in brief the quiet, and loud, americans
TRANSCRIPT
F L Y I N G D I S P L A Y
July 20 2006 FLIGHT DAILY NEWS30
I N B R I E F
www.flightdailynews.com
Geoff Thomas
Test pilots are a close-knitbreed – and none more sothan Marty Shubert, SteveGrohsmayer and RicardoTraven. All three are basedat the US navy’s air systemscommand station at NASPatuxent River in Maryland.
And while Marty andSteve take turns to fly theremarkably silent – andimpressive – Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor inFarnborough’s flyingdisplay, Ricardo chargesaround making loads ofnoise in the Boeing F/A-18FSuper Hornet.
LovesIt’s Ricardo’s third
Farnborough airshow andhe loves his biennial visit tosunny Hampshire.
“This year I’m flying theaircraft ‘clean’ which meansthat the show containsmore high-energy manoeu-vres,” he says.
“Even though I’ve been atest pilot on the SuperHornet for eight years – andon the F-18 for close to 20 – Istill enjoy doing what I do.”
The quiet, and loud, Americans
When you’re watchingRicardo’s display in theSuper Hornet, rememberthat he’s regularly pulling+7.5/-3G which explains thehigh-energy description.
The aircraft he’s flying,incidentally, comes fromthe USN’s VFA122 squadronin California and was
ferried across the Atlanticby a navy pilot – with alittle help from tankers –direct to Farnborough fromJacksonville, Florida.
The Osprey, which alsoarrived under its ownpower, seems as quiet as theHornet is loud.
This seems an anomaly
when it has two relativelylarge engines and looks asthough it ought to make abit more commotion.
“The reason,” explainsSteve Grohsmayer – who’s atest pilot for the Boeing halfof the joint venture, whileMarty works for Bell – “isquite simple.
“Helicopters and turbo-prop aircraft make such aracket because of the tip-speed of the rotors orpropellers.
“In the V-22, our hugepropellers only turn at333rpm in straight andlevel flight – and up to397rpm when we’rehovering so they createrelatively little sound.”
One question that’s oftenasked about the Osprey iswhat happens if one of theengines stops burning andturning?
LovesIt turns out to be no
more than a minor incon-venience – unless you’re inthe hover at an altitude ofless than 150ft (45m).
“Depending on your all-up gross weight in hovermode,” says Steve, “it’susually possible to tradeyour height for speed andsimply fly out of theproblem with – admittedly– little room for error.
“If an engine fails instraight and level flight,there’s no problem whatso-ever as the Osprey will flyall day on one engine.”
Two of a kind: Osprey test pilots Marty Shubert and Steve Grohsmayer
US lessor ACGorders 737sLessor Aviation CapitalGroup (ACG) placed anorder for 14 Boeing 737-800s yesterday at theshow. California-basedACG, which is asubsidiary of PacificLifeCorp, has an aircraftportfolio of 209 airlinersleased to 89 airlines.
ACG also announced ithas acquired three 737-700s and three -800s fromAeromexico that it willlease back to the Mexicancarrier.
Delivery of theseaircraft, originallyordered by Aeromexico,will begin later this year.
TW Metals opensoffice in IndiaAerospace metals distrib-utor TW Metals (Hall 4,D8) is to open a metalsprocessing and distribu-tion centre and salesoffice in Bangalore,southern India.
The new facility willprocess aerospace-qualitybar, tube, sheet and platemetal and will be fullyoperational by the end of2006. A liaison office hasalready been establishedthere.
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