CoolPix: Scaled Composites Model 355 - Pilot Optional

Scaled Model 355 is now revealed as the Northrop Grumman Firebird (photo: jw2513)

 (click pic for hi-res)

 A few days ago there were some aviation news stories about a mysterious, apparent Rutan designed, UAV-looking flying machine that had been spotted flying near Beale Air Force Base north of Sacremento California. Today, much more info has been revealed about what this airplane is. It started life as Scaled Composites Model 355, and it first flew in February 2010. It's now officially known as the Northrop Grumman Firebird.

 The airplane is actually intended to compete with General Atomics Predator-to-Reaper class of unmanned aircraft, but the Firebird offers a unique twist: an optional pilot. As it turns out, the idea of using an onboard pilot when you want may be a pretty useful asset. Because the military and the FAA haven't really figured out how we will integrate unmanned aircraft with dense commercial airspace, the ability to transport or even operate the airplane with a real live pilot onboard becomes a potential selling point.

 To get a lot more detail on what all this means, check out today's story about the Firebird over at Aviation Week. And, while the airplane was built by the Northrop Grumman owned Scaled Composites, I think these days we need to realize that Burt Rutan has imparted a lot of his thinking into a pretty large group of people over the last 25 years, so the airplanes coming out of Scaled may look like his hands were directly involved, but thay may not have been. And of course, his recent retirement factors into this... we'll know better when we're looking at the Scaled airplanes that emerge in the next year or two.

 Lastly, be sure to click the pic above to examine it in hi-res. I always enjoy being able to see unique airplanes up close and in detail, but since I'm not gonna get the chance to see this airplane for real anytime soon, a picture like this one from flickr user jw2513 is a really nice substitute.

Video: X-47B And The Road To Unmanned Carrier Flight Ops

 This video gives a great overview of the Northrop Grumman X-47B project and the quest to design and build an autonomous unmanned aircraft that can operate off of Navy aircraft carriers. Regardless of how you feel about the move to take the pilot out of the airplane, the accomplishments thus far are pretty stunning. You get a good feel for that in the video. Keep in mind that any of the sequences with the airplane operating on or near a carrier are simulated at this point, but most of what you see here is the real deal.

 Check out a couple more X-47B posts, and then expect a lot more to come in the future as this daring team takes some giant leaps as they attempt to do some incredibly challenging work.

 The X-47B unmanned (autonomous) aircraft landing on its first flight in February 2011

Getting To Know Discovery’s Runt Cousin: The Air Force X-37B

Watch the X-37B (Atlas V) launch March 4, 2011 at ulalaunch.com
(launch period begins at 3:39pm EST)

Fast facts on the Boeing X-37B unmanned OTV (Orbital Test Vehicle)

(5 pix and 1 video)

 With the Space Shuttle program only one landing and two full flights away from retirement, and with the Constellation manned program effectively pulled over to the side of the road, we’re likely to see a lot more emphasis on unmanned space vehicles. It’s interesting that as unmanned aircraft are just now becoming a significant part of aviation, ‘unmanned’ space vehicles have been part of space exploration for decades. Sure, it’s a little different controlling a flying machine in the atmosphere with real people for traffic compared to coasting along in the vast expanse of space with no one around, but expanding our efforts in space with more emphasis on machines-only isn’t such a bad idea.

 Enter Boeing’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle operated by the U.S. Air Force. This very scaled down shuttle-like spacecraft is only a little over 29 feet long with a wingspan just short of 15 feet, but it’s still likely to be a pretty capable spaceplane. If only we really knew what it was being used for. That seems to be a bit of a mystery yet. And while it’s easy to imagine all kinds of shifty covert intentions, I must admit that I’m glad to know it exists and is operational in light of the fact that Shuttle is almost retired.

 This is also a very interesting time as the second ever space flight for the X-37B is scheduled to launch out of Cape Canaveral on top of an Atlas V rocket on March 4, 2011. It’s actually the first flight for this particular vehicle, OTV-2, the second airframe to be built. The timing seems to fuel some thoughts about the fact that both Shuttle Discovery and the X-37B will be in space at the same time. Coincidence? You decide.

Click to read more ...

Video: GRASP Quadrotors Prove The End Is Near (Yikes!)

 This is some of the coolest/scariest stuff I've ever seen. The GRASP Laboratories (General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception) at the University of Pennsylvania has been hard at work on all kinds of bleeding edge tech, and it looks like they've taken some giant steps toward building autonomous flying machines that will soon bring about the end of mankind. 

 Ok, that might be a bit of an overstatement, but wow, this is some very scary sci-fi stuff here. It's actually very cool and potentially useful in the hands of the right people, but imagine 5 more years worth of tech growth and then plop it in the hands of some crazy people. So watch out... the future is coming after you!

No Fins, No Pilot, No Problems! X-47B First Flight (With Video)

(all photos: Northrop Grumman)

(click pic to enlarge)   Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAV first flight February 4, 2011

(3 pix and 1 video)

 You could pretty easily miss the rather massive significance of the first flight of Northrop Grumman's X-47B yesterday. On one hand it just looks like another flying-wing military aircraft. That much it certainly is... but it's a whole lot more than that. The X-47B is an unmanned aircraft, and while that's fairly common these days, this one is not like your regular Predator-style. The X-47B is actually autonomous, meaning that there isn't a ground-based pilot sitting in a room somewhere acting as pilot, it's actually the programming and the onboard computers that are in control. And then, to take it all up one more notch, the intended purpose for this aircraft is to operate autonomously off of real aircraft carriers with the U.S. Navy. Now there's a challenge for ya!

 It's also not like the Predator in that this is a turbofan powered machine that's capable of high-subsonic speeds. It also has a full size internal weapons bay, which technically makes it a UCAV, or Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle. Tho the actual role of this aircraft is still a little undefined, there's no doubt that it points to the day when we'll have completely unmanned aircraft operating from carriers at sea and fully capable of engaging in aerial combat. As seen in the video below, the first flight seems to have gone flawlessly, so it may be sooner rather than later that we see UCAV's on carriers.

Click to read more ...

OMGosh! Museum Quality, Half Scale (UAV) Hughes H-1 Racer

Screenshot from the video below of the Aero Telemetry half-scale Hughes H-1 racer

 Wow, this couldn't get much cooler! A half scale flying model of the Hughes H-1 racer... and it has a 35 hp radial engine! Even better, it's being built by the guys at Aero Telemetry for the 75th anniversary celebration of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) which will take place July 14-17, 2011 at the AMA headquarters in Muncie Indiana... just 2 hours down the road from me! You can count me in : )

 You've probably seen the work of Aero Telemetry but didn't even know it. They produced some very large scale RC models/UAV's for the movie The Aviator including an approximately half scale H-1 along with an XF-11 with about a 30' wingspan and a Spruce Goose with about a 25' wingspan. Some serious models! Read more about The Aviator models here. Aero Telemetry also makes UAV's for military and aerospace applications.

 Watch the awesome video now, and then read a bit more about it below.

 This new H-1 model from the video differs from the movie model in that it's being built to museum quality standards and includes a scale landing gear which the one built for the movie didn't have. That one was designed and built in under 8 weeks and since all the filming was to be done with the gear up, a scale gear wasn't needed.

 The new H-1 will also have a Lawrance 5 cylinder radial engine from the 1940's instead of the 30 hp 2 cylinder 2-stroke used in the movie model. There's very little info on the internet about this uber cute little radial engine, and often times people incorrectly spell the name Lawrence, but I did find this pic and this pic to show how absolutely cool these engines are. The engine makes about 35 to 38 hp and was built to be an APU, but they were mounted vertically and weren't designed for spinning a prop. You can get a little more more info from Aero Telemetry on the Lawrance for their H-1 model here. 

 I also saw some interesting info floating about the net suggesting that these guys are also building a full scale(!) version of the H-1 with an aluminum fuselage and wood wing. Don't really have any details on that yet, but wow, I can hardly wait to know more about it! Stay tuned for more info on the wild and wonderful world of Aero Telemetry and their Hughes H-1 projects : )

Videos: AirPigz Inspired RC YC-14 - What A Great EDF Flyer!

(3 videos)

 I posted a CoolPix of the YC-14 a little while back - mostly cuz I've always thought it was a really awesome airplane. It had a different look, especially with those two big turbofans mounted up high and well forward of the wing... and from everything I can find out about it, it was also a spectacular performer. And then today, I got an email from Will who runs MikeysRC.com saying that he's really been enjoying AirPigz, (pardon me while I give myself a tiny pat on the back) and that he was especially inspired by the YC-14 post. He was so inspired in fact, by the knowledge of this airplane he'd never seen before, that he decided to build an twin EDF (Electric Ducted Fan) RC model of it!

 The video above shows what he came up with. It's a very lightweight foam slab 'quick build', all from scratch, but he's done a great job of capturing the visual essence of the YC-14 while still making it really easy to build. If you're in a hurry, skip ahead to about 1:20 for a good view and then the maiden flight launch. This little thing flies extremely well! I haven't flown any electric ducted fans, but I've heard they often don't really perform very well... for whatever reason, they're working great on this little YC-14. The video after the jump explains the second very cool feature of this YC-14. Will has it set up for FPV, or First Person View flying. Yeah, it's like full UAV with onboard live video streaming back to the pilot! This is all so cool : )

Click to read more ...

Video: The Kinda Mysterious X-37B Space UAV Returns To Earth

(video and info via 30th Space Wing Vandengerg youtube channel)

12/3/2010 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The U.S. Air Force's first unmanned re-entry spacecraft landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1:16 a.m. today.

The X-37B, named Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1), conducted on-orbit experiments for more than 220 days during its maiden voyage. It fired its orbital maneuver engine in low-earth orbit to perform an autonomous reentry before landing.

The X-37B is the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft. Managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO), the X-37B program performs risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies.

"Today's landing culminates a successful mission based on close teamwork between the 30th Space Wing, Boeing and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office," said Lt Col Troy Giese, X-37B program manager from the AFRCO. "We are very pleased that the program completed all the on-orbit objectives for the first mission."

OTV-1's de-orbit and landing mark the transition from the on-orbit demonstration phase to a refurbishment phase for the program. 

The Air Force is preparing to launch the next X-37B, OTV-2, in Spring 2011 aboard an Atlas V booster.

1960's Coaxial (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter) - Gyrodyne QH-50

(click pic to enlarge)    QH-50 drone helicopter at the Carolinas Aviation Museum

 I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina for my step-daughters wedding tomorrow, and I found out this morning that there's a small aviation museum over at the Charlotte/Douglas Int'l Airport, so I stopped by to check it out. It's the Carolinas Aviation Museum, which is home to a beautiful DC-3 in Piedmont colors (more on that in another post) along with several military aircraft as well as a handful of other classic airplanes. But the unique flying machine that really caught my eye was the turbine powered Gyrodyne QH-50C coaxial DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter) that was put into service with the U.S. Navy in the early 60's.

 It's really interesting to see that 50 years ago we had an unmanned, remotely piloted vehicle that not only effectively used coaxial rotors, but was even designed to deliver submarine destroying torpedoes. The QH-50 was small, with just a 20' rotor diameter, but it was full of forward-thinking ideas. You can expect a more detailed post in the future on this unique 'old-school' UAV, but til then, check out this really short video below to get an idea of how the QH-50 operated. Very cool stuff.

CoolPix - UAV: General Atomics Unmanned Aircraft Triple Play!

(click pic for hi-res)          General Atomics MQ-1 Predator

 Like it or not, unmanned aircraft are fast becoming a large part of the workforce in the U.S. Military, and you can be sure we're gonna see them showing up in general aviation applications in the future. General Atomics-ASI is the company responsible for the best known aircraft, the MQ-1 Predator. To the casual observer, it's easy to confuse the MQ-1 with their other popular UAV, the MQ-9 Reaper (formerly known as the Predator B), so I figured a quick visual lesson using some big CoolPix images would be a great way to learn their differences. Plus, I've added their logical extension of their UAV program, the jet powered Avenger that's currently in development.

 MQ-1 Predator (inverted V-tail): Wingspan about 48 feet, max weight 2,250 pounds; powered by Rotax 914F (115 hp); cruise speed about 100 mph.

 2,000+ mile range, 24 hours endurance, service ceiling 25,000 feet. Over 350 built.

(click pic for hi-res)          General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper

 MQ-9 Reaper (Y-tail): Wingspan about 66 feet, max weight 10,500 pounds; powered by TPE331 turboprop (900 shp); cruise speed about 200 mph.

 3,200+ mile range, 14-28 hours endurance, service ceiling 50,000 feet (typical operations at 30,000 feet). Approximately 30 built (exact number unknown).

(click pic for hi-res)          General Atomics Avenger UCAV

 Avenger (in development): Wingspan about 66 feet, payload 6,000 pounds; powered by Pratt & Whitney PW545B turbofan (4,800 pounds thrust); speeds around 460 mph.

 20 hours endurance, service ceiling 50,000 feet. Prototype built and flying, with number two aircraft (slightly larger than prototype) in development. Avenger includes some stealth in the design, and is a combat-oriented aircraft with internal weapons bays.