WhiteKnightTwo Departs for Oshkosh

WhiteKnightTwo lifted off for its first cross-continent flight this morning, departing Mojave at 7:16 am local for its public (re)debut at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

With plenty of gas onboard, pilot Pete Siebold and co-pilot Clint Nichols brought Eve around for a low pass down runway 26, in front of a small crowd of Scaled Composites employees before climbing up to 52,900 feet for the 4:36 flight.

Northrop Grumman Unveils New GlobalHawk

Northrop Grumman unveiled their latest version of the RQ-4 GlobalHawk UAV last Thursday, June 25, at their Palmdale, California manufacturing facility. The Block 40 GlobalHawk is designed specifically around the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) system which has been in developmental flight test at the Mojave Air & Space Port for the past three years. The new system is expected to provide the next generation of Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) imagery to the soldiers on the ground.

George Guerra, Northrop Grumman VP of HALE systems and Site Manager (above, right) stated, “GMTI is in such a huge demand today, and this aircraft will provide it.” Northrop Grumman Strike and Surveillance Systems Division Vice President Gerard Dufresne said this system “will provide a game-changing situational awareness to our war fighters.”

Northrop Grumman has been testing three developmental MP-RTIP units on Scaled Composites’ unique Proteus high altitude research aircraft at Mojave since 2006. According to Guerra, Mojave-based Proteus was used as “it gives us an advantage because it flies to 50,000 feet, so it’s pretty close to simulating the GlobalHawk environment. So, from a risk mitigation [point of view], it was a good way to get an early peek at how the system would perform at altitude.”

The MP-RTIP system is designed to be modular and scalable, with additional modules being added for installation on larger aircraft. Guerra described it, “it’s like a window, the bigger the window, the more you can see.” Originally, a larger MP-RTIP was intended to be installed on the proposed Air Force E-10, a modified Boeing 767-400ER, however that program was cancelled in 2007, and Boeing sold the prototype airframe to a customer in Bahrain, who had it converted to VIP configuration. Discussions are underway within in the Air Force, according to Guerra, to determine what will be the next large GMTI aircraft, and a scaled-up MP-RTIP is one of the possibilities being considered. However, there are no hard plans at this time to use MP-RTIP on any other platform besides GlobalHawk.

The first Block 40 aircraft, designated AF-18, is the 27th RQ-4 to be built, and the first of 15 that have been ordered by the Air Force. AF-18 will be flown to Edwards AFB in late July, where it will initially under envelope-expansion flight testing, due to changes in the airframe. In February 2010, the one of the three “developmental unit” radar systems will be modified from its Proteus configuration and mounted to AF-18 for the initial sensor integration flights. For a while, according to Guerra, Proteus will continue to be used for “different mode development work,” but ultimately the test program will be transitioned exclusively to GlobalHawk.

Current Air Force plans call for a total GlobalHawk fleet size of 54 aircraft, fifteen of which will be the Block 40 configuration. However, the service has also begun discussing increasing their fleet to a total of 77 aircraft, and there is expected to be some additional Block 40s in that number, according to Guerra. In addition, NATO is expected to order eight AGS aircraft.

While the Block 40 configuration represents the latest in GlobalHawk technological development, it certainly isn’t the culmination of the program. The German-partnered EuroHawk , which is based on the Block 20 configuration, is slated for unveiling later this years, as is the NATO AGS version of the Block 40. In addition, Guerra said that there are talks underway within Northrop Grumman and the Air Force, as a part of a “Requirements Planning Working Group”, regarding additional sensors that would be installed on a “notional Block 50” aircraft. “I think you’ll see a Block 50 in the near future,” said Guerra.

To date, all versions of GlobalHawk combined have accounted for over 2,000 missions and 32,000 flight hours, 75% of which was in combat, while posting a 97% mission effectiveness.

Steve Amburgey, GlobalHawk Program Director for the 303rd Aeronautical Systems Group at Wright-Patterson AFB, thanked the “Palmdale production folks” for their work on the aircraft. “What you produce here is going to end up resulting in the saving of countless American lives,” he said. Northrop Grumman expects to keep production of the aircraft in the Antelope Valley.

WK2 and the Media

Although blogs are often a place of editorializing, I don’t generally do that here, because Mojave Skies is more suited to be a source of news and information about the unique activities that take place at Mojave. But, today I’m making an exception, because of the way recent events have garnered world-wide media attention. 

I’m speaking, of course, about the tail strike that occurred at the end of the fourth test flight of Scaled Composites’ WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve. After an envelope-pushing four-hour flight (the takeoff is pictured here), the crew of WK2 executed a touch-and-go in crosswind conditions when the aircraft experienced an asymmetric thrust condition, resulting in the bottom of the left rudder scraping the ground and a few moments of pilots truly earning their pay (hat’s off to Pete for such a fine job of airmanship).

What also resulted was a confluence of media attention that surprised many. Traditionally, Scaled Composites refrains from commenting publicly after test flights, a combination of their near-legendary secrecy and a desire to let their customer direct the material that the media receives. In this case, their customer is Virgin Galactic, which as part of the Virgin Group, has a reputation for stage-managing as much as possible any and all media coverage. As they’re in the business of selling tickets, they naturally want to maximize their efforts, and control all the forces that affect them.

The end product has been, up to the release of Scaled's statement, a lot of official silence, punctuated with the release of a couple of in-flight photos, a fluffy promo video, and continual pronouncements from Virgin’s Will Whitehorn that the program is progressing “flawlessly”. And yet, as the schedule slips further and further (Sir Richard pronounced in the media, not that long ago, that he expected to take his family into space in his new chariot in 2009), and structural changes appear on Eve, industry watchers, who are not exactly dummies when it comes to aerodynamics, scratch their heads and wonder what in the “flawless” program could be motivating such expensive and time-consuming design changes. The consequent media discussion let to, remarkably, a rather frank and detailed press release from Scaled explaining exactly what was going on. Such openness, at last, has resulted in “Bravos!” all around.

The toll has been regrettable. Lost in the hubbub has been what really is going on, which is that Rutan’s hard-working crew is laboring to hand-build a man-rated space launch system, and breaking new aviation design ground every step of the way. In such a learn-as-you go endeavor, there’s bound to be things that are first tried, then changed, then tried again. There is nothing wrong with that…that’s the basic world of flight test. I know from my own experiences, having once worked in this segment of aviation, that in the flight test industry, everyone lives by the concept of “lessons learned”, in which the goal of each flight is to learn more about the vehicle, its peculiarities and then to hone the design. “Lessons learned” is the frank evaluation of the results, good, bad and ugly, from each flight. In the Virgin Galactic program, we have the unique collision of the world of flight test, with its habits, and the Virgin world of promotional PR, with its habits. 

Maybe what could best come out of all of this, as Burt and Will sit clearly frustrated with the course of events outside of their control, is that the concept of “lessons learned” can be picked up by the PR folks over in the UK. And one of the most important lessons, it seems to me, is of the importance of openness in this new world of ours. If Virgin Galactic (and them specifically, since Scaled defers to the customer) had an on-site full-time media representative who was dually familiar with the world of flight test and the world of the media, who would hold periodic mini-press-teleconferences, who provided a frank review to the media of the results of each test flight, think of how much better this whole thing could have been handled. 

Customers and potential ticket-buyers would have that much more confidence that they are getting the straight scoop about the vehicle that they’re entrusting their lives to, the media would have real, accurate information to present to its viewers, and people in general would have a much better understanding of what goes into developing tomorrow’s aircraft today. Had such a person been in place and doing his or her job last week, every little bit of frustration that was experienced by the folks on both sides of the Atlantic would never have occurred. Such a lesson-learned about open communications would be to the vast benefit of all concerned.

As a side note to the media events, and maybe to get everyone back on track to appreciating the uniqueness of these aircraft, the occasion of the 4th test flight was the first time that I'm aware of that WK1 and WK2 were on the ramp at the same time, above. Also out, while WK2 was up flying, was Proteus, below, making for a very unique morning when all of Burt's big double-boom designs graced the Mojave flightline.

WhiteKnightTwo Second Flight Photos

Here's a selection of photos from last Thursday's flight of WhiteKnightTwo, the second in the much-anticipated flight test program for Virgin Galactic's pioneering VMS Eve. According to Virgin's Will Whitehorn, the plane climbed as high as 18,000 on this flight.

After spending well over an hour to the north of the field, WK2 and Robert Shearer's Beech Starship chase plane (the same one that chased SpaceShipOne) came in for a low pass down runway 26, a touch-and-go down runway 12 before landing on 12 (a noticable cross-wind had come up during the flight).

This has become somewhat of a classic shot...heading back to the barn after a successful test flight, Mojave wind turbines in the distance. 

SpaceShipTwo Assembly Video

This is about a year old, but I hadn't seen it before, so I'm guessing that there are some of you that haven't seen this either.

Click for link to video

Mojave 2008 in Review

A look back at the past, rather eventful year at Mojave:

January

A pair of brand new Sikorsky S-76++s spent New Years 2008 stuck at Mojave due to weather, having taken the southern route on their way from Connecticut to British Columbia.

February

A Continental 747 N14024 bites the big one, while three of Learjet's latest aircraft gather at the Test Pilot School, waiting for the arrival of a camera ship for some publicity photo flights.

March

A Marine Corps AV-8 Harrier hovers over the numbers on Runway 8, while Al Hansen's recently-sold TV-star Antonov AN-2 made a few more patterns before leaving Mojave for a new home.

April

After years of storage, Scaled Composites innovative and somewhat asymmetric ARES reappeared as a testbed, with a very modified belly.

May

Death and birth: The last Continental 747 at Mojave is reduced to scrap, while Eclipse brought their newest Conceptjet to Mojave for flight testing.

June

It was birthday time for the Brothers Rutan, as a whole lot of "fast glass" descended on the sweltering Mojave ramp to celebrate. Meanwhile, a piece of the most exotic glass of all, the XCOR Rocket Racer began blasting its way through the sky in dramatic fashion.

July

In the most anticipated event of the year, Virgin Galactic rolled out their new WhiteKnightTwo prototype, named VMS (for VirginMotherShip) Eve.

Below left: Sir Richard's parents...his mum, Eve, was the inspiration for the plane's name and its nose art. Right: After posing for the press, Branson and Rutan try to squeeze themselves back into WK2.



August

The hottest month of the summer also hosted several active flight test programs, including the Seven-Q-Seven 707RE STC program to certify the Pratt JT8D-219 for the venerable 707s. Meanwhile, Project CHLOE flew an anti-anti-aircraft missile pod under WhiteKnightOne, in tests aimed at developing a system to protect airliners. In the end, the pods were shown to be impractical.

September

BAE Systems' QF-4 program continues to produce target drones as planners have begun discussing the next generation of targets, which could include F-16As.

October

BAE Systems performed the initial flight testing of the Airborne Tomography using Active Electromagnetics (ATAEM) pod, a DARPA-funded project that will use electromagnetic energy to penetrate the ground in order to detect and map hidden bunkers and tunnels, adapting technologies developed by the geophysical exploration industry.

November

Mojave's annual Veterans' Day celebration was a time of rememberance for all the efforts so many have given to make our country one where the innovation which takes place at Mojave is possible.

December

Some of the heaviest autumn snow to hit Mojave in years delayed for a couple of days the much-anticipated first flight of WhiteKnightTwo Eve, which finally took place on the first day of winter.

May this next year bring success and prosperity to all who call Mojave home!