tactical fleet, but TSSP allows the aircraft to consume less than four percent of ACC’s operations and support budget. The 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, has the highest fighter/bomber mission capability rate in ACC. Mission impaired capability response time has been reduced by more than forty percent. S-3 Prime Vendor Support This ongoing program, in partnership with the US Navy, provides and enhances fleet support and maintenance for the S-3 Viking fleet through its planned sundown in 2009. The program includes a twenty-four hour Fleet Support Team that provides in-service engineering and integrated logistics support, a material oversight function to facilitate aircraft parts distribution, and an integrated maintenance program for aircraft inspection and repair. Because of Prime Vendor Support, the S-3 squadrons have experienced a
F-22 Product Support Integrator Lockheed Martin will be responsible for integrating and accomplishing all sustainment activities for the F-22 Raptor beginning in early 2008 as the Product Support Integrator, or PSI. As the PSI, Lockheed Martin will perform these efforts in partnership with the Air Force’s system support manager as well as with the Air Logistics Centers at Ogden, Utah; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Warner Robins, Georgia. F-35 Sustainment A centrally managed support system for all F-35 aircraft worldwide has been developed in partnership with the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office. Each F-35 will have the capability to monitor its own systems and automatically relay information to a central information system called the Autonomic Information System. The F-35 sustainment model begins with an aircraft built to new standards of reliability, with state-of-the-art prognostic and diagnostic systems. These systems are expected to reduce support costs by more than twenty percent.
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EVENTS
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Code One
F-22 Team Awarded Collier Trophy The joint contractor and US Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter team received the Robert J. Collier Trophy in ceremonies in Washington, DC,
on 8 June. The Raptor was specifically cited for its performance in the 2006 Northern Edge military exercise. During this largescale exercise, Raptor pilots flew ninety-seven percent of their scheduled missions, achieved an eighty-to-one kill ratio against the Red Air opponents, scored direct hits with 100 percent of their satellite-guided 1,000pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and increased overall situational awareness for the entire Blue Force through the F-22’s integrated avionics.
This award marks the sixteenth time Lockheed Martin or its aircraft have been honored with the Collier Trophy. The company won the award first in 1932 for the Martin B-10, the first all-metal bomber. Other legacy Lockheed Martin aircraft that have earned Collier recognition include the XC-35, the world’s first pressurized aircraf t; the F-104 Starfighter, the world’s first Mach 2 fighter; the Lockheed A-11 (A-12) “Blackbird” triple-sonic reconnaissance aircraft; the F-16 Fighting Falcon, for innovative fighter effectiveness; the F-117 Nig ht hawk, t he wor ld’s f ir s t operational stealth fighter; and the U-2S Dr agon L ady highaltitude reconnaissance aircraft. Lockheed Martin was also a key member of the integrated lift fan propulsion system validated on the X-35B, the Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator aircraft. The award, which is given annually by the National Aeronautic Association, is regarded as the most prestigious award in American aviation. It was established in 1911 and is presented each year “ f or t he g r ea t e s t achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America during the previous calendar year.”
F-35C Design Review Completed
Kolligian Trophy Presented
The critical design review for the US Navy’s F-35C Lightning II carrier variant was completed on 22 June to mark a significant development milestone. The review, which verifies the design maturity of the aircraft and its associated systems, was conducted at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. Officials from Naval Air Systems Command, the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office, the F-35 international participant nations, and the F-35 contractor team were involved. Completion of the CDR is a prerequisite for the F-35C to move into low-rate initial production. The F-35C, designed to replace the F/A-18A/C Hornet and to complement the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, will be the Navy’s first stealth aircraft.
Super Hercules 150
PHOTO BY SSGT. J. G. BUZ ANOWSKI
Lt. Col. Peter Byrne received the Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy in ceremonies at the Pentagon on 5 June for safely landing his F-16 despite suffering a stroke. During tactical maneuvering from Buckley AFB, Colorado, in June 2006, Byrne’s vertebral artery dissected and stopped blood flow to his brain. This condition caused severe vertigo and loss of visual acuity and loss of fine motor skills. Despite his condition, Byrne successfully flew for ninety minutes before safely landing at Buckley. His decisive actions and ability to cope with such a traumatic event prevented a potentially catastrophic mishap. The Kolligian Trophy, presented since 1958, is the Air Force’s only individual annual safety award. The trophy was presented by Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John D. Corley.
First Flight For F-35 EOTS
PHOTO BY JOHN ROSSINO
The 150th C-130J Super Hercules built to date was delivered on 8 May. The milestone aircraft is the eighth and final C-130J assigned to the 146th Airlift Wing, the California Air National Guard unit at Channel Islands ANGB near Oxnard. The aircraft was flown to California by Brig. Gen. Darren McDew, vice commander of the 18th Air Force. The 146th recently returned from a twenty-month deployment to Iraq where its Super Hercules aircraft were used as part of a joint force deployment for intratheater operations. During the deployment, four C-130Js were flown on 5,444 sorties totaling 10,750 flight hours. The aircraft delivered more than 12,500 tons of cargo and carried more than 70,000 passengers.
The first test flight of the Electro-Optical Targeting System, or EOTS, for the F-35 Lightning II was completed in early June on a specially configured Sabreliner executive transport. The first flight test met all objectives, including demonstrating the infrared search and track system and the forward-looking infrared search and track capability. This test ushered in the first phase of a three-phase flight test program. EOTS is expected to be joined with the complete F-35 sensor suite and flown aboard the F-35 program’s Cooperative Avionics Test Bed aircraft during the second quarter of 2008.
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Torpedoes With Wings Engineers at Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Florida, successfully demonstrated the High-Altitude ASW Weapons Concept, or HAAWC, from a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in May. HAAWC employs a wing adapter kit to allow patrol aircraft to launch torpedoes from high altitudes and standoff ranges. During the test, which was conducted at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center in the Bahamas, the Mk.54 torpedo was launched from the internal weapon bay of the P-3 as it flew above 8,000 feet. After the HAAWC-equipped torpedo executed a turn at a predetermined waypoint, it navigated via GPS to its normal launch altitude close to the surface of the ocean. The torpedo’s wings self-jettisoned just before the weapon entered the water.
Falcons To Raptors
PHOTO BY SSGT. SAMUEL ROGERS
The 192nd Fighter Wing closed out its sixteen-year history flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon with a final four-ship training mission from its base at Richmond International Airport on 20 June. The Virginia Air National Guard unit then officially began operations as a Guard Associate unit at Langley AFB, in Hampton, Virginia, flying the F-22 Raptor. More than twenty 192nd FW pilots are now trained to fly the F-22. A growing number of the wing’s full-time and traditional Air Guardsmen are now working at Langley, which is home to the active duty 1st Fighter Wing, the first Air Force combat unit to fly the F-22.
First And Lasts
A-Model To AMARC
The first KC-130J Super Hercules tanker to be delivered to an overseas Marine Corps unit was flown to MCAS Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, on 4 June. The aircraft is assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Wing 152 (VMGR-152). Nine new aircraft will replace older KC-130F models at Futenma over the next eighteen months, including the first KC-130 purchased by the Marine Corps in 1960. In other C-130J news, the last of eight C-130J transports was delivered to the 143rd Airlift Wing, the Air National Guard unit at Quonset State Airport, Providence, Rhode Island, in mid June. The last of four C-130Js for the Royal Danish Air Force was delivered to 721 Squadron at Aalborg, Denmark, in early July.
PHOTO BY LCPL. JUAN D. ALFONSO PHOTO BY MSGT. DAVID NEVE
PHOTO BY JOHN ROSSINO
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Code One
The last operational F-16A Fighting Falcon had its final mission on 15 June, being flown from Tucson ANGB and then placed in indefinite storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson. The 162nd Fighter Wing, having flown the A and B models since taking on the F-16 training mission in 1985, retired its one remaining F-16A and two F-16B model aircraft to complete its conversion to the F-16C/D. During the last 22 years, the wing trained 1,640 US and allied pilots in the F-16A/B. The 162nd FW has trained pilots from twenty-two of the twenty-four countries that fly the fighter.
C-5 Schoolhouse Transfers To Lackland
PHOTO BY SRA. JOSHUA DEMOT TS
An early morning takeoff of a C-5A on 29 June ended thirtyeight years of training C-5 aircrews at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, and formally transferred that responsibility to Air Force Reserve Command’s 443rd Airlift Wing at L ack land AF B, San Antonio, Texas. A crew from the 167th Airlif t Wing, the Air National Guard unit at Martinsburg, West Virginia, flew the aircraft to its new home. T he f ir st air cr af t was delivered from Lockheed in Mar iet t a, Geor g ia, to t he then-56th Militar y Airlif t Squadron, which became the first operational C-5 flying unit on 17 December 1969. More than 16,000 C-5 pilots, navigators, and loadmasters from active duty, Air National Guard, and Reserve units were trained at Altus.
Reserve Transition The last of the 419th Fighter Wing’s F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft left Hill AFB, Utah, on 28 June, signifying the end of one era and the beginning of another. The pilots and maintainers from the Air Force Reserve Command wing will now team with Hill’s active duty 388th Fighter Wing to carry out a joint flying mission. The transition is part of the Air Force’s total force integration program, which joins similar units to increase overall combat capability. The 419th’s entire fleet of Block 30 F-16 aircraft is now assigned to other Reserve and Air National Guard units. The Reserve wing has flown and maintained its own F-16 aircraft for more than twenty years.
Raptor 03 Enshrined
PHOTO BY TSGT. MICHAEL OWENS
Falcon Air Meet Members of the 140th Wing, the Colorado Air National Guard unit at Buckley AFB, near Denver, Colorado, served as judges for the second annual Falcon Air Meet hosted in May by the Royal Jordanian Air Force at Muwaffaq Salti AB, Jordan. The goal of the meet is for F-16 units to train and work through friendly competition. Units from Belgium, Turkey, and Jordan, plus the 55th Fighter Squadron from Shaw AFB, South Carolina, competed in maintenance and operations events, which consisted of a four-ship formation arrival, a scramble launch, air-to-air combat, weapons loading, and bombing missions. In addition to the scored events, the four countries also trained with each other in basic fighter maneuvers, air combat training, and large force employment.
Raptor 03, the third F-22 to come off the assembly line, was retired to the National Museum of the US Air Force in a small ceremony at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, on 30 April. The aircraft (serial number 91-0003) was one of nine aircraft built during the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the F-22 program. After some minor restoration, Raptor 03 is expected to go on display in the museum in late 2007, making it the first F-22 to go on public display. Raptor 03, the first F-22 used to launch an AIM-120 air-to-air missile at supersonic speeds, was first flown in March 2000.
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Add A Flag
PHOTO BY SSGT. KRISTI MACHADO
The US Air Force Thunderbirds added the Irish colors to the flag panel on their red, white, and blue F-16s to honor their first visit to the Emerald Isle on 24 June. The panel, located near the canopy, is a display of each flag of the nations where the aerial demonstration team has performed during its fifty-four year history. The show at Galway, Ireland, attended by more than 100,000 people, was one of nine performances in six countries on the team’s 2007 European Goodwill Tour. The seventy-Airman team also performed in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, France, and England, all within a five-week period.
Falklands Veterans Mark Anniversary One of the most experienced Hercules crews flew over Buckingham Palace as par t of the for ty-nine aircraft Falkland Islands 25th Anniversary Flypast held in London on 17 June. Five of the six-member crew were Operation Corporate veterans who flew in Royal Air Force C-130K Hercules transport aircraft during the seventy-four day conflict in the South Atlantic in 1982. The group had a combined total flying experience of 66,000 hours. Only the aircraft commander, Flt. Lt. Steve Lippiatt, an instructor pilot at RAF Lyneham, remains in the regular RAF. The other veterans are now members of 1359 Flight, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the Hercules reservist aircrew flight.
In Memoriam
R & R Milestone
Lt. Col. Robert L. Riedenauer, USAF (ret.), the only test pilot to have flown the FB-111, U-2 Dragon Lady, SR-71 “Blackbird,” and the F-117 Nighthawk, passed away 23 April. He was seventy. In the Air Force, Riedenauer conducted test flights in the FB-111A, U-2, and SR-71. After joining Lockheed Skunk Works, Palmdale, California, he served as an engineering test pilot and later as director of operations. He helped design and develop aircraf t on several classified programs and served as one of the company’s principal test pilots on the F-117. A combat veteran and a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test pilots, he logged more than 6,500 hours in more than fifty different aircraft types during his career. He retired from Lockheed in 1993.
PHOTO BY TSGT. JOHN JUNG
An ATA Airlines L-1011 touched down at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on 12 June to bring home the 500,000th passenger since US Central Command’s Rest and Recuperation Leave Program and Air Mobility Command’s R and R flight operations began in 2003. Maj. Gen. Frederick Roggero, director of Air, Space, and Information Operations for Headquarters Air Mobility Command, greeted the 151 US service members and Department of Defense civilians coming home from Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. AMC is responsible for contracting all commercial aircraft for worldwide DoD passenger and cargo charter airlift, including the R and R flight missions. Approximately 420 passengers fly home from the war zone on two daily charter flights.
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Code One
PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD
S M A T NO C-5 Honored The C-5 Galaxy was chosen as the featured aircraft for the eleventh annual US Air Force Marathon held on 15 September at WrightPatterson AFB, Ohio. The aircraft’s likeness appeared on the medals given to all runners. A C-5 from the 445th Airlift Wing, the Air Force Reserve Command unit at Wright-Patterson, was flown over the course during the race.
C-130Js For Norway The governments of Norway and the United States signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance in late June for four C-130J Super Hercules transports to be operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Norway’s current fleet of six C-130Hs is nearly forty years old. The first new aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in late 2008 followed by the other three by 2010. Talisman Saber
This space is devoted to announcements and items of general interest. For our non-pilot readers, NOTAM is short for Notice to Airmen. NOTAMS, briefed before every mission, contain important information that may concern the flight. Gotcha!
Coordination between US Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard, and crews from a US Navy P-3C Orion and the frigate USS Dewert (FFG-45) resulted in the seizure of an estimated $352 million of cocaine during an interdiction and boarding operation on a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel in the eastern Pacific. The seizure occurred 19 August. Viking Out Of Water
A Navy S-3 Viking crew from VS-22 at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, taxis down the runway after arriving at Eielson AFB, Alaska, on 11 July to participate in the Red Flag-Alaska exercises. Red Flag-Alaska enables aviation units to sharpen their combat skills by flying ten simulated combat sorties in a realistic threat environment.
Heavy Load
Aerial porters from Charleston AFB, South Carolina, and loadmasters from the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover AFB, Delaware, came together on 16 August to load Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles onto a Dover-based C-5 Galaxy at Charleston. Less than four hours were needed to load the aircraft, strap down the MRAPs, refuel the C-5, and take off. Somber Duty The casket of Lt. Cmdr. Kevin J. Davis is carried by NAS Pensacola’s Honor Guard off the Blue Angels KC-130 support aircraft as his fellow Blue Angels salute. Davis died when his F/A-18 crashed at an airshow at
Just Visiting
Australian army paratroopers kick off exercise Talisman Saber 2007 as they descend on Kapyong airfield inside the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area in Australia, after jumping from a Royal Australian Air Force C-130J. Talisman Saber is designed to enhance combat readiness and interoperability between US and Australian military forces.
An F-22 Raptor from the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, is taxied out at Eielson AFB, Alaska, as an F-16 pilot gets airborne. The F-22 was on static display during the 354th Fighter Wing change of command ceremony at Eielson, near Fairbanks.
MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina, on 21 April. He flew opposing solo for the Blues. Capt. Shawn McCaughey, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds pilot who died in the crash of his CT-114 aircraft during an airshow practice at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, was returned to CFB Moose Jaw by a Canadian CC-130 crew on 23 May. He flew as Snowbird 2.
F-2 Live Bomb Drop The Japan Air Self Defense Force carried out the first deployment and first live weapon drops from its F-2 support fighter at Andersen AFB, Guam, on 13 June as part of Exercise Cope North. Japan has no live ranges, so the F-2 pilots used the opportunity to practice with live weapons at the Farallon de Medinilla range, 160 nautical miles northeast of Andersen.
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