Jetrader - November/December 2009 - 22

advertiser index ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WINGLET SYSTEMS Aviation Partners Boeing 6 AERO ENGINEERING Complete Turbine Service, LLC 21 AIRCRAFT ACQUISITION The Longbow Group, LLC 17 AIRCRAFT FINANCING Aviation Capital Group Inside Front Cover AIRCRAFT MANAGEMENT The Longbow Group, LLC 17 AIRCRAFT SALES Cabot Aviation 22 The Longbow Group, LLC 17 AIRCRAFT SERVICES Derichebourg Atis aéronautique 8 ASSET MANAGEMENT Morten Beyer & Agnew 14 CONSULTING AVITAS Inside Back Cover The Longbow Group, LLC 17 FINANCING SkyWorks Capital Outside Back Cover INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AerData B.V. 8 The Longbow Group, LLC 17 LEASING Genesis Lease Limited 14 MODIFICATIONS TIMCO 4 OVERHAUL SERVICES Lufthansa Technik AG 18 advertiser .com AerData B.V. www.aerdata.com 8 Aviation Capital Group www.aviationcapital.com Inside Front Cover Aviation Partners Boeing www.aviationpartnersboeing.com 6 AVITAS www.avitas.com Inside Back Cover Cabot Aviation www.cabotaviation.com 22 Complete Turbine Service, LLC www.completeturbine.com 21 Derichebourg Atis aéronautique www.derichebourg-atis.com 8 Genesis Lease Limited www.genesislease.com 14 Lufthansa Technik AG www.lufthansa-technik.com 18 Morten Beyer & Agnew www.mba.aero 14 SkyWorks Capital www.skyworkscapital.com Outside Back Cover The Longbow Group, LLC www.thelongbowgroup.com 17 TIMCO www.timco.aero 4 Cabot Global Presence United Kingdom North America South America Asia Pacific Russia and CIS Aviation www.cabotaviation.com need to rush. But since he’d notiﬁed the hospital staff that we were inbound, he insisted we get there as soon as possible. I couldn’t help but think how ironic it would be to have survived one disaster only to be done in by the helicopter that had come to my rescue. However, we made it to the hospital safely—and quickly. Soon, I was able to contact Lockheed’s ﬂight test ofﬁce at Edwards. The test team there had been notiﬁed initially about the loss of radio and radar contact, then told the aircraft had been lost. They also knew what our ﬂight conditions had been at the time, and assumed no one could have survived. I brieﬂy explained what had happened, describing in fairly accurate detail the ﬂight conditions prior to breakup. The next day, our ﬂight proﬁle was duplicated on the SR-71 ﬂight simulator at Beale AFB, Calif. The outcome was identical. Steps were immediately taken to prevent a recurrence of our accident. Testing at a CG aft of normal limits was discontinued, and trim-drag issues were subsequently resolved via aerodynamic means. The inlet control system was continuously improved and, with subsequent development of the Digital Automatic Flight and Inlet Control System, inlet unstarts became rare. Investigation of our accident revealed that the nose section of the aircraft had broken off aft of the rear cockpit and crashed about 10 mi. from the main wreckage. Parts were scattered over an area approximately 15 mi. long and 10 mi. wide. Extremely high air loads and g-forces, both positive and negative, had literally ripped Jim and me from the airplane. Unbelievably good luck is the only explanation for my escaping relatively unscathed from that disintegrating aircraft. Two weeks after the accident, I was back in an SR-71, ﬂying the ﬁrst sortie on a brand-new bird at Lockheed’s Palmdale, Calif., assembly and test facility. It was my ﬁrst ﬂight since the accident, so a ﬂight test engineer in the back seat was probably a little apprehensive about my state of mind and conﬁdence. As we roared down the runway and lifted off, I heard an anxious voice over the intercom. “Bill! Bill! Are you there?” “Yeah, George. What’s the matter?” “Thank God! I thought you might have left.” The rear cockpit of the SR-71 has no forward visibility—only a small window on each side—and George couldn’t see me. A big red light on the master-warning panel in the rear cockpit had illuminated just as we rotated, stating, “Pilot Ejected.” Fortunately, the cause was a misadjusted microswitch, not my departure. Bill Weaver ﬂight tested all models of the Mach-2 F-104 Starﬁghter and the entire family of Mach 3+ Blackbirds—the A-12, YF-12 and SR-71. He subsequently was assigned to Lockheed’s L-1011 project as an engineering test pilot, became the company’s chief pilot and retired as Division Manager of Commercial Flying Operations. He still ﬂies Orbital Sciences Corp.’s L-1011, which has been modiﬁed to carry a Pegasus satellite-launch vehicle. An FAA Designated Engineering Representative Flight Test Pilot, he’s also involved in various aircraft-modiﬁcation projects, conducting certiﬁcation ﬂight tests. McGraw-Hill/Aviation Week and Space Technology/vol. 163/issue nbr 6/p. 60-62/Contrails column/Bill Weaver/8/8/2005. Aircraft Remarketing, Acquisition, Wet Leasing, Trading and Technical Services 22 The 1 434650_Cabot.indd ofﬁcial publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading 6/23/09 4:40:46 PM

http://www.aerdata.com http://www.aviationcapital.com http://www.aviationpartnersboeing.com http://www.avitas.com http://www.cabotaviation.com http://www.completeturbine.com http://www.derichebourg-atis.com http://www.genesislease.com http://www.lufthansa-technik.com http://www.mba.aero http://www.skyworkscapital.com http://www.thelongbowgroup.com http://www.timco.aero http://www.cabotaviation.com

Jetrader - November/December 2009

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