Wednesday 20, February 2019

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The Langley Crier
Winter 2017
"Chapter Meetings" |
The Langley AFA Chapter meeting on
November 14th featured Major General
John K. McMullen, Deputy Commander,
Air Combat Command. General McMullen
provided a brief breakdown of ACC’s
structure, mission and highlighted current
priorities, challenges and opportunities for
the Command.
Air Combat Command’s structure and
mission were summarized in three main
points. ACC provides forces and
Combined Air Component Commanders
(CFACCs) to U.S. Central Command
(USAFCENT), Northern Command
(USAFNORTH) and Southern Command
(USAFSOUTH). At the same time ACC is
also a force provider
to other Combatant
Commanders including
U.S. European,
Pacific and Strategic
Commands. ACC
accomplishes its
"Organize, Train and
Equip" mission
through the USAF
Warfare Center,
1st Air Force, 9th Air Force, 12th Air
Force, and 25th Air Force.
General McMullen reviewed the ACC Mission
-- "Control and Exploit the Air.” To
accomplish that mission, General
Holmes (ACC/CC) is focused on three
priorities: improving squadron readiness,
building better Joint leaders, and "bringing”
the future faster.
Primary challenges at
this time include the
current Air Force
pilot shortage, the
warrant officer
aviator hurdle, the
coming shortage of
aircraft maintenance
personnel and the possibilities
of BRAC
actions in the
future. At
the same
time General
Holmes sees
many
opportunities
in the future.
Include in this list an opportunity for
enlisted members to become RQ-4 pilots, a
potential RPA expansion at Shaw AFB,
other UAV base location expansions to
improve morale of operators and provide
more relocation opportunities, the
consolidation of the
24th and 25th in an
effort to better
integrate the
service’s cyber and
ISR capabilities and
reduce redundancies
in staffing, several
future F-35
beddown locations
at non-CONUS
bases that currently
operate similar fighter aircraft, and the
Light Attack Aircraft experiment that is
underway at this time.
During the November monthly meeting,
Colonel (Ret) Jay Pearsall gave a special
presentation by introducing the
Williamsburg Aviation Scholarship Program
(WASP). The purpose of WASP is to
create career opportunities in aviation,
help build and sustain local aviation,
and support national programs
designed to mitigate projected pilot
shortages. To learn more about WASP
and opportunities to support, visit
https://www.waspscholarship.org.
The December Chapter meeting for Langley AFA fit
neatly into the category of "Life Long Learning”. We
were honored to have Mr. Bob Berrier, a retired
NASA Aeronautical Engineer, educate us on vortices
and vapour cloud production relative to their impact
on assorted aircraft in flight.
Sounds really technical, but
Mr. Berrier made the subject
very enjoyable. We in the
audience observed examples
of natural and engineered
vortices as well as various
vapour clouds produced
during supersonic, subsonic
and transonic flight. Bob
shared the basic mechanics of
supersonic shock waves and
their unique audible effects
and other physical outcomes
associated with a sonic
boom. The thunder-like noise
heard from on the ground occurs when an aircraft or
other type of aerospace vehicle flies overhead faster
than the speed of sound, or "supersonic.” Mr. Berrier
explained that there are several factors that can influence
sonic booms - weight, size, and shape of the
aircraft or
vehicle, plus
its altitude,
attitude, and
flight path,
and weather
or
atmospheric
conditions. A
larger and
heavier
aircraft must displace more air and create more lift to
sustain flight, compared with small, light aircraft.
Therefore, they will create sonic booms stronger and louder than those of smaller, lighter aircraft. The larger
and heavier the aircraft, the stronger the shock waves
will be.
Mr. Berrier started his career at NASA Langley in 1963.
During a career that spanned 54 years, he made
significant contributions in
advancing the state of the art in
both propulsion and aeronautics
and authored or co-authored
over 90 technical publications.
He is a nationally and internationally
recognized authority in the
field of propulsion airframe
integration and played a major
role in the development of many
advanced military aircraft
currently flying today. Mr. Berrier
retired from NASA in June 2005
but remained active in the field as
a Distinguished Research
Associate and part-time Alliant
Techsystems and Analytical Mechanics Associates
employee at NASA.
Mr. Berrier is a Fellow of the American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics and recipient of the
Society of Automotive Engineering Charles M. Manly
Memorial Medal, the
NASA Exceptional
Engineering Medal,
the NASA
Exceptional Service
Medal, and the
AIAA Air Breathing
Propulsion Medal. In
2017, he was elected
to the North
Carolina State
Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Hall of Fame.
(Editor’s Note: GO WOLFPACK!)
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The Langley Crier is a publication of the Langley Chapter 323 of the Air Force Association, P.O. Box 7370, Riverdale Station, Hampton, VA 23666
For Information or Questions:
contact@LangleyAFA.org
Mark "Buster" Douglas: 757.269.2621 or Steven Bryan: 757.880.6540 |
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