Winner: McDonnell Douglas
Location: Long Beach, California, USA.
Achievement: Successful entry into service of the C-17 transport and an outstanding first year of operations.
At the start of 1995, the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III entered full operational service with the US Air Force. In the first year of duty, the aircraft's performance has been an unqualified success, reflected by a recent decision by the US Department of Defense to acquire at least a further 120 of the widebody transports.
The first 12 aircraft were declared ready for worldwide operations with Air Mobility Command in mid-January 1995. By the end of the year, the fleet had grown to 19 aircraft, and had logged more than 18,000h.
The real test came in mid-year, when the first 12 C-17s logged up 2,200h during a 30-day evaluation. The aircraft were required to be flown on simulated peace- and wartime missions carrying troops and equipment for the US Army and Marine Corps. In all, there were 513 missions flown to bases in the UK and across the USA.
The evaluation also included aerial refuellings, personnel and equipment airdrops, engine-running offloads and landings at small, austere airfields, testing the C-17's versatility and manoeuvrability to the full.
"I can't remember when we have given a new weapons system such a thorough wringing out," says USAF Vice Chief of staff, Gen Thomas Moorman.
Exceptional results were recorded for the aircraft. On time departure rate was better than 99%, while reliability and maintanance goals which would have been impressive even for a mature system were achieved.
The C-17 proved itself on live missions. Its endurance came to the fore during a flare-up of tensions in the Persian Gulf. The C-17 transported outsize US Army equipment to Saudi Arabia non-stop, with two night refuellings.
The aircraft's ability to make tight landings was also put into practice. When runways at Howard AFB in Japan were shortened by construction works to only 1,050m (3,500ft) the C-17 nevertheless maintained a supply line.
The aircraft were also called upon to deliver disaster relief supplies to the Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricane Marilyn. Again, the storm-restricted runways would have posed difficulties for another transport of its size.
Now that it has been proved in operation, use of the C-17 has begun to open up a range of direct delivery options previously unavailable to logistics planners.
Finalist: Rockwell Aerospace/DASA
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Achievement: Demonstrating for the first time in public the potential of low-level thrust-vectoring with the X-31.
THE HIGHLIGHT of the 1995 Paris air show was undoubtedly the low-altitude thrust-vectoring display put on by the X-31. Not only did the aircraft's impressive low-altitude manoeuvring steal the show, but it also underlined the potentially far-reaching implications of thrust-vectoring technology.
The US-German team, led by Rockwell International and Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA), had begun planning for Paris in late 1994, aiming to demonstrate low-altitude post-stall envelope expansion in public for the first time.
Despite having to negotiate strict flight-safety limits to perform at low altitude, the X-31 was on display each day at the show, missing only one appearance when a flight-control computer failed a pre-flight check.
The programme team, which is supported by the German defence ministry as well as the US Department of Defense and NASA, believes that the display underlined the fact that multi-axis thrust-vectoring has matured to the stage where it is now ready for operational development. Having helped bring the technology to a wider audience, the team hopes that applications will begin to be taken up for both military and commercial aircraft.
Source: Flight International
