Hypersonic test flight on track

First flight of the X-51A scramjet demonstrator is now on track for early December while captive carriage tests on the NASA-operated B-52H mothership at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., are set to begin in October.

A joint effort by the U.S. Air Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, and Boeing, the hypersonic vehicle is designed to be the first air-breathing craft to demonstrate sustained speeds in excess of Mach 4 using a “logistically friendly” hydrocarbon fuel.The initial vehicle is the first of four X-51As to be launched by April 2010.

First flight, targeted for December 2008 under the original schedule, was later reset for early in the fourth quarter of 2009. But integration issues with the B-52H mothership, along with logistic delays, pushed the first flight target toward late November.The target date has now been moved to Dec. 3

Rolling upright, the X-51A is expected to cover almost 400 miles in five minutes and reach an altitude of around 100,000 feet before the fuel is exhausted and the vehicle ditches in the Pacific test range off southern California.

Air India to terminate induction of 42 trainee pilots

Air India has terminated induction of 42 trainee pilots into the company even though the airline is facing an acute shortage of pilots at the senior level and has about 170 expatriate pilots employed on contractual basis.

The reason given by the carrier, is that as the carrier might defer deliveries of the Boeing 787s, the recruitment has to be put on hold.

However, a senior official from the airline said that even if the recruitment was put on hold because of deferral of deliveries of 787s', the airline already had 178 expatriate pilots who come at enormous costs. The fact is that the airliner has a shortage of co-pilots and DGCA does not allow them to hire expatriate co-pilots. The shortage of co-pilots is such that these expatriate pilots are flying as co-pilots in Air India Express. While an expatriate commander is paid about Rs 5.5 lakh plus hotel bills every month, fresh first officers can be hired for just about a Rs one lakh per month.

The recruitment of these trainee pilots began in January this year and about 1,300 candidates had applied for the job. Of the 1,300, only 42 were selected.