Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review, April 19, 2019

Viewpoint
Eddie’s Quest to the Benefield Anechoic Facility
Air Force photograph by Christopher Okula
A B-1 Lancer is positioned inside the Benefield Anechoic Facility on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in preparation for a series of electronic warfare tests, July 27, 2016. The BAF provides a “free space” for engineers to conduct electronic warfare tests without external radio frequency interference.
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by Col. Sean Bradley
Edwards AFB, Calif.
As a new group commander to the 412th Test Wing, I was recently amazed by the incredible engineering talent resident within the 412th Electronic Warfare Group at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Last month, I witnessed Airmen joining Ed- die on his “Big Quest for Innovation.” Indeed, they “fed the dragon” by accomplishing two of the Test Wing priorities in a single test; they de- livered timely, accurate, operationally-relevant information to the warfighter and unleashed Air- men and their units. And it is worth noting that these were civilian Airmen, engineers, right here at the Center of the Aerospace Testing Universe.
Now, what would happen if we all followed their example? What if we all chose to see things differently and unleashed our creativeness in de- livering information to the warfighter? Let’s look at how these Airmen chose to “feed the dragon.”
Back in 2016, some inquisitive B-1B main- tainers ran into a problem on the flightline. When they tested the aircraft’s defensive antennas us- ing the approved test cart, they couldn’t tell if the
Briefs
Virgin Orbit satellite-launching plane to take off from Guam
A company owned by British billionaire Richard Branson is picking Guam as a site for its airplane- launched satellite service.
Virgin Orbit plans to launch small satellites from a rocket released by a customized Boeing 747. It has another site in California. AP
Israeli spacecraft crashes
An Israeli spacecraft crashed into the moon just moments before touchdown, failing in an ambi- tious attempt to make history April 11 as the first privately funded lunar landing.
The spacecraft lost communication with ground control during its final descent. Moments later, the
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system was working properly. After several years of inconclusive results from the flightline opera- tions check, the program office agreed to put the B-1B in the Benefield Anechoic Facility. That’s where our engineers unleashed their creativity!
This March, the B-1B spent two weeks un- dergoing tests in the BAF. The tests involved measuring the performance of various antenna configurations on the aircraft within an anechoic chamber. For those of you who have not yet vis- ited the chamber, an anechoic chamber is simply a room without echoes which allows us to ac- curately measure radio waves from an aircraft. Typically, our engineers would have measured the performance of the antennas and provided the data back to the program office. After some months of data reduction and analysis, the en- gineers would determine if the antenna design needed more work and more testing.
Our engineers had a better idea! They knew many months if not years could be saved by pro- viding actionable information to the team dur- ing the test. They developed and wrote software which allowed for near real-time data analysis during the test. With this timely information, the team iteratively improved upon the antenna
mission was declared a failure.
“We definitely crashed on the surface of the
moon,” said Opher Doron of Israel Aerospace In- dustries. AP
Trump picks Air Force general for Penta- gon’s No. 2 spot
President Donald Trump is nominating the Gen. John Hyten, the Air Force general in charge of U.S. Strategic Command to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. AP
Turkey to look for F-35 alternatives
Turkey’s foreign minister says his country could look “elsewhere” if the U.S. doesn’t deliver F-35 fighter jets.
design while the B-1B was still in the cham- ber. As a result of our engineers’ near real-time data analysis, coupled with the team’s ability to quickly modify the design, the test team was able to generate an optimized design during the test ... truly innovative!
Innovation is a powerful, game-changing idea. From Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Ste- phen Wilson’s on-going “Airmen Powered by Innovation” campaign to the 412th Test Wing’s “Eddie’s Big Quest,” innovation allows our Air Force to outpace our adversaries in delivering war-winning capabilities for the warfighter.
We innovate here at Edwards with the ex- pressed intent of better supporting the warfighter. Innovation for the warfighter! Let me encour- age you to ask yourself: What change could I make here at the Aerospace Testing Universe that might produce a disproportional, outsized ben- efit? Once you answer this question, bring it up with your leadership and work a plan to bring it about. Your ideas are powerful and game-chang- ing — innovation will allow us to outpace our adversaries! Join Eddie and my engineers on the “Big Quest for Innovation!”
Mevlut Cavusoglu also said in an interview with private NTV television that Turkey could consider acquiring more Russian-made S-400s or other systems to meet urgent needs if it can’t purchase U.S. Patriot systems. AP
Boeing shareholder alleges investors were misled on Max jet
Richard Seeks, a Boeing shareholder is suing the company for allegedly hiding problems with its 737 Max jet to push its shares higher.
Seeks argues that Boeing should have told in- vestors about safety problems with its best-selling plane after a fatal crash in October. Instead, it pushed the stock up to artificial highs by speaking optimistically about future sales. AP
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