June 5, 2024 - No. 23 In This Issue : Federal Register: Foreign Air Operator Certificates Issued by a Regional Safety Oversight Organization : Boeing tells US regulators how it plans to fix aircraft safety and quality problems : Aircraft Cabin Air International Conference - 17 & 18 September - London : GE’s sixth-gen fighter engine aces 4th round of crucial testing in US : Air Force Mission Capable Rates Fall in 2023, Led by Declines for F-15C and B-1 : SNC plans ‘fully digital’ development for Air Force’s ‘Doomsday plane’ replacement : This engine is not gasoline, electric, or hydrogen: 1 million km of autonomy and a mystery : Four more Airbus A380s will be scrapped in the coming weeks : Development Of Twin-Engine, Supersonic Version Of Turkey’s ANKA-3 UCAV Announced : B-21, B-2 Comparison Image Shows Just How Weird The Raider’s Windows Really Are : Commercial vs aircraft graveyard hidden in Mojave desert Robert Ruiz Deputy Executive Director, Flight Standards, Federal Aviation Administration Federal Register: Foreign Air Operator Certificates Issued by a Regional Safety Oversight Organization AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM). (Federal Register Link) SUMMARY: Current FAA regulations require that foreign applicants for operating specifications must hold a valid air operator certificate issued by the State of the Operator. Some International Civil Aviation Organization Contracting States have joined together to form Regional Safety Oversight Organizations. These organizations may provide a uniform regulatory structure for safety oversight and provide technical assistance and the execution of safety oversight functions on behalf of their member States. Regional Safety Oversight Organizations have been established in many parts of the world. These organizations may be formed based on a variety of differing arrangements among member States. The institutional structures of these organizations range from highly formalized intergovernmental organizations established on the basis of formal legal agreements, to less formalized organizations established under the International Civil Aviation Organization Cooperative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Program. States participating in Regional Safety Oversight Organizations may delegate various functions or tasks to these organizations based on the extent of delegated legal authority stipulated in the Regional Safety Oversight Organization's formation documentation. One of the functions member States may delegate to some of the highly formalized and more fully resourced Regional Safety Oversight Organizations is the issuance of air operator certificates on behalf of the State of the Operator. This regulation change would allow the FAA to review and, if acceptable to the Administrator, recognize as valid air operator certificates issued by the Regional Safety Oversight Organization to foreign air carriers on behalf of the State of the Operator for purposes of evaluating foreign applicants for operating specifications. Boeing tells US regulators how it plans to fix aircraft safety and quality problems June 3, 2024 By The Associated Press Global OHS News Transportation Boeing officials explained their plan to improve manufacturing quality and safety during a three-hour meeting with federal officials, who will continue restrictions they placed on the company after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel in January. Federal Aviation Administration chief Mike Whitaker said the plan is comprehensive and includes encouraging Boeing employees to speak up about safety concerns. “This is a guide for a new way for Boeing to do business,” Whitaker told reporters after the meeting on May 30. ”Boeing has laid out their road map, and now they need to execute.” Boeing released an 11-page summary of its “Product Safety and Quality Plan,” which described steps the company is taking, including increased inspections and tighter controls over suppliers. It also says how Boeing will measure its improvement. CEO David Calhoun, who announced after the Jan. 5 blowout during an Alaska Airlines flight that he would step down at the end of the year, said the document was crafted from comments by employees, the FAA, airlines and independent experts. “Many of these actions are underway, and our team is committed to executing on each element of the plan,” Calhoun said in a statement. “It is through this continuous learning and improvement process that our industry has made commercial aviation the safest mode of transportation. The actions we are taking today will further strengthen that foundation.” Stephanie Pope, a possible successor to Calhoun who was recently promoted to chief operating officer and chief executive of Boeing’s commercial airplanes division, said the plan was designed to improve employee training, simplify manufacturing, “eliminate defects at the source, and elevate our safety and quality culture.” Nobody was hurt during the Jan. 5 blowout of a door plug on a relatively new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 as it flew above Oregon. Accident investigators determined that bolts used to help secure the panel were missing after a repair job in a Boeing factory. The mishap further battered Boeing’s reputation, led to multiple civil and criminal investigations, and prompted Whitaker to order the report that Boeing delivered Thursday. Whitaker said he wanted Boeing to develop a comprehensive, detailed plan that improves manufacturing process, quality and safety management, and encourages employees to raise concerns about safety. “Those are all elements of the plan,” Whitaker said. He added that Boeing had accepted all the safety recommendations made earlier this year by a panel of independent safety experts. Still, Whitaker said, the FAA will continue to cap production of the 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling plane, and to insist on approving each plane that comes off the assembly line. He said the FAA also will maintain a “significant increase” in safety inspectors at plants run by Boeing and its key supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. Boeing’s recent problems could expose it to criminal prosecution related to the deadly crashes of two Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Boeing violated terms of a 2021 settlement that allowed it to avoid prosecution for fraud. The charge was based on the company allegedly deceiving regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes. Whistleblowers have accused the company of taking shortcuts that endanger passengers, a claim that Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA prior to the blowout found shortcomings in the aircraft maker’s safety culture. Most of the recent problems have been related to the Max, however Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems have also struggled with manufacturing flaws on a larger plane, the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has suffered setbacks on other programs including its Starliner space capsule, a military refueling tanker, and new Air Force One presidential jets. Boeing officials have vowed to regain the trust of regulators and the flying public. Boeing has fallen behind rival Airbus, and production setbacks have hurt the company’s ability to generate cash. The company says it is promoting a positive safety culture, improving worker training, reducing “traveled work” — assembly tasks that are done out of their proper chronological order — and keeping closer tabs on Spirit AeroSystems, including preventing the supplier from shipping defective fuselages to Boeing. The plane that suffered the door-plug blowout was being repaired because it had damaged rivets when it arrived at a Boeing factory from Spirit. GE’s sixth-gen fighter engine aces 4th round of crucial testing in US GE Aerospace also has a second adaptive engine in development, the XA102, which completed a major design review in December. Updated: May 28, 2024 08:00 AM EST Abhishek Bhardwaj GE Aerospace’s XA100 adaptive cycle engine. GE Aerospace General Electric (GE) Aerospace has announced the completion of the fourth series of testing on its XA100 adaptive cycle engine. The testing is being conducted to aid the US Air Force’s efforts for its Next Generational Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) and all future adaptive cycle engines. GE Aerospace’s XA100 is competing against Pratt and Whitney’s adaptive cycle engine XA101 and its proposed enhanced F135 for the F-35 Block 4 version. The current fleet of F-35s is powered by the F135 engine. GE Aerospace’s adaptive cycle engines According to GE Aerospace, adaptive cycle engines are important to maintaining US aircraft’s superiority by providing 30 percent greater range and better thermal management compared to today’s most advanced combat engines. The company also claims that these can provide 20% more acceleration. The engine testing provides a further understanding of critical components that can be used to improve the design and manufacturing approaches for future production of adaptive cycle engines. As part of NGAP, GE Aerospace is developing a second adaptive engine, the XA102, which completed a major design review in December. Representational image of GE Aerospace’s adaptive cycle engine. GE Aerospace The XA102 will now continue toward a prototype engine test. The combination of digital design and learning from GE Aerospace’s first adaptive cycle engine will allow XA102 to deliver the required propulsion performance key to enabling future air dominance capabilities, as per the company. “With the information gathered through our fourth round of testing, the future of military aviation is no longer theoretical – it is a reality,” said Amy Gowder, president and CEO of GE Aerospace Defense and Systems. “Every additional terabyte of data we gather off this real-world engine puts GE Aerospace and our military in a better position to deliver cutting-edge aviation capabilities to the warfighter.” The testing aims to ensure the schedule of the military’s sixth-generation fighter engine program. Adaptive cycle engines Adaptive cycle engines, also called variable cycle engine (VCE), are designed to operate efficiently under mixed flight conditions, such as subsonic, transonic and supersonic. The XA100 adaptive cycle engine is designed, built, and tested through the US Air Force’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP). GE successfully concluded testing on its second XA100 adaptive cycle Air Force Mission Capable Rates Fall in 2023, Led by Declines for F-15C and B-1 May 29, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak Note: See chart in the original article. Mission capable rates across most Air Force fleets declined in fiscal 2023, continuing a broad downward trend, according to information provided by the service. Readiness fell predictably in high-demand, hard-used assets and some systems approaching retirement, but the availability of some vintage aircraft continues to hold up well. Mission capable rates measure the percentage of time an aircraft is able to perform at least one of its core missions, while “full mission capable” rates refer to an aircraft being able to do all its assigned missions. For example, an F-16’s missions include dogfighting, ground attack, suppressing enemy air defenses, etc. Full mission capable rates were not provided. The service has said the way it measures mission capability rates has changed in recent years, with more focus on readiness of aircraft either already deployed or about to deploy and less on stateside aircraft. The service has said it aims for an mission capable rate average of 75-80 percent. The unweighted average of all fleets in 2023 was 69.92 percent, down from 71.24 percent in fiscal 2022. The rates are not weighted by numbers of aircraft in a particular fleet, and the numbers also include aircraft that were fully divested by the end of fiscal 2023, such as the KC-10 tanker. Of 64 aircraft types that carried over from 2022 to 2024, 44 saw a decline in mission capable rate—more than two-thirds. Those in decline included most of the service’s biggest, most active fleets. The F-15C—which is flight restricted due to structural issues and is now about ten years past its planned retirement date—posted the lowest MC rate among fleets with at least a dozen aircraft, at 33 percent. That means that typically, two of three aircraft were not available for action. Other types available less than half the time included the B-1B bomber, C-5M strategic airlifter, CV-22 tiltrotor, E-3B AWACS, C-130H, and RQ-4B Global Hawk drone. The B-1B’s rate fell from 54.8 percent to 47 percent, even though the Air Force reduced the size of the fleet two years ago by 17 airplanes but preserved the manpower and maintenance funding associated with the bomber in order to boost its availability. The C-5M’s rate fell from 52.6 percent to 46 percent, despite a decade-long, $10 billion re-engining, avionics, and structural upgrade intended to jumpstart the Galaxy’s flagging availability rates. In fiscal 2022, the Air Force had: • No airplane types reporting MC rates below 25 percent • Five between 26 and 50 percent • 38 between 51 and 75 percent • 26 between 76 and 100 percent In fiscal 2023, those numbers fell to • One type below 25 percent (the MC-130H, with a zero percent MC rate) • Nine between 25 and 50 percent • 26 between 51 and 75 percent • 28 between 76 and 100 percent The bulk of those aircraft performing best were in the small and medium cargo/utility categories—notably C-12 variants, with an MC rate of 99 or 100 percent—as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance types such as the MQ-9 drone, which specifically turned in an MC rate of 86 percent. The bomber fleet all performed at less than 60 percent mission capable, with the B-1 at 47 percent, the B-2 at 56 percent and the B-52 at 54 percent. Those figures include a monthslong grounding of the B-2, called a “safety pause” by the Air Force. The previous year’s rates for those three aircraft were 55, 53 and 59 percent, respectively. Fighters generally checked in between 52 percent—the stealthy F-22’s rate—and 69 percent, the rate for the F-16C, although the brand-new, two-airplane fleet of F-15EXs logged a MC rate of 86 percent. A third F-15EX has since joined the force, and 96 more are coming in the next few years. The venerable A-10C, which the Air Force will divest by the end of the decade, had an MC rate of 67 percent. The Air Force did not provide an MC rate for its F-35As. However, the Government Accountability Office reported in April that the Air Force’s F-35A mission capable rate as 51.9 percent in fiscal 2023, down from 56 in 2022. The new KC-46A tanker turned in an MC rate of 65 percent, down from last year’s rate of just under 70 percent. The KC-135, which it will replace, came in at 69 percent. The T-38 supersonic trainer fleet—overdue for replacement by the T-7A Red Hawk—managed rates between 58 and 70 percent. The oldest T-38As had an MC rate of 63 percent, but the upgraded T-38C only managed 58 percent, while the AT-38B lead-in fighter trainer hit 70 percent. The E-8C Joint STARS, which has been divested, turned in a final MC rate of 64 percent. While the Air Force has pointed to low MC rates, obsolescence, and vanishing vendor issues as the reason for divesting or retiring C-135 series types such as AWACS and JSTARS, other C-135 variants—used for signals intelligence, reconnaissance, weather, etc.‚are doing well, between 76 and 87 percent mission capable. The Air Force said it generally prioritized modernization over readiness in the fiscal 2025 budget request which went to Congress in March. But it included readiness asks in its Unfunded Priorities List, which Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said were “targeted” to specific fixes and parts that could produce disproportionately large gains in readiness. SNC plans ‘fully digital’ development for Air Force’s ‘Doomsday plane’ replacement "[W]hat we have done is assured the Air Force that everything we produce under the contract becomes their data," said Brady Hauboldt, SNC’s vice president of aviation strategic plans and programs. By MICHAEL MARROW on May 28, 2024 at 1:51 PM 595th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron maintainers prepare the E-4B for flight as a visiting documentary production team loads onto the Nightwatch to film a local training sortie and air refueling mission from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., May 15, 2024. (US Air Force photo) WASHINGTON — Sierra Nevada Corporation’s behemoth task of converting Boeing 747 jumbo jets into militarized aircraft that can survive nuclear war will be no easy feat, but the mid-size, privately-held firm hopes that a set of special digital tools will ease the process. SNC, which won the Air Force’s Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) contract late last month, plans to make a near-“digital twin” of the aircraft through a years-long design phase. “We are approaching this as a fully digital program,” Brady Hauboldt, SNC’s vice president of aviation strategic plans and programs, said in a recent interview with Breaking Defense. “We not only are building out digital models, but as you collect a series of digital models, you essentially become a digital twin of the aircraft.” For the SAOC program — a replacement for the Air Force’s aging E-4B Nightwatch fleet that typically transports the Defense Secretary but can also serve as a mobile nuclear command and control outpost, earning it the moniker “Doomsday plane” — SNC will need to learn a great deal about the 747 to mitigate risks for the SAOC’s development, considering the company isn’t the jet’s original manufacturer. Now that SNC has made a deal to acquire five 747-8is from Korean Air, that work is expected to begin shortly. “When you’re not the OEM [original equipment manufacturer], you take a different approach … for the modification, because you want to avoid touching any of the critical flight controls or the OEM’s intellectual property, their software and so on,” Hauboldt said. Instead, he said SNC’s solution consists of a “very light touch on the green aircraft to create a separation, if you will, between a really great airplane that Boeing has been building for a long time and the mission systems modifications that will be done under the SAOC program.” Part of that process will be extensively instrumenting the aircraft, undergoing steps like digital scans to build out a computerized model. Hauboldt clarified SNC isn’t out to entirely reproduce the 747, though the company plans to construct “a complete digital representation of the modified SAOC weapon system. And it will be a digital thread” throughout the modification process that is delivered to the Air Force, he said. All of the aircraft work will be done at Dayton International Airport, according to Hauboldt, where SNC has made significant investments to open hangars that will eventually house other company programs as well. SNC is also growing in the Denver, Colo., and Dallas, Texas, areas following the $13 billion SAOC award, Hauboldt said. From BREAKING DEFENSE But there will be other players involved too, including the company’s “big six” teammates revealed last week: Collins Aerospace, FSI Defense, GE Aerospace, Greenpoint Technologies, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, and Rolls-Royce. “We very deliberately partnered with some like-minded and domain experts across the defense industry to help fill in where we perhaps didn’t have the knowledge or depth that some of these companies did,” Hauboldt said, adding that the teammates have been involved for more than three years. SNC has now “submitted several of our first deliverables to the US government,” according to Hauboldt, and has kicked off efforts to establish a program baseline. The company is now staffing up to support preliminary and critical design reviews developed “over the next few years,” eventually culminating in aircraft modification. According to Aviation Week, a final SAOC fleet size could be anywhere from eight to 10 aircraft. Hauboldt stated the final fleet is still under discussion, but noted SNC has acquired the aircraft necessary to support the engineering and manufacturing development phase and stands ready to buy as many aircraft as needed for the program. SNC’s victory over Boeing for SAOC reportedly came down, in part, to Boeing’s disagreements over data rights with the Air Force. Asked about SNC’s pitch for the contract, Hauboldt said the firm “recognized very early on that something very important to the Air Force was the ability to have data rights to support future sustainment and modification of the aircraft,” and that “what we have done is assured the Air Force that everything we produce under the contract becomes their data.” That doesn’t mean SNC can give away others’ intellectual property, Hauboldt emphasized. “But the volume of digital data generated under this contract will assuredly give great value to the US Air Force for decades when it comes to sustaining and modifying this weapon system throughout its lifecycle.” Militarizing one of the largest passenger jets ever built means SNC may encounter some surprises, with Hauboldt using the example of discovering a bulkhead in an unexpected location. Still, he said the 747’s immense size can be a relative advantage in some cases, since smaller jets have less margin for growth concerning space, weight and power. While being a fixed-price program with its own unique requirements, Boeing’s high-profile struggles on the VC-25B Air Force One replacement effort — which is modifying two 747-8i aircraft to transport the US president — may be something of a cautionary tale for SNC, whose SAOC work will likely involve some similar tasks. Without commenting directly on Boeing’s woes, Hauboldt said SNC has taken steps to mitigate risks early on. “No large program is without its challenges. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we won’t have our challenges,” he said. “But we are ready and [have] very active communications with the customer to ensure that those types of challenges don’t manifest themselves on SAOC like they have on others.” This engine is not gasoline, electric, or hydrogen: 1 million km of autonomy and a mystery by D. García 05/21/2024 in Sin categoría Alternative fuels arrived years ago as a minority option, but have been spreading due to the numerous problems that EVs are bringing (and that, at this point, are undeniable). However, it seems that hydrogen is not going to be the option of the future either, since a group of scientists is developing something even better: this is the engine of 1 million km of autonomy. Neither hydrogen, nor electricity, but maybe not a good idea: this is the new engine There is a new idea of a car that would cover 1 m km unlimited distance on only eight grams of thorium fuel gone viral. Thorium, a slightly radioactive metal, may turn out, to be a very promising alternative power source, compared to the conventional fuel for cars. Talking about the claims of a car which is running on thorium and requires no refueling may just sound too excellent to be correct. People consider thorium as one of the possible sources of secure, clean and nearly limitless abundance. You know our position on nuclear energy, but this engine is quite different. This is the first-ever thorium-engine: a polemic, but futuristic invention The actual principle behind a thorium-battery car takes advantage of nuclear batteries by means of employing the thorium as a material. It is a radioactive element that can produce nuclear fission. Thorium is as simple as uranium with the reserve of being non-fissile therefore can’t sustain itself to nurture a chain reaction Unlike the standard car with a gasoline engine, the thorium car will use a compact thorium reactor to provide a neutron starting load that will trigger the thorium-to-uranium conversion. Instead, it could be effectively utilized to pump water through turbines, which could then drive the electric propulsion system of the spacecraft. Thorium and uranium are equivalent to gasoline regarding their energy density (they have more than 1 million times). Hence, when optimistic calculations are conducted about powering a car for 1 million miles with only 8 grams of them then they require to be replaced. Such a thorium reactor acts are an alternative to a lithium-ion battery where power from the thorium is released as it is used up. This fact is asserted by proponents of it as it has its distinctive long driving ranges that are not comparably found in conventional cars. This is an experimental engine, but, it´s as good as they claim to be? The science behind the thorium car’s alleged capability to travel 1 million miles on only 8 grams of thorium and that this seems to be exaggerated and not possible based on the present thorium technology. Thorium an radioactive element which can probably use as nuclear fuel. It is impossible without the energy source either. To obtain energy from thorium through nuclear reactions, thorium must be first converted in to uranium-233 by neutralizing the particles in a special reactor. The subject is still on the go for researching heat generated to turn the generator which is then used to harness electrical power that propels a vehicle. The volume of thorium, which is claimed to last for 1 million miles (1. 6 billion kilometers), a small number. By converting 8 grams into uranium-233, this scenario describes a city that would not be described realistically as having a nuclear power unit small enough to have enough fuel to propel a vehicle that far. Can you imagine a thorium engine driving on the road? Of course, the fact that it is based on nuclear reaction, albeit on a small scale, does not convince the manufacturers (you saw it last week when we talked about a similar prototype). However, it shows that not everything will be based on electricity or hydrogen, with new fuels that will rival and make it very difficult for them. This engine is not gasoline, electric, or hydrogen: 1 million km of autonomy and a mystery Four more Airbus A380s will be scrapped in the coming weeks Last updated: May 14, 2024 10:26 AIRLIVE Another four A380s will be dismantled in the coming weeks. In recent days, two of the main companies that process second-hand A380s have reached an agreement for the dismantling of another 4 planes. This agreement is motivated mainly due to the enormous demand for parts that currently exists for the A380. The aircraft in service require a large number of new or reconditioned parts. Second-hand market Given this enormous market that is opening up for the owners of A380s and given the already more than evident lack of demand for these aircraft as second-hand units, owners of the stored aircraft have decided to proceed to dismantle other four units. A leasing company has closed an agreement with VAS Aero Services for the dismantling of the aircraft and the distribution of the parts to Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Oceania and Southeast Asia. 15 aircraft already scrapped Several aircraft have been dismantled at the Tarmac Aerosave facilities in Tarbes, France and in Alice Springs, Australia for exemple: See list in the original article. Development Of Twin-Engine, Supersonic Version Of Turkey’s ANKA-3 UCAV Announced May 26, 2024 PARTH SATAM DAVID CENCIOTTI Note: See photos in the original article. The image of the second prototype of the ANKA-3 sporting a new paint scheme. (Image credit: via X/Telegram) Turkey’s ANKA-3 UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle) will soon fly with two engines and reach supersonic speeds, Turkish Aerospace Industries says. Turkey has been rapidly moving towards fielding UCAVs that can fly supersonic, team up with other manned/unmanned aircraft and fire missiles. During a recent online interaction, the CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industries (Türk Havacılık Uzay Sanayii or TUSAS), Temel Kotil, said that the ANKA-3, will have two engines, which will allow it to fly at “supersonic speeds.” “Now ANKA-3 is at high subsonic speed. But its 2-engine version will arrive soon, it will also be supersonic and will accompany KAAN,” he was quoted by Turan Oguz, a leading Turkish defense policy analyst on X. Oguz also identified the engines as two TEI (TUSAŞ Engine Industries) TF10000 turbofan power plants. “Development work on TEI-TF10000 continues and when completed, it is aimed to provide 6,000-pounds of dry and 10,000-pounds of afterburner (A/B) thrust.” The TEI-TF-10000 engine at an exhibition stall. (Image credit: Telegram) Interestingly, the TF10000, along with the TF6000 is being rapidly developed to serve as a domestic alternative to the US-made General Electric GE F110 turbofan – that currently powers the KAAN. Ankara is anticipating that complicated US-Turkey ties might lead to Washington blocking the sale of F110s. The TF10000 is and upgraded version of the TF6000, where the latter is being developed as the auxiliary power unit for the KAAN. B-21, B-2 Comparison Image Shows Just How Weird The Raider’s Windows Really Are The B-21 Raider evolved from the B-2, but it’s very much its own design, with its limited cockpit visibility being a standout trait. BY TYLER ROGOWAY | PUBLISHED MAY 23, 2024 7:45 PM EDT AIRNEWS & FEATURES 1 TYLER ROGOWAY View Tyler Rogoway's Articles Note: See photos in the original article. Aviation_Intel It's really fascinating to see just how similar, and at the same time how different, the B-2 and B-21 are from one another. Nowhere is the latter more apparent than in each types' cockpit windows. The image above, a version of which was posted on X by our friend @thenewarea51, really gives us a great comparison of the two aircraft from a similar angle and under similar lighting conditions. The scale is not exact as we still don't know the dimensions of the B-21, but it is overall a smaller aircraft than the B-2. You can read our complete analysis of the first aerial image of the B-21, as depicted in the comparison image, here. The B-21's bizarre window arrangement puzzled the public when it was first unveiled in concept art posted by the Air Force in July of 2021. As you can see in the latest side-on images, the B-21's cockpit glazing is a total departure from the B-2's wraparound windscreen. The side visibility through the B-21's angled slit windows, which were clearly a heavy compromise between functionality and low-observability (stealth), especially from critical frontal, lower aspects, is arguably not what's most striking here. The forward viability is. The windscreen appears to offer a relatively narrow forward field of view, confined to directly ahead of the aircraft, and there has been a premium put on the vertical, not horizontal field of view. As we have stated since the B-21's rollout, this is likely to facilitate aerial refueling, which is an absolutely critical capability for the extremely long-range B-21. The limited window apertures truncating the view outside are also compounded by the fact that a dashboard will extend back quite a ways under the raked windscreens to where the pilots are actually seated. A comparison of the B-21's highly sectionalized glazing versus the B-2's wraparound windscreen. (USAF) Also keep in mind, as noted earlier, that the B-21 is physically smaller than the B-2, with its cockpit looking tight in comparison, so these windows are likely even smaller than they seem. The alien design of the B-21 also makes judging scale very challenging. If you look at the ejection seat apertures above the flight deck areas on both aircraft, the size of the B-21's windows become more apparent. Also, remember the B-21 is likely about the length of an F-15 — the B-2 is roughly 69 feet long by comparison, just over five feet longer than an F-15. So the cockpit windows in comparison to the jet's total length, and compared to the size of the humans that will inhabit the jet, are a bit easier to decipher, and they look even smaller when taking that information into account. F-15Cs fly alongside a B-2 Spirit. The size of a flying wing transforms based on angle of view dramatically. (USAF) What's even more fascinating is that this thing is probably about the same length as an F-15 or close to it. Flying wings are transformers. From flying saucers side-on to massive flying wedges in the bank to huge boomerangs head on. Even giving the B-2 a full set of cockpit windows nearly 40 years ago when it was being designed was debated. Part of the argument against doing so was that the crew would have needed to be closed off from the outside world during nuclear delivery operations — its core mission — due to the blinding flash of nuclear detonations. The B-2 ended up getting its wraparound windscreen and a frame that can accommodate a flat panel of instantly tintable glass. This system would be installed on nuclear missions, leaving the dash of the B-2 open during conventional operations. You can often see the inner frame for this system in cockpit images of the B-2. The inner frame of the B-2's nuclear glass panel system is seen in this image. (U.S. Air Force photo Master Sgt. Alexander W. Riedel) The need for pilots to see outside is becoming less of a necessity as technology moves forward. Enhanced vision systems, computer-generated terrain avoidance and synthetic vision display capabilities, and in-cockpit augmented reality mean that there are very real and relevant workarounds to looking out the window for advanced aircraft. A distributed aperture system could allow B-21 crews to 'see through' the aircraft from any angle and in infrared wavelengths while wearing helmet-mounted displays, for instance. The extreme awareness provided by the B-21's advanced sensor suite could also provide an extra margin of safety even when traveling in densely populated airspace. On the other hand, NASA's X-59 QueSTT supersonic demonstrator has no forward visibility at all. Automation and rapid leaps in autonomous piloting are also changing this equation. It's worth noting that the B-21 is still slated to be optionally manned. To what degree the USAF plans on using this capability remains unknown. A comparison of the cockpit windscreens of the B-21 and B-2. (USAF) We also don't know what creature comforts were built into the B-21 from the start considering all that's been learned about human needs for flying global airpower missions that can last well over a day. For instance, an area on the B-2 that was originally intended for a third crew member has been repurposed with a small improvised cot so that one of the two pilots can rest during the long transits. A small toilet also exists on the Spirit so the crew can relieve themselves more easily than using 'piddle packs.' One would imagine Northrop Grumman would have made the B-21 a bit more accommodating for these super long-range operations from the get-go, but we really don't know what these features could include, although we have asked. (Northrop Grumman) The B-21 is Northrop Grumman's second shot at a flying wing stealth bomber and a far more mature evolution of the B-2, with decades of experience building, operating, and sustaining it factored in. Even the Raider's planform is taken directly from what the B-2 was supposed to be, before the USAF introduced low-level penetration requirements to the Advanced Technology Bomber program. The subsequent Spirits were absolutely 'bleeding edge' in nearly every regard when they were built. One could even consider the B-2 as an experimental production aircraft of sorts, with just 21 being constructed. And while the original stealth bomber shares many traits with its successor, they are still significantly different, both in terms of key elements of design and in planned mission sets. You can read all about this in our past deep dive on the topic here. But the choice of cockpit glazing underscores the premium put on low-observability and the Raider's ensured survival for years to come. At the same time, it could also be indicative of other technologies being integrated into the bomber that make flying with reduced visibility a largely mitigated issue. Final resting place for commercial aircraft found in dusty California desert • When commercial aircraft retire they can be sent to this airplane graveyard in the Mojave desert • Mojave Airport and spaceport (MHV) in California, USA, has an accompanying airliner storage and reclamation yard • The vast area and dry, low-humidity desert conditions make it the perfect spot Published on May 29, 2024 at 7:00PM (UTC+4) • by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones Last updated on May 31, 2024 at 7:25PM (UTC+4) Edited by Tom Wood Note: See photos in the original article. When commercial aircraft are retired, they don’t go off to a giant aircraft hanger in the sky – many of them go to this airplane graveyard in the Mojave desert. Mojave Airport and Spaceport (MHV) in California, USA, has an accompanying airliner storage and reclamation yard for commercial airliners. While it might seem eerie, but the vast area, far from major cities and other airports, and dry, low-humidity desert conditions make it the perfect location. Boeing 747 in boneyard appears to attempt take-off Massee Media Some that are beyond repair are scrapped at the Mojave aircraft boneyard. Meanwhile, other airplanes can be revived and refurbished in hopes of resuming active service. Mojave Transportation Museum One example of this is the Qantas Airlines’ fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s. During the global lockdown during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, they were sent to the Mojave aircraft graveyard. The last 747-438(ER), VH-OEJ, named ‘Wunala’, left Sydney Airport, Australia in July 2020. Flight QF747’s was takeoff witnessed by hundreds of spectators and airplane spotters alike. The 17-year-old aircraft embarked on the last leg of the final flight on July 24, 2020, departing LAX to Mojave Airport. Check out this footage of a Boeing 747 sitting in the boneyard with no engines appearing to try to take off one last time. The apparent getaway attempt was down to high winds of over 70 mph and gusts of up to 100mph in the low-pressure zone back in 2012. With its landing flaps deployed and lack of engines, cockpit avionics, and other interior elements making the tail heavy, it appears to try to take to the skies one last time. Mojave was also the site for the world’s largest aircraft ‘Roc’, which launched the first powered flight of a hypersonic vehicle at Mach 5. While you can no longer tour in person, you can do a Mojave Air and Space Port Virtual Driving Tour. Curt Lewis