2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

NASA
WB-57
Fiscal Year 2008 saw much progress
in the WB-57 aircraft program,
in the areas of flight hardware
improvements, crew training, and
science missions.
Both aircraft now have the new landing
gear, an adaptation of the F-15E landing gear,
anti-skid brakes, and tires. After some time
in service, minor modifications were made
to the hydraulic line configuration to address
minor fluid leaks. The final configuration is
now installed on both aircraft.
The new system is proving to be a great
improvement to the airplane. Braking power
and the anti-skid capability have enabled
essentially carefree operations on all runway
conditions encountered to date. The
brakes and related systems have also been
maintenance-free to date. The frequency
of brake replacement, due to normal wear,
has been greatly reduced, and the time
and complexity of replacing a brake is also
greatly reduced. The new tires last longer
than the original WB-57 tires. In addition,
the consumable components (brakes and
tires) are readily available in the DOD supply
system.
The new landing gear has a higher loadcarrying
capability than the original,
and facilitates the next major aircraft
improvement; the addition of ER-2
“Superpods”, and an increase in the allowable
aircraft gross weight to facilitate carriage
of the superpods. The goal is to increase
the allowable take-off weight to 72,000 lbs,
an increase of 9,000 lbs, or 14% over the
existing weight.
The gross weight upgrade project was
begun near the beginning of FY08, and will
be completed in the first quarter of FY10.
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