Pegasus Flies Again
By WGCDR Frank Dyer
On 27 June this year, NZ 7003 - the first of the five RNZAF C-130 aircraft to undergo the C-130 Life Extension Project (initially dubbed Project Pegasus) - took to the prairie skies on a sunny Edmonton day and successfully completed her initial two and a half hour flight.
The mighty C-130 takes to the skies.
This was a key step in the programme. Seeing NZ 7003 flying as the first C-130 LEP was an exciting and emotional sight for all those who had worked on this aircraft since it had been inducted to L-3 SPAR in October 2005.
The aircraft was very stable in the air, demonstrating that the structures teams have done a good job straightening her out said the RNZAF Pilot in Command, SQNLDR Pete Saunders. He also praised the aircraft’s new avionics describing them as ‘an aviator’s dream’. The aircraft’s improved reliability and maintainability is augmented by its enhanced interoperability, increased situational awareness and decreased crew workload in the operational environment, commented SQNLDR Saunders.
‘Flight Test is a critical phase of the RNZAF C-130 Life Extension and today saw a significant milestone in that process. Everyone involved in attaining today’s first flight should be proud of what has been achieved,’ said Ian Gibson, Project Manager C-130 Life Extension Program, New Zealand Ministry of Defence. The $247 million dollar project provides a huge improvement for the price and since the small team has been in Canada there have been many enhancements to the original specification without increasing this figure. Improvements such as the enhanced Environmental Control System and separate self-contained cooling system are proving to be a welcome addition, increasing crew comfort levels and dealing with the increased heat output from the new avionics systems. The scope of the project also includes a Part Task Trainer, which has proved to be very valuable to assimilate the crews in flying this very different C-130.
NZ7003 in the air.
From an engineering standpoint this is the largest aircraft upgrade the RNZAF has ever undertaken. Nineteen comprehensive design reviews were required to incorporate all the structural, avionics and mechanical upgrades in the programme. The extent of the structural replacements is not apparent when you look at the completed aircraft, but the 100 major structural items replaced had to be carefully programmed to ensure the aircraft integrity was maintained. If all these items were removed at once, NZ7003 would be reduced to a pile of aluminium scrap on the ground! During the flight test phase for the prototype, NZ7003, it is interesting to walk past NZ7004 which is stripped down to a bare shell with no wiring, centre wing or tail section. This really emphasizes the extent of the project.
After acceptance, NZ7003 will return to New Zealand later this year where it will commence Operational Test and Evaluation flying within the RNZAF.
Meanwhile, work continues on the second aircraft, NZ7004, with the next centre wing being built up in the adjacent hangar. NZ7004 will also be the prototype for the new Self Protection System that was added to the scope of the LEP last year. This aircraft is expected to be complete in early 2009.
Flight Test Information
The Main Instrument Panel.
The current Acceptance, Test and Evaluation phase that is underway in Edmonton is significant with over 20 flights planned to test all the systems. The Flight Test phase is the last part of this phase and due to the depth of the upgrade a mixed crew of RNZAF and contracted test pilots are being used to assess the aircraft. Fault finding is an interesting challenge and the small MoD resident team had a welcome influx of support during the flight test phase, with a full RNZAF flight crew and engineering support from No. 40 Squadron. The Flight Test phase is much more than a simple check of the systems, due to the high level of system integration in the modified aircraft. As it is the only aircraft like it in the world, there is no reference point to compare to. Many times the initial ‘debugging’ means a lot of information exchanges and clarification questions to the various component original equipment manufacturers, then determining if it is a manufacturer, software, legacy or integration problem. There is still a lot of work to go, and the second phase of flying, which will commence with the upgraded software load at the beginning of September, will mainly test the new RADAR, Autopilot and the integrated Flight Management System.