PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - RAAFs first two Wedgetail AEW&C 737 aircraft
Old 26th Nov 2009, 23:57
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Willoz269
 
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This should be interesting...a good friend worked for Boeing in the Wedgetail project, he left a little while ago...I reckon he aged 10 years in 24 months.

Lots of problems, some of them ridiculous....when the mock up was completed, the aircraft and the sensors were at max weight, but the weight of the crew had not been factored in!!!

Initial flight tests revealed the great big surfboard on the roof meant the pilots had to fly manually at 5deg alpha and the autopilot could not cope.

The COG of the test aircraft were way outside of calculations.

Aicraft severly overweight and could not match performance specifications...he recounted a meeting with Turkish Air Force officials who were so disappointed in the Wedgetail, the only way they stopped them from leaving the meeting was by talking about soccer!!!
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