PROBLEMS WITH the cockpit video-recorder system in the McDonnell Douglas F-18C/D have been resolved, according to US Navy F-18 programme director Capt Joe Dyer. High failure rates with the Precision Echo (PE) WR-818 8mm video-cassette recorder had forced the Navy to suspend deliveries (Flight International, 20 December-2 January, P15).
After a fifth redesign of the recorder failed, a USN/MDC/PE "Tiger Team" was formed in November 1995 to investigate the failures and come up with a fix. Dyer says that a sixth redesign of the recorder, "with a tweak", finally cured the problems. He says that the recorder has been deployed with two F-18 squadrons.
Source: Flight International
