BLOG POST : USMC to start F-35B flights next week at Eglin AFB

Sourced from Flight International, via FlightGlobal.

The US Marine Corps will start local area flights on the F-35B next week at Eglin AFB, Florida, but all is not well at manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Workers at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, factory went on strike at midnight on 22 April after they failed to reach a contract agreement with Lockheed. "The parties are not meeting at this time," a company spokesman says. "And there is no scheduled meeting."

While it is impossible to tell how long the strike could last, Lockheed says that there will not be any disruption to the F-35 programme in the near-term. The company had planned out contingency measures two months beforehand in case of a strike, which could happen every three years during wage and benefits negotiations.

                                                       Image Copyright US Air Force (C)

Lockheed is using salaried employees with manufacturing skills to keep production going. "We're continuing operations," the spokesman says.

The union also has about 150 workers each at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and Edwards AFB, California, who are also on strike. Limited flight operations at the two flight test facilities are continuing by drawing upon the skills of salaried workers and military personnel.

Meanwhile, local area flights at Eglin AFB, Florida, are on-going with the F-35A conventional take-off and landing version. But on 1 May, the USMC's F-35B models should be joining the F-35A in the air once Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) gives its consent.

"[We] expect to be flying on or about 1 May," a senior USMC official says.

Information sourced from Flight International via Flight Global.

BLOG POST : Handover of service-bound A400M engine kick-starts ramp-up

Information Credit to Flight Global and Flight International (C)

Europrop International is working to halve the time needed to assemble and test the TP400-D6, having delivered the first production-standard example of the A400M transport's turboprop engine to Airbus Military.

At an event marking the programme milestone at MTU Aero Engines' Munich facility, EPI president Simon Henley said the engine consortium was "well on track" to bring the assembly and test programme down to 30 days, from 60 days.

                                                   Image Copyright to Europrop (C)

The production engine will power the first A400M entering service early next year with launch customer the French air force. All four of this aircraft's engines are to be delivered by 7 May.

In total, 12 engines for French A400Ms will be delivered in 2012, plus two spares. Production will ramp up to 50 engines next year, with maximum annual capacity of 120 to be reached in 2015.

Airbus Military-led negotiations on in-service support of French A400Ms are under way with the nation's air force. The engine maker has proposed that the service perform repairs down to module level, with more detailed repairs going back to the consortium, which comprises ITP, MTU, Rolls-Royce and Snecma.

To maximise efficiency, a single production line is operated for the TP400-D6, at Munich. The engines undergo pass-off testing at another MTU facility, at Ludwigsfelde, near Berlin. Series production follows delivery of 28 flight-test engines. Earlier this month, engine flight-test hours surpassed 10,000. Engine running hours exceed 20,000.

                                              Image Copyright MTU Aero Engines (C)

The TP400-D6 gained civil certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency last May. In January, EPI delivered the engine reports required for aircraft certification to Airbus Military. Work continues on a "qualification piece" for military certification of the engine.

The final release of the engine software, incorporating maintenance capabilities, is due later this year. Further hot-weather testing is also scheduled for later in 2012.

Sourced from Flight International via Flightglobal : http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/handover-of-service-bound-a400m-engine-kick-starts-ramp-up-370838/

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BLOG POST : Red Arrows to Fly over the Olympics opening Ceremony!

The Red Arrows will fly over Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London to celebrate the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

The team, based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, will return to flying with nine aircraft for the flypasts.

The team has been learning to fly as a seven for the 2012 season following the departure of its first female pilot.

The flypasts will be in the famous Big Battle formation which is used for important ceremonies.

Richard Baker, a photographer who produced the book Red Arrows after spending nine months with the team, said the chosen formation would be fitting for the occasion.

'British statement'

"It's their famous flypast formation shape," he said.

"They put on their red, white and blue smoke so it's a streak of red, white and blue as an arrow coming towards you.

"It's a very British statement of who they are and what they stand for."

Two of the Red Arrows died last year.

Flt Lt Jon Egging, 33, was killed at the end an air show in Dorset and Flt Lt Sean Cunningham, 35, was killed when he was ejected from his plane while on the ground at RAF Scampton.

The team's first female pilot then moved to a ground-based role earlier this year.

The team started learning to fly with seven aircraft, rather than eight, because the formations are more balanced as an odd number.

The Olympic flypasts will take place on 27 July before the opening ceremony begins. Organisers said it would symbolically link the whole of the United Kingdom.

Sqn Ldr Jim Turner, officer commanding the Red Arrows, said: "The Red Arrows are honoured to have been invited to take part in the London 2012 Olympic Games celebrations to represent both the Royal Air Force and the very best of British.

"My whole squadron, pilots and ground support staff alike, share the pride and privilege of being part of such a special occasion."

Sourced from the BBC Website : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-17753576

The UK’s first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II made its inaugural test flight on 13 April. The aircraft, a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B model named BK-1, underwent a series of functional flight checks during the sortie. Lockheed test pilot Bill Gigliotti was at the controls during the 45min flight.


The new aircraft will have to complete a series of company and government test flights before it is accepted by the UK. This particular aircraft will be used for training and operational tests at Eglin AFB, Florida, beginning later this year, Lockheed says. The base is the home of the US Air Force’s 33rd Fighter Wing; the first US training wing for the F-35.

"Not only is this a watershed moment for the Joint Strike Fighter programme, since BK-1 is the first international F-35 to fly, but it also brings us one step closer to delivery of this essential fifth-generation capability for the UK, " said Gp Capt Harv Smyth, the Joint Strike Fighter UK national deputy.

The fact that this first UK F-35 is a B-model aircraft is slightly awkward, however. The UK in late 2010 switched from the STOVL model to the US Navy’s F-35C carrier variant, but its Ministry of Defence is now considering reversing that decision. The cost of refitting at least one of the Royal Navy's future aircraft carriers, which are currently under construction, with catapult launch and arresting gear have been proving to be greater than the UK government had anticipated.

Information Credit Flightglobal (C)

Image (C) Lockheed Martin