GE taps into UK university power
PARTNERSHIP In anticipation of radical changes in aircraft electrical systems, GE Aviation is collaborating with the Universities of Nottingham and Warwick in the UK on electrical power and actuation technology research. The Smartpac project will cover power system design, including modelling system diagnostics and prognostics power conversion actuation systems advanced semiconductor switching and heat transfer technologies. The project will link with GE's partnerships with the University of Bristol on developing composites technology under a project known as Smartcomp.
NASA relocates research aircraft
MOVING Five NASA research aircraft are to relocate from Edwards AFB to Palmdale in California by early 2008 under a 20-year lease agreement with operator Los Angeles World Airports. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center says the Boeing 747SP SOPHIA airborne telescope, two high-altitude Lockheed ER-2s, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 flying laboratory and Gulfstream III research testbed will move to a renovated hangar adjacent to US Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale.
Hummingbird hangs around
ENDURANCE Boeing's A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter has completed an 8h flight, its longest yet, from Victorville, California. The 450kg (1,000lb) payload simulated a battlefield resupply mission. The Hummingbird's optimum-speed rigid rotor slows by up to 50% in flight to extend endurance. Boeing's goal is to fly for 18h with a 135kg payload. Eleven A160Ts are being built for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Special Operations Command.
RATTLRS ready to roll
TESTING Lockheed Martin has completed proof testing of the airframe of the RATTLRS high-speed missile demonstrator, paving the way for flight tests early in 2008. Powered by a Rolls-Royce YJ102R turbojet, the air-launched RATTLRS is designed to cruise at above Mach 3 for at least 5min. The fuselage was built by exotic metal fabrication specialist Klune Industries. RATTLRS is a US Office of Naval Research programme to demonstrate high-Mach turbine propulsion.
The voice gives it away
STRESS Israel's BVR Systems is to incorporate "emotion detection" into its full-mission flight simulators to measure stress levels in pilots undergoing training. Layered voice analysis technology developed by Israeli company Nemesysco will be used to "get an idea about the emotional and cognitive levels and add it to the overall calculation of the simulation results", says BVR.
nemesysco.com
Contest promotes space elevator advances
CLIMBER Space elevator technologies will be tested when 20 teams compete for $1 million in prizes funded by NASA under its Beam Power and Tether Challenges. Organised by the Spaceward Foundation, the Space Elevator Games on 19-21 October in Salt Lake City, Utah are intended to stimulate development of strong, lightweight tether materials and directed-energy power distribution technologies. The Beam Power Challenge is to build a climber that can carry a payload up a ribbon using energy beamed from the ground.
Source: Flight International