Despite all the hoop-lah 9/11/11 was a normal day out on the line as an airline pilot. I flew three legs including in and out of Boston (where Janet Napolitano had given a speech just that morning). The weather was nice, the schedule ran on time and we got home 10 minutes early. The biggest irritation was no one to marshall us in when we got to the gate in Orlando (that's what you get for showing up early in the airline biz).
I did take time to see the 9/11 memorial at Boston Logan during my long break there. I had lunch with my best friend who drove me over and showed it to me (while showing off his new car). The two Mass. State Police officers in their dress uniforms standing nearby (probably from the VIP visit) did give it a proper feeling of solemity though.
All in all it was beyond a normal day, it was a wonderful day. I have had few better trips in my career. I am convinced that we are more secure now than ever. I am not saying our system is perfect or inpenetrable. But we are awake at the switch and watching closely. In a word, we are vigilant. For this I want to say two things:
1: While others pay tribute to the victims of 9/11 (and well they should) I would like to pay tribute to all of the people in the security chain, from the intelligence agents in the field to the TSA folks at the airport, the FFDOs, the police, the alert bag handler and of course the American military. I even wish to thank our elected officials (all parties and branches) for 10 attack free years in the United States.
2: On 9/11/11 I had grilled swordfish and salad with my best friend ( a member of the aforementioned security apparatus) only a few hundred yards from the gate where some of the hijackers departed on 9/11. I had no sense of angst or worry. We talked about our families, cars, computers and video cameras. In other words; went on with our lives. Stronger, wiser and more alert than 10 years and 1 day ago, but every bit as happy. A note to the bad guys.....we win!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Space Shuttle, the Era Ends...Finally!
Whereas the Russians had their limited resources in competition with each other, America had NASA to keep our resources aligned in a cooperative effort. In doing so NASA director James Webb had control over a huge piece of the U.S. economy (estimates range from 6%-20% depending on the definition of control). Regardless of how you define it NASA became a huge industrial machine. It was a typical big government program. It had to be to accomplish the political and scientific goals of landing a man on the moon by the end of 1969 (Kennedy's goal). Once Kennedy was martyred by assassination, his goal took on an almost religious zeal in America. I know, I was one of its most dedicated followers. I was born in Florida in 1961 and grew up in the midst of the space age's "Go Fever". My father's best friend was an engineer at Kennedy Space Center (the cape). The moon was the ultimate brass ring.
Little did a trusting America realize that the NASA brass had another not so visible agenda. Not an evil one by any means but one that dealt with the preservation of the space industry after the accomplishment of NASA's legal mandate. That hidden agenda was to protect NASA's piece of the taxpayer pie and insure future work for the contractor's. NASA leadership had made sure to spread the contracts around the country and no congressman wanted lay-offs in his district. There were of course still layoffs after Apollo ended. According to an interview with Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan many of the Grumman engineers got their pink slips as soon as Apollo 17 lifted off the pad. Jerry Pournelle, author of "Lucifer's Hammer", has been a critic of the shuttle program for reasons that go beyond the technical merits or demerits. He rightly observed that the STS program kept the space industry infrastructure intact at the expense of other programs. Ironically it did it under the guise of cheaper access to space whereas in reality the STS was anything but cheap. One example he noted was the absurdity of reusing solid rocket boosters (SRBs) and of building them in sections to begin with. They were made in sections (which later helped cause the Challenger disaster) because of the need to transport them by rail from Utah (where the manufacturer was located). They should have been made as a single, solid piece in one of many other states closer to the cape but the political clout of the era kept the contract in Utah. BOOM!
The shuttle engines were reworked Apollo J-2 engines (from the Saturn V second stage). Although they have been upgraded and reworked they are not new technology and did little to advance the state of the art. Using them did insure that a lot of people kept their jobs though (again, not evil but also not NASA's mandate). Although there is a sound logic in using what you know works it has the side effect of stifling progress.
NASA spent the bulk of the space budget keeping the existing platform going at the cost of designing something better. The Orion project, which should have been simple by comparison, has turned into a $3.9 billion nightmare. It's original mission of going to the moon on Constellation has been scrapped and many critics consider it too complex for the relatively simple task of being a taxicab to the ISS but it has kept a lot of the space industry employed.....for now.
Meanwhile SpaceX Corp has developed the Dragon, a commercial space vehicle under NASA's much less expensive COTS program (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services). In 2008, NASA announced the selection of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The $1.6 billion contract represents at least of 12 flights (with options on missions for a total contract value of up to $3.1 billion). That is less than the money spent just to get Orion partially built.
To help keep perspective, each shuttle launch was running about $1.6 billion. Although the Dragon lacks many of the shuttles capabilities the cost saving and technological advancements it represents are proof positive that we are finally past the Shuttle era and on a truly commercially viable future in space.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Late Great Chinese J-20 'Stealth' Fighter
In 1981 The USAF initated specifications for what would become the F-22 Raptor. Sixteen years later it was rolled out to much fanfare. On 15 December 2005 the USAF announced that the Raptor was operational. During a two week exercise in Alaska in 2006, 12 F-22s downed 108 adversaries with no losses in simulated combat. An F-15 pilot who went against a raptor equated the experience to being clubbed like a baby seal. All four in his flight F-15s were ruled shot down by a single F-22.
Now the Chinese have rolled out their new pride and joy. The J-20 (J = Jian which means Fighter). Like the Russian T-50 western observers quickly noted the absence of vectored thrust. Western pilots were not nearly as alarmed as the media and American politicians. This is a repeat of history.
Not to be left behind by this quantum leap in technology the Russians had the Sukhoi design bureau design a competing product. The T-50 (nicknamed the Kraptor by cynical American officers) made its debut in 2010. Although it looked like a Raptor from a distance it was quickly noted that many of the technologies that the make the F-22 a world beater were absent. To begin with there was no vectored thrust.
In 1964 Red China decided it neede to build a domestic fighter. Based largely on MiG 21 aerodynamics the J-8 was rolled out in 1969. For political reasons production and delivery was delayed until 1980 (chalk one up for yet another cultural revolution). By this time the west had moved on to infinitely more capable platforms such as the F-16 and F-15 Eagle. The J-8 was hopelessly outclassed even by the Russian designs of the decade. In the 1980s the Chinese had managed to deliver unto themselves the best of 1960s technology.
With new 6th generation fighters already being test flown including unmanned ones, it is safe to say that Chinese Medium range Ballistic Missiles are a far bigger threat that the J-20. But then strategic planners have commented that the J-20 may be just a part of the Chinese battle plan. If they use MRBMs to knock out our airbases in the region then they may believe they could rule the area uncontested. F-22's would have to fly long distances and use aerial refueling. But then that is why they have super-cruise (Mach 1+ speed without afterburner) and refueling probes.
The J-20 seems to be yet another example of delivering the very best of 20 year old technology. A few angled corners and a digital "disco dash" cockpit display do not a world beater make. This jet may represent a jump in technology for the PLAAF (People's Liberation Army Air Force) but it still puts them well behind the west. There is no evidence of a Raptor style integrated digital satellite linked "God's eye view" combat system that is linked to all other aircraft in the battlespace (but that does not insure that it does not have one). Stealth experts have already determined that the stealthiness of the plane is not up to western standards. Not only the shape is critical to low observable aircraft but also the materials. Northrop-Grumman and Lockheed-Martin can attest as to how difficult these materials are to master working with. It would appear that the J-20 would have been a great plane in 1980 but it is late to the party; ergo it is the late, great J-20.
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