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Forum: General F-35 Forum
тАШBedford ArrayтАЩ May Have F-35C Uses After All
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» тАШBedford ArrayтАЩ May Have F-35C Uses After All
Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 10:31 AM
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Future Carrier Recovery Methods
http://www.hrana.org/documents/PaddlesM ... ly2011.pdf
тАЬNAVAIR engineer Buddy Denham presented some interesting developments on how methods of carrier recovery may progress in the future, especially regarding the introduction of the next generation of carrier-based aircraft. What will the composition of a carrier air wing look like in 2020? How will these aircraft make their approach and landing on the CV? As F/A-18s begin to be replaced with F-35 and UCAS (and already-existing aircraft are equipped with JPALS), will Naval Aviation shift toward using тАШauto landтАЩ systems as the primary method of aircraft recovery or still rely on the traditional technique of тАШMeatball, Line-up, Angle-of-AttackтАЩ and pilot skill?
Initially, it was thought that the advanced navigation and guidance capabilities of UCAS and F-35 would allow for greater reliance (maybe even total reliance) on purely тАШauto landтАЩ systems with the hope that this would eliminate pilot error as a causal factor in landing mishaps as well as significantly reduce pre-deployment FCLP requirements. However, a total reliance on automated methods of carrier landing would leave Naval Aviation vulnerable to signal jamming as well as GPS-denied environments.
Could their possibly be a тАШthird wayтАЩ that would be so simple for the pilot to fly, yet not susceptible to jamming or electronic failure? What was proposed by Buddy Denham is the integration of a system called the
Bedford Array Landing Reference System
that would augment our current IFLOLS system. The system would consist of a series of high intensity centerline lights as depicted below: [PHOTO]
These lights would be approximately twelve feet apart and would shift in order to display not only glide slope information but also glide slope trends during the pass, similar to a PAPI or VASI but stabilized with regards to deck motion.тАЭ
[SEARCH THIS FORUM FOR 'Bedford' - most info in the very long thread]
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Carrier Integration
тАЬLCDR Eric тАЬMagicтАЭ Buus from VX-23?s F-35 Carrier Integration team gave an excellent update on the status of the F-35C (The Navy?s CV version). As would be expected from any carrier based aircraft, the F-35C will feature more structural integrity than the F-35A in addition to slightly larger control surfaces. Reference the specs below to see how the F-35C will compare to the F/A-18C and F/A-18E: [PHOTO]
As you can see, the F-35 will have wingspan similar to the Rhino but with a smaller flight deck footprint and a very impressive internal fuel capacity of more than 19,000 pounds. Currently two airframes have been delivered for testing and the third is expected to arrive soon. Some things that will take some getting used to will be the lack of a FLAPS switch and coming into the break with the hook up
(Due to hook airspeed limitations)
. Also worth mentioning is the fact that as of now only the Air Force?s F-35A will feature and internal gun.
The F-35C will also not include a HUD and, like the F-16, will feature a side-mounted control stick. Most notably is the fully-customizable 8тАЭ by 20тАЭ touch screen that will replace the separate displays that Hornet and Rhino pilots have become accustomed to (See cockpit photograph featured below). Test pilots indicate that the F-35 is a very stable platform and overall flies тАЬslightly better than a Hornet,тАЭ and initial Sea Trials are scheduled for the First Quarter of 2013.тАЭ
JPALS Update
"The Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) is a GPS-based system that will eventually replace the current radar-based methods of carrier approach and landing. It will be comprised of both ship and aircraft based systems and supported by a JPALS-specific data link. This system will become the Joint Service standard, completely interoperable across each military branch, and 100 percent compatible with the civilian GPS-based systems scheduled to replace ILS, NDB, and VORTAC navigational aids.
How will the carrier-based systems work? Basically, the ship provides precise GPS/INS measurements and other data such as hook touchdown points and glide slope information via the encrypted data link to the aircraft. This data is combined with data from the aircraft itself to determine its exact relative position. The relative positions of the aircraft and ship will then be used to display relative position in relation to glide slope and centerline to the pilot via standard cockpit in-strumentation.
The JPALS hook touchdown points (HTDPs) will be fully selectable and slaved to the IFLOLS. As of now, the system is being developed to allow for four possible commanded HTDPs for 4-wire ships and three for 3-wire ships. Each of these selectable HTDPs will be 20.4 feet prior to the target CDP on the 4-wire ships and 15.4 feet prior to the CDP on the three wire ships. Unfortunately, selectable HTDPs will not be available for field-based JPALS approaches. While this would be an excellent capability for тАЬfly-in arrestmentsтАЭ at the field, FAA regulations would require a NOTAM be issued anytime the parameters of a precision approach changes.тАЭ
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Posted: Jun 20, 2013 - 4:17 AM
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Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 02:20 PM
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Initially, it was thought that the advanced navigation and guidance capabilities of UCAS and F-35 would allow for greater reliance (maybe even total reliance) on purely тАШauto landтАЩ systems
I for one would be
surprised if future Navy pilots would come to rely (never mind TOTALLY rely, outside if a U.C.A.V.) on a automated landing system. The F/A-18 Hornet, F-14D Tomcat and the later models of the A-6E Intruder , (if I'm not mistaken) had the ability to "auto land" with
ystem (not the forthcoming Bedford system obviously). But Navy dogma was
to rely on the ACLS. How much of that was due to keeping up pilot proficiency and how much was due to distrust in the reliability of the ACLS I can't say.
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.тАФ Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.
Last edited by FlightDreamz on Jul 10, 2011 - 05:42 PM; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 02:50 PM
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FlightDreamz, I don't know why you have misquoted the above information in your "spazsinbad" quote and I quote that now:
Initially, it was thought that the advanced navigation and guidance capabilities of UCAS and F-35 would allow for greater reliance (maybe even total reliance) on purely тАШauto landтАЩ systems
of a system called the Bedford Array Landing Reference System
The first part of your quote - only - is a proper quote - the last half of the purported quote in BOLD is NOT. You have misunderstood what the Bedford Array is all about. As stated in the above article and I'll quote: "Could their possibly be a тАШthird wayтАЩ that would be so simple for the pilot to fly, yet not susceptible to jamming or electronic failure? What was proposed by Buddy Denham is the integration of a system called the Bedford Array Landing Reference System that would augment our current IFLOLS system. The system would consist of a series of high intensity centerline lights as depicted below: [PHOTO]
These lights would be approximately twelve feet apart and would shift in order to display not only glide slope information but also glide slope trends during the pass, similar to a PAPI or VASI but stabilized with regards to deck motion.тАЭ
This Bedford Array is a Visual System. I'm reluctant to constantly refer that people ought to search this forum for information that exists here. However I may make available a bunch of PDF pages and attach them to this message for your convenience (and mine).
Addition: Decided to just point to existing information so if an avid reader will start here with some Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landing info (the reason for the Bedford Array) then perhaps how it MAY be used as indicated above for USN (RN) F-35Cs may make more sense perhaps:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... t-150.html
Next Page has more etc.:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... t-165.html
Addition: Precise information about the Bedford Array on this page which is repeated here also:
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... t-210.html
The Bedford Array will enable Shipboard Rolling Vertical Landings SRVL. Explained at various places:
http://content.yudu.com/A10pvz/WTJan200 ... ces/28.htm
"Warship Technology Jan 2009"
http://content.yudu.com/A10pvz/WTJan200 ... ces/28.htm
http://content.yudu.com/A10pvz/WTJan200 ... ces/29.htm
Janes Defence Weekly 04 March 2009: (graphic from URL below)
http://www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=3 ... b&p=28
http://www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=3 ... b&p=29
Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 03:29 PM
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There may be other helpful additions to IFLOLS (mirror) as well as the Bedford Array but to me it seems a good idea easily enough implemented most likely. I refer the gentle reader to this page (a long article):
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... t-240.html
Preparing for take-off: UK ramps up F-35 carrier integration effort
http://militarynuts.com/index.php?showt ... amp;st=120
The purpose of a landing aid system is to assist the pilot during approach and recovery to the ship by day or night. As baselined for STOVL operations (with emphasis on a vertical recovery manoeuvre), the CVF design includes a Glide-slope and Long-range Line-up Indicator System (GLIS), a HIHAT and light emitting diode flight deck lighting. AGI has been contracted by the ACA to supply these as part of a GBP7.5 million (USD11.5 million) contract for the supply of visual landing aids (VLAs) for both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
The GLIS system, based on two night-vision goggle-compliant stabilised Glide Path Indicator (GPI) units, is the primary source of information available to the pilot for establishing and maintaining the correct glide slope during the approach. These GPI units are positioned at either end of the ship, in the port catwalk level with the flight deck. High intensity drop-line lights, mounted on the stern of the ship, provide line-up cues.
Each GPI is essentially a high intensity sectored light projector. The glide slope of the aircraft, relative to the GLIS, determines which coloured light sector is visible to the pilot. If the pilot is flying down the optimum glide slope (nominally three degrees) a steady green light is visible. If the approach is too high a flashing green light is visible. Alternatively, if the approach is too low a red light will be visible. A steady red light indicates a slightly low approach and a flashing red light indicates a very low approach.
HIHAT consists of 11 lights fitted in a vertical stack with two standard deck lights mounted horizontally, one either side of the stack, at the optimum aircraft hover height (which aligns to the fourth vertical light, thus resulting in three lights above this position and seven below).
Light output from each of the vertical lights is designed such that it can only be seen when level with or above the centre line of the light; it cannot be seen from below this level. Thus if the unit is viewed at the optimum hover height then a T shape, consisting of the vertical stack of lights horizontal deck lights, will be seen. Moving above this position will result in more vertical lights being observed and a decrease in height will have the opposite effect, though the horizontal reference will still be visible. The spacing of the lights will also give a clear indication as to the rate of ascent or descent as more lights are illuminated or extinguished, and the rate at which this occurs.
Whilst the HIHAT is primarily intended to be used once the aircraft is over the deck and in the hover phase of the flight, it is anticipated that pilots will acquire the HIHAT at anything up to 0.5 n miles from the ship. The system is intended to complement the information obtained from GLIS and between them will provide a complete visual approach aid for a vertical recovery.
With SRVL now likely to be used as a recovery technique on board CVF, there is an additional requirement to augment the baseline VLA suite with a landing aid appropriate to the SRVL approach manoeuvre. To this end QinetiQ has undertaken research into a new VLA concept, known as the Bedford Array, which takes inputs from inertial references to stabilise against deck motions (pitch and heave).
A trial of the concept was undertaken aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious in November 2008, with QinetiQ using its Harrier T.4 VAAC testbed to fly approaches to a demonstration Bedford Array mounted on the ship. For the purposes of the trial, the lighting array was installed in the port catwalk adjacent to Illustrious's flight deck. The VAAC Harrier did not actually perform SRVL recoveries to the ship owing to the limited dimensions of the flight deck, but flew representative SRVL approach profiles to the catwalk array (down to a safety height of about 40 ft above deck) to evaluate its ability to accurately indicate an SRVL glide scope aimpoint to the SRVV.
A second lighting array was rigged on the carrier flight deck itself. This was used for a parallel evaluation of the visual acuity of the lighting system on deck...."
Addition: More on these diverse systems on this page:
Helicopter Visual Approach System (HELIVAS)
perhaps useful for F-35Bs on LHA/Ds [don't be confused by reference to LHA/D - remember we are innovating here]
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopi ... t-360.html
Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 05:40 PM
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I don't know why you have misquoted the above information in your "spazsinbad" quote and I quote that now:
Initially, it was thought that the advanced navigation and guidance capabilities of UCAS and F-35 would allow for greater reliance (maybe even total reliance) on purely тАШauto landтАЩ systems
of a system called the Bedford Array Landing Reference System"
The first part of your quote - only - is a proper quote - the last half of the purported quote in BOLD is NOT. You have misunderstood what the Bedford Array is all about.
My sincere apologies! I mistook your original post to be about a newer (GPS based?) automated landing system that the U.S. Navy is replacing the current automated landing system with (as I believe you have already noticed) and then compounded the error with a sloppy cut and paste job on the quote.
Didn't mean to put words in your mouth.
I was completely on the wrong track (again my apologies)! Off to read the material you thoughtfully provided and wash the egg off my face.
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.тАФ Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.
Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 07:10 PM
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FlightDreamz, no worries. I became a bit tetchy at being misquoted and it was not even me.
Understand about misunderstanding. The F-35 of all persuasions brings a lot of new 'off the aircraft tech' into being at some stage. Things are going to be a lot different in a few years most likely. I forgot to add some info about the ACLS. Yes it is not used that much but when needed it is useful. For example here is one quote:
тАЬAutomatic Carrier Landing System (ACLS). My info is fairly old and may have changed but in a "Mode 1" approach the plane is completely coupled to the ships ACLS data link system. If you ever hear someone call the ball and add "coupled" to the end they are flying Mode 1 (the "auto" call is for when auto-throttles are being used). Mode 1 doesn't get used all that much for a few reasons. First of all, if the ship is even slightly moving around it is uncomfortable. Picture a laser beam being projected out from the 3 wire that represents the aircraft's proper glidepath. Now imagine what that beam does as the boat pitches and rolls in the water. ACLS will keep the jet on that beam, and it can make for a wild ride. Also, the pass won't count toward the pilots grade average. You will generally see guys using Mode 1 after long combat missions where they don't want to mess around and just want to get back aboard.тАЭ
http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index. ... 1.msg0#new
A long article about history of ACLS is here:
There are an array of approaches as indicated in the graphic from this link:
https://www.cnatra.navy.mil/ebrief/docu ... NATOPS.pdf
This is for the MODES graphic:
http://ftp.rta.nato.int/public//PubFull ... 162-07.pdf
Night time is the right time for Case III: "тАЬCASE III: This approach shall be utilized whenever existing weather at the ship is below Case II minimums and during all flight operations conducted between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise except as modified by the OTC or carrier commanding officer. Night/IMC Case III recoveries shall be made with single aircraft. Section approaches will be approved only when an emergency situation exists. Formation penetrations/ approaches by dissimilar aircraft shall not be attempted except in extreme circumstances where no safer options are available to effect a recovery.тАЭ
https://www.cnatra.navy.mil/ebrief/docu ... NATOPS.pdf
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Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 07:34 PM
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The 'Femiano.doc' has some interesting history about 'automatic landings'.
by Don Femiano
тАЬLOOK MA NO HANDS.тАЭ This was the slogan on a jacket patch created by Bell Aerosystems on the occasion of the US NavyтАЩs Operational Certification of BellтАЩs Automatic Aircraft Landing System (ACLS). It contains the caricature of a pilot flying a plane with his arms folded as he approached an aircraft carrier. Unfortunately, the patches are not around any more, but the Bell ACLS is in operational use on all Navy aircraft carriers to this day.
This success didnтАЩt happen over night. It was the result of several years of effort by many at Bell starting in 1953 when Bell, using a feasibility model landing system, won a fly off competition with Minneapolis Honeywell. Following this win, Bell won a contract to build a shipboard feasibility model system, designated AN/SPN-10 (XN-3), for testing aboard Navy aircraft carriers. Using the (XN-3) system, the first automatic landing with a Navy aircraft took place in 1954, at the Niagara Falls Airport, adjacent to the Bell facility in Wheatfield New York. In 1957, the first automatic-landing-to-touchdown, on a carrier, was accomplished with the (XN-3), by a Navy pilot in an F-3D aircraft on USS Antietam (CV-36)....
...In 1962, the first production systems were installed on USS Midway (CV-41) and USS Independence (CV-62) and, in 1963, after certification testing at sea on USS Midway, AN/SPN-10 was certified for operational use. Over the next several years, production systems were installed on the NavyтАЩs aircraft carriers operating at that time.
Unfortunately, the reliability of the system was low because it consisted of more than thirty units of electronic equipment, containing hundreds of vacuum tube operational amplifiers, to perform ship motion stabilization and the aircraft control computations. As Bell and the Navy sought ways to improve the system, it was obvious that digital computers and solid-state electronic technology were the only solutions to the reliability problems....
...While the AN/SPN-42 was in development, an AN/SPN-10 field change that reduced electronic equipment to improve reliability was installed in the system. Unfortunately,
this change eliminated the automatic touchdown capability
, but the system would still control aircraft to carrier approach minimums, and the pilots would land the aircraft manually....
...In 1984, extensive testing of the AN/SPN-46(V)1 was conducted at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Patuxent River, MD, with several Navy aircraft.
In 1985, the first system was installed on USS John F Kennedy (CV-67) and OPEVAL sea trials were conducted in 1986 and 1987 with F-14 Tomcats. In 1987 The Navy awarded the AN/SPN-46(V)1 Operational Approval for
full automatic control from aircraft acquisition at ten nautical miles to touchdown on the deck
and production of the system was started...."
Article goes on to say how system has been upgraded and life cycle extensions all to be replaced by JPALS as soon as....
Posted: Jul 10, 2011 - 07:44 PM
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As indicated in a recent thread about X-47B auto land landings here is info about the first Hornet complete auto land with the new system in 2007:
Super Hornet Demonstrates Unpiloted Approaches
[emphasis on the 'no pilot/robotic']
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_incl ... Approaches
Some of the article quoted: "...There were no changes to the flight control laws of the F/A-18F for this phase of the program.
"This was mostly about autonomous command and control with an existing, carrier-qualified platform and demonstrating we could control it from the ship," Davis says. "For future activities, we may incorporate modifications to make the Super Hornet more representative of a tailless flying wing."
That may differ very little from a manned aircraft's approach, except that an unmanned aircraft can operate at a higher angle of attack because there's no need for a pilot to have forward vision.
"This design would actually approach the ship slower [less than 140 kt.] than the Super Hornet does today," says George Muellner, president of Advanced Systems within Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. "If you look at the Super Hornet and the
[F-35 Joint Strike Fighter]
, the actual come-across-the-end-of-the-deck characteristics are different from the standpoint of what factors on the aircraft produce them. But the end results are very similar."
May's demonstration on the Truman was dictated by the flight characteristics of the Super Hornet.
"We were flying about an 8-deg. angle of attack, 3.5-4-deg. glideslope and an approach speed of about 135-142 kt.," Davis says. "We weren't pushing the boundaries with this first set of demonstrations."
One of the most crucial areas for a tailless airplane as it approaches the back of the carrier is flying through the burble. (The burble is a region of turbulence created by the carrier.)..."
"...Flying to an arrestment on the deck will have to wait until a precision, Differential GPS system is installed on the aircraft and the ship. However, the follow-on phases are planned. The technology is expected to benefit not just the UCAS program but virtually any aircraft that lands on an aircraft carrier. As a result, Boeing will help with risk reduction on the Navy's Precision Approach and Landing Systems (JPALS) development, as it would work with the Super Hornet and
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
. It then could be further modified to work with whatever design is selected for the advanced unmanned strike program...."
Posted: Jul 15, 2011 - 08:35 AM
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Bedford Array Patent (QinetiQ) Explanation:
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Posted: Jul 15, 2011 - 07:59 PM
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Have the Brits installed the Qinetiq Bedford Array on the new carriers?
I can find no documents that it was ever used for landings.
I don't think the US will ever apply this technology.
Posted: Jul 15, 2011 - 10:57 PM
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The brits have not decided a lot about the new deck configuration for the amended CVF. Probably the first one will not be configured for anything other than helo ops (but yet to be decided) with only the second CVF being changed to CATOBAR ops. However these very specific details are all undecided at moment, as is the usual brit thing to do these days. Yes - broad decisions made but details unknown.
The very long thread has plenty of documentation about Bedford Arrays being tested on 'through deck cruisers' but SRVL landings could not be done on the short decks with the VACC Harrier simulating the F-35B. Have a look at the first page of this thread/topo of this page for futher details.
You may think what you wish but professional USN LSOs have been thinking about this technology as described on the first page of this thread. That is the point of this thread. Today I'll attempt to extract the text from the PDF to post here (rather than have only an image of the text). In the explanation it is clear about the advantages as described when used with HUDless AoA Indexerless F-35 aircraft, with pilot not having to look anywhere other than straight down the angle deck - remembering he has to start looking to the left to follow the mirror/IFLOLS to touchdown so as to not 'deck spot'.
Posted: Jul 15, 2011 - 11:59 PM
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Google Searching for Bedford Array is a good choice. Here is onesuch:
http://www2.qinetiq.com/home/newsroom/n ... dford.html
QinetiQ proves its innovative Bedford Array visual landing aid on HMS Illustrious
16 December
Trials prove novel QinetiQ solution for F-35B тАШrolling landingsтАЩ on Royal NavyтАЩs future aircraft carriers in high sea state conditions
QinetiQ has successfully completed a series of trials using its T4 Vectored-thrust Aircraft Advanced Control (VAAC) Harrier aircraft on HMS Illustrious. These proved QinetiQтАЩs innovative new Bedford Array visual landing aid system тАУ which stabilises the aircraftтАЩs approach path in the presence of deck motion тАУ as the solution for Shipborne Rolling Vertical Landings (SRVL) on the Royal NavyтАЩs future carriers, particularly in rough sea state conditions.
The UK Ministry of Defence has been funding ongoing research to refine and de-risk the use of SRVL approaches for its new jump jet тАУ the F-35B Lightning II Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the UK MODтАЩs preferred choice to meet its Joint Combat Aircraft requirement. The MOD plans to operate up to 36 JSFs from each of its two new future aircraft carriers:- HMS Queen Elizabeth, currently expected to enter service in 2014 and HMS Prince of Wales in 2016.
An SRVL landing involves a STOVL aircraft executing a тАШrolling landingтАЩ onto the carrier flight deck, using air speed to provide wingborne lift to complement engine thrust. No arrestor gear is deployed as the aircraft uses its own brakes to stop. Compared to a standard vertical landing, an SRVL recovery offers real advantages for the F-35B as heavier payloads can be brought back and safely landed onboard ship. It also has the potential to reduce propulsion system stress and therefore extend engine life.
Early studies showed that the F-35B has a critical vulnerability to deck motion for the SRVL manoeuvre and that this type of landing is not viable in all desired conditions.
As a result, the MOD placed a contract with QinetiQ in 2007 to analyse the root cause of the problem and design a solution.
QinetiQтАЩs new Bedford Array visual landing aid system was conceived, developed and fully tested in around a year in direct response to MOD requirements.
The system ensures that the pilot flying the тАШrolling landingsтАЩ makes an accurate approach to the deck, even in rough sea conditions. It takes inputs from external passive references and when combined with information in the pilotтАЩs Helmet Mounted Display, allows for a low workload, stabilised pilot approach in even the worst conditions.
тАЬThe UK has an incredible heritage of innovation in naval aviation and pioneered many of the things now taken for granted in the conventional carrier world,тАЭ explained QinetiQ test pilot Justin Paines, who flew the X-35B Joint Strike Fighter Concept Demonstration Aircraft.
тАЬWith the Bedford Array, weтАЩve done it again and developed an approach aid that has application beyond F-35B to other forms of embarked aircraft recoveries. We have already received interest from other countries involved in naval aviation.тАЭ
QinetiQтАЩs VAAC Harrier flew a total of 39 sorties in the southwest approaches between 12-19 November to prove the Bedford Array landing system тАУ in all 67 vertical landings and around
230 SRVL approaches were flown.
This series of trials was designed to refine the operational concept, mitigate failure cases and optimise QinetiQтАЩs innovative Bedford Array visual landing aids arrangement,
тАЭ explained Lt Cdr Chris G├╢tke, one of the test pilots who also marked his 400th vertical landing during the trials. тАЬThe MOD turned to QinetiQ to solve this significant problem of landing laden aircraft in rough seas. This ingenious solution was first tested in QinetiQ labs and has now been proved by these hugely successful trials and will be implemented on the new carriers.тАЭ
In mid-2007, a series of VAAC trials were conducted onboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to establish the fundamental safety, operability and operational benefit of the SRVL technique. The recent trials on HMS Illustrious could prove to be the last research tasking for QinetiQтАЩs VAAC testbed as the aircraft is now 39 years old, and is expected to be retired from service in early 2009.
For this series of trials the Bedford Array was installed in the port catwalk adjacent to HMS IllustriousтАЩ flight deck, but due to the limited dimensions of the deck, SRVL recoveries were not preformed тАУ instead a low go-around was flown. A second lighting array was also installed on the carrier flight deck and used for a parallel evaluation of the visibility of the lighting system in differing ambient conditions.
Posted: Jul 16, 2011 - 12:25 AM
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Here is the automatic OCR from the original Patent PDF as seen above. The text has not been proofread [text here compared to original PDF] (life too short) but it should give the gist about what is actually in the original Patent PDF. Some parts of the text may be in bold due to
emphasis [or referring to numbers in numbered diagrams].
United States Patent Application Publication | Pub. No.: US 2011/0121997 A1 |
Pub. Date: May 26, 2011
Visual Landing Aids | Inventor: Justin David Billot Paines, Austy (GB) |
Assignee: QINETIQ LIMITED
[none of the text has been proofread from automatic OCR]
A visual aid for the pilot of an aircraft approaching to land on an aircraft carrier comprises a series of lights (9) embedded along the landing deck and controlled in response to pitch and heave of the vessel so that the light(s) illuminated at any time indicate a visual aim point which is stabilised with respect to a specified glideslope (5) onto the vessel irrespective of such vertical excursions of the vessel. It is used in conjunction with a marker on a head up display or helmet mounted display for example so that registry of the marker with the illuminated light at any time indicates that the aircraft is on the correct glideslope.
[0001] The present invention relates to visual landing aids (VLAs) and more particularly to a visual aid for the pilots of aircraft approaching to land on moving platforms, notably vessels at sea such as aircraft carriers or other ships which can accommodate aircraft landings of the type more particularly described herein.
[0002] The invention has been conceived particularly, though not exclusively, as an aid for use in executing ship┬нboard rolling vertical landings. The so-called rolling vertical landing (RVL) is a type of landing executed by vectored┬н thrust vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) and short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft as an alterna┬нtive to a normal vertical landing, in which the aircraft approaches at an angle to the ground and at relatively slow speed (in comparison to conventional fixed-wing landings) under a combination of jet-borne and wing-borne lift. Aircraft of this class include the well known V/STOL Harrier and Sea Harrier "jump jet" variants, and the STOVL F-35B variant of the Lightning II yet to enter service. The RVL was developed originally as a manoeuvre for landing on unprepared areas in land-based operations so that debris disturbed by the jet efflux would tend to be blown behind the aircraft and not into the engine intakes. It is also considered to be a useful technique for shipboard operations, however, due to the ability to land with a higher aircraft weight than would be possible in the same meteorological conditions if a vertical landing was to be used, or to land at the same weight but with a reduced power setting as compared to the vertical landing thereby potentially increasing engine life. Other benefits can include a reduction in the erosion of deck coverings by engine exhaust as com┬нpared to vertical landings.
While conceived with shipboard RVLs by V/STOL and STOVL aircraft in mind, however, the present invention may also find application as an aid for conventional (wire-arrested) fixed wing carrier-borne land┬нings which are typically conducted with shallower approach angles and at substantially higher speeds than RVLs, and also for helicopter landings if not performed vertically.
[0003] Note: all references in this specification to landing directions, approach angles, glideslopes etc. in the context of landings on vessels which may be underway are to those directions, angles, glideslopes etc. relative to the overall mov┬нing platform and not to the actual movement of the aircraft through the air.
[0004] A VLA currently in service with some navies for conventional fixed wing carrier-borne landings is the so-called
Improved Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System (IFLOLS)
. This comprises a set of lights located on the deck offset laterally from the runway and directed towards approaching aircraft. There is a horizontal row of datum lights to either side of a central vertical column of indicator lights which are selectively lit so that at any time the position of the illuminated indicator light (known as the "ball") relative to the datum lights indicates to the pilot whether he is above, below or upon a specified glideslope. This can be stabilised for pitch, roll and heave of the deck with the apparatus being tilted on gimbals as required to maintain its indication of the correct glideslope.
It requires the pilot to scan laterally away from the runway centreline to use the aid, however, and sig┬нnificant training is required in order to prevent pilots from inadvertently reacting instead to deck motion, known as [b]"deck spotting"
. It is also expensive to maintain due to the number of moving parts, and occupies useful deck space.
[0005] The present invention, on the other hand, seeks to provide a VLA which imposes a lower mental workload on the pilot and consequently involves less of a training burden than the IFLOLS, does not require him to scan laterally away from the runway, and in a preferred embodiment involves no moving parts and does not occupy otherwise useful desk space.
[0006] The invention is predicated on the provision of a visual aim point on the platform which when in registry with a visual marker on or in the aircraft indicates that the aircraft is on a specified glideslope to touch down at a point related to the aim point. With any such arrangement it is however nec┬нessary to consider the effect of excursions of the platform in the vertical sense for which purpose reference will be made to the accompanying schematic FIGS. 1 and 2 (not to scale and wherein for ease of illustration the depicted glideslopes are much steeper than those which can be expected in practice).
[0007] FIG. 1 indicates in full line the deck
of an aircraft carrier in a nominal level (equilibrium) condition and the line
indicates the glideslope down which an aircraft
has to fly with the deck in this condition to arrive at a specified main┬нwheel touchdown point
at a specified approach angle. Sup┬нpose the vessel pitches with the bow down and the stern up so that the deck is now in the attitude indicated in chain line,
. The touchdown point
is accordingly now above its position in space with the level deck and the glideslope down which the aircraft would have to fly in this condition to arrive at the same point
at the specified approach angle is indicated by the line
. Conversely suppose the vessel pitches with the bow up and the stern down so that the deck is now in the attitude indicated in chain line,
. The touchdown point
is accordingly now below its position in space with the level deck and the glideslope down which the aircraft would have to fly in this condition to arrive at the same point
at the specified approach angle is indicated by the line
. In other words it will be appreciated that if the pilot is to attempt to touch down at the specified point
while the vessel is pitching he will have to constantly adjust the position of his glideslope throughout the approach. This could be achieved by follow┬нing a fixed visible aim point on the deck (in practice located somewhat forward of the point
in the usual case where the pilot is accommodated forward of the main landing gear) but would place a significant burden on the pilot at a critical phase of his mission. Similar considerations apply to excursions of the deck
in the vertical sense due to other ship motions, notably heave, or to any combination of causes.
[0008] FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative approach where instead of requiring touchdown at a single fixed point on the deck
the glideslope
is itself stabilised in space. It follows that for the illustrated range of deck excursions there will be a range of possible touchdown points depending on where the deck intersects the glideslope at the actual moment of touch┬нdown. For example with a level deck
touchdown will occur at point
, with the deck raised as at
touchdown will occur further aft at point
, and with the deck depressed as at
touchdown will occur further forward at point
[0009] It is to an approach of the kind exemplified in FIG. 2 that the present invention is directed and it will be appreciated from the foregoing discussion that the use of a single fixed aim point on the deck will be insufficient to establish the aircraft on the desired fixed glideslope when subject to excur┬нsions in the vertical sense due to pitch, heave or the like.
[0010] Accordingly in one aspect the invention resides in a visual aid for the pilot of an aircraft approaching to land on a moving platform comprising means for defining a visual aim point on the platform and means for adjusting the apparent position of such visual aim point along the platform in response to excursions of the platform in the vertical sense so that registry of the visual aim point with an associated visual marker on or in the aircraft at any time indicates that the aircraft is on substantially the same specified glideslope fixed in space relative to the overall platform irrespective of such excursions thereof.
[0011] The visual aim point in such an arrangement could be represented by a distinctive object which is physically translated back and forth along the platform as required in use of the aid, or even an object which is moved vertically up and down from a fixed position on the platform (but would have to be fully retracted at the moment of touchdown or would represent a collision hazard). Preferably however the aid comprises an array of lights which are distributed along the platform and arranged to be lit selectively to indicate the position of the aim point at any time.
[0012] In one arrangement the aim point indicator lights are arranged in a row or parallel rows along the platform and controlled such that the light in the or each row which is nearest to the intended aim point at any time is lit. In another, those lights are arranged in a row or parallel rows along the platform and controlled such that a single light is lit in the or each row when the intended aim point is within a specified distance of that light and two successive lights are lit in the or each row when the intended aim point is within a specified distance of the mid point between those two lights. In any event, lights may also be lit to indicate the effective limits of the array at any time.
[0013] An array of aim point indicator lights may also extend along a length of the platform such that different longitudinal sections thereof are capable of functioning to provide an adjustable aim point for a plurality of specified glideslopes fixed in space in different positions along the platform.
Typically the associated visual marker on or in the aircraft will be presented in a head up display (HUD) or helmet mounted display (HMD) and comprise a marker rep┬нresenting a depression angle from the horizon equal to the specified glideslope angle.
Other arrangements are possible, however, such as an equivalent marker in a cockpit display from a forward-looking camera or simply a physical marker on part of the aircraft structure which is positioned relative to the pilot eye-point at the required fixed depression from the horizon when the aircraft is in the correct approach attitude.
[0015] In another aspect the invention resides in a visual aid for the pilot of an aircraft approaching to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier or the like vessel comprising means for defining a visual indication on the deck and means for adjust┬нing the apparent position of such visual indication along the deck in response to excursions of the vessel in pitch so that when viewed along a specified sightline from the aircraft said indication corresponds to the aftmost limit at which the air┬нcraft will safely clear the stern of the vessel when following a specified glideslope parallel to said sightline irrespective of such excursions of the vessel.
[0016] In another aspect the invention resides in a method of approaching to land an aircraft on a moving platform by use of a visual aid as defined above.
[0017] The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the following accompanying drawings, in which:
[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates the principle of the invention sche┬нmatically and not to scale (and wherein for ease of illustration the depicted glideslope is much steeper than that which can be expected in practice), as implemented with an array of indi┬нcator lights;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the control system for the indicator lights in a VLA according to the invention;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a plan view of one embodiment of an indicator light array for use in a VLA according to the inven┬нtion;
FIG. 6 indicates an example of the pilot's eye view
when using a VLA according to the invention; and
[0022] FIG. 7 illustrates an optional lighting logic for use in a VLA according to the invention.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 3 the aircraft
is shown with a specified mainwheel glideslope
fixed in space relative to the deck
and a possible range of touchdown points such as
6, 7 and 8
corresponding to a range of vertical deck excursions similarly to FIG. 2. Let into the deck along a length forwardly offset from the touchdown point range is an array of aim point indicator lights
. In the course of the approach the pilot observes the lights
in conjunction with a marker presented in, say, a HUD or HMD and representing a depression angle from the horizon equal to the angle of the glideslope
, or in other words along a sightline
parallel to the glideslope. As the deck pitches, heaves or otherwise moves in the vertical sense the lights
are selectively illuminated so that at any time only that light which is on (or closest to) the intended sightline
is lit, as indicated in the Figure
("filled" light=lit)
. For example in the nominal level deck condition
the central light is lit, at the maximum upward deck excursion
with which the system is intended to operate the rear┬нmost light is lit, at the maximum downward deck excursion
with which the system is intended to be used the fore┬нmost light is lit, and so on. In other words while the aim point represented by the illuminated light moves relative to the deck as the deck moves up and down with ship pitch, heave etc it remains in a substantially fixed position with respect to an observer in the plane of the glideslope
(i.e. as viewed along the sightline
), and by controlling the aircraft to keep whichever light is lit in registry with his specified HUD/HMD marker the pilot can be confident that the aircraft is correctly following the glideslope
[0024] As schematically illustrated in FIG. 4, in order to control the illumination of the lights
for the above purpose information on the motion of the deck is derived from a suite of conventional inertial and/or ring laser gyro and/or satellite positioning sensors
and fed to a processor
which com┬нputes the correct position within the light array to illuminate from this data and knowledge of the desired glideslope. The processor drives a light controller
which in turn switches power to whichever of the lights
is to be illuminated at any time.
[0025] FIG. 5 illustrates one practical example of an aim point light array for use in a VLA according to the invention. In this case the indicator lights
are arranged in pairs to either side of the runway centre line, in a "tramline" arrangement, and conventional "tramline" lights (typically at greater lon┬нgitudinal spacings than the aim point lights
) are also seen at
. Extra lateral lights as shown at
can also be provided to indicate the limits of the aim point array.
[0026] FIG. 6 indicates an example of the pilot's eye view when approaching to land on an aircraft carrier and using an aim point light array similar to that of FIG. 5. "Tramlines"
are painted on the deck to either side of the runway centreline. Lights similar to those indicated at
in FIG. 5 will be spaced along these "tramlines" but are not shown separately in FIG. 6. Two lateral rows of limit lights
are however shown and between them a pair of illuminated aim point lights
which in this case are bar shaped, the other members of the aim point light array which are not illuminated at the instant depicted in FIG. 6 not being shown. HUD symbology visible to the pilot is also shown including a ship referenced velocity vector symbol (circle)
and a marker (pair of bars )
representing a depression angle from the horizon corresponding to the desired glideslope angle; (other conventional HUD symbol┬нogy which will usually be present in the pilot's display is omitted for ease of illustration). In principle the invention can be used with any practical glideslope angle which may be chosen in any case with regard to the operational require┬нments, prevailing meteorological conditions, aircraft perfor┬нmance and characteristics etc. In the example of FIG. 6, however, a 6┬░ angle is assumed, which is considered to be a practical option for shipboard RVLs. The HUD 6┬░ marker
is shown to be in near registry with the illuminated aim point lights
showing that the aircraft is established on the correct glideslope to within an acceptable degree of error.
[0027] The VLA according to the invention and exempli┬нfied by FIG. 6 offers a compelling visual cue which can be easily and intuitively interpreted by pilots without significant specific training. In simulation trials pilots have found it relatively easy to follow the guidance provided by this aid without being distracted by deck motion. Unlike the IFLOLS it allows the pilot to concentrate his visual scan through the HUD or HMD without having to scan to a laterally offset position to use the aid.
The array of aim point indicator lights need not involve any moving parts and should have much lower maintenance costs than the IFLOLS. The individual lights can be let into the deck and provide no obstruction to the aircraft on its landing rollout or to any other movements on the deck. The light array can easily be made night vision device compatible and support operations during both day and night.
[0028] Returning to FIG. 5, the required overall length of the aim point indicator light array
is determined by (i) the maximum range of deck excursions in the vertical sense that can be expected under the conditions in which the aid is to be used and (ii) the desired glideslope angle. For example from consideration of typical aircraft carrier deck motion data it is estimated that a total length of around 120 ft (36.6 m) would be required for operation in up to sea state 6 ("very rough"┬нsignificant wave height 4-6 m) with a 6┬░ glideslope angle. In use the length of the array will be apparent to the pilot from the presence of the limit lights
and the position along the array of the indicator light pair which is illuminated at any time can provide situational awareness of deck motion, as well as an early indication (as the aim point comes close to the end of the array) that the deck motion is approaching a maxi┬нmum condition and likely to reverse its direction or else continue to an out-of-limits condition because sea conditions have exceeded those for which the aid is designed or for which it is safe to land. The limit lights
may also be caused to flash to give an unequivocal signal to the pilot if such an out-of-limits situation arises. Knowledge of the limits of the array indicated by the lights
can also allow the pilot to assess easily if any error in his sightline is on the safe side of the aim point or the reverse (an error on the safe side would be with the HUD/HMD marker lagging the aim point as it moves towards one of the limits of the array).
[0029] While FIG. 5 depicts a discrete light array which may be installed at a specified location on the deck, however, it may be desirable to provide an array which can cater for a range of different fixed glideslope positions relative to the deck so as to guide landing aircraft to touchdown further forward or aft depending on operational requirements or meteorological conditions. This can be provided by extend┬нing the array of lights
along the deck to the extent required but only using a section of it as the "active" array at any time. The limits of the "active" array could be indicated by provid┬нing additional lateral sets of limit lights
along the deck although this would increase the cost and complexity of the installation and constrain the range of possible "active" arrays unless a large number were installed. A simple alternative would be to use pairs of the aim point indicator lights
themselves permanently lit to indicate the limits of the "active" array at any time (or flashing in the event that an out-of-limits situation arises as discussed above for the limit lights
). In any event the ultimate forward and rearward limits of any such array(s) as described herein will be deter┬нmined having regard to (i) the distance required for the air┬нcraft to safely come to a stop after touchdown sighted by the foremost aim point (it being understood that aircraft conduct┬нing SRVLs will not be wire-arrested) and (ii) ensuring that the aircraft safely clears the stern of the ship in its anticipated worst-case pitched up condition when sighting on the rear┬нmost aim point.
[0030] It is also proposed that the aft limit of the array can itself be "active" in that it is calculated in real time from the sensed deck pitch motion and may accordingly move forward or back, with corresponding illumination of the applicable array lights
to indicate the aftmost possible position ofthe aim point for safe stern clearance on the specified glideslope under the actual conditions prevailing at any time. For example if the stern pitches up the aft limit will move forward, while the aim point will be moving aft in this situation. Should the two positions meet the corresponding array lights will flash as described above to signal that the glideslope is no longer stabilised and unless the pilot alters the flightpath of the aircraft to keep the HUD/HMD depressed aim marker within a specified degree of error of the flashing array lights, stern clearance is, at least temporarily, not guaranteed. The pilot may choose to abort the approach. An advantage of this "active" aft limit indication is that it ensures protection against a stern strike under all actually prevailing conditions and it follows that the nominal aim point can be positioned further aft, e.g. to maximise the available rollout distance, than when using a fixed array limit for which an additional safety margin must be built in to cater for possible, but unlikely, worst-case conditions. To avoid possibly distracting constant motion of an "active" aft limit, however, it could also be controlled to remain fixed in a location where it does not compromise the aim point location for the majority of deck motion but is able to move forward should deck motion dic┬нtate.
[0031] An "active" aft limit indication as discussed above may also have utility in situations where it is desired to provide stern clearance confidence to pilots approaching to land on an aircraft carrier or the like but not necessarily in combination with a stabilised aim point, and is consequently an independent aspect of the present invention.
[0032] It will be appreciated that the "resolution" of an aim point indicator light array
, in terms of the accuracy with which a light actually intersects the sightline
at any time and any consequent "steppiness" in the changes between illuminated light positions as perceived by the pilot when established on the correct glideslope, depends on the longi┬нtudinal separation between each light pair. Simulator trials have shown that separations in the range of around 12-18 ft (3.7-5.5 m) are quite satisfactory when practised with a 6┬░ glideslope angle. However it is possible to double the sepa┬нration distance, thereby substantially reducing the number of lights required, and still achieve the same effective resolution, or to double the effective resolution for a given separation distance, if the following lighting logic is used. That is to say FIG. 7 shows four members
of an array of this kind along one of the "tramlines" and instead of lighting only one of the lights at any time depending on which is nearest to the intended aim point neighbouring pairs are lit when the intended aim point is nearer to the point halfway between the pair than to an individual light (the companion light in the other "tramline" being treated equally in each case). Thus if the distance between successive lights is, say, 25 ft (7.6 m) as indicated in the Figure then a single light will be lit in each "tramline" if the intended aim point is within the distance of 12.5 ft (3.8 m) centered on that light or two lights will be lit in each "tramline" if the intended aim point is within that dis┬нtance centered on the mid point between those two lights. Simulator trials have also shown that this logic to indicate the position of the aim point can readily be assimilated.
1. A visual aid for the pilot of an aircraft approaching to land on a moving platform whereby in use a visual aim point is defined on the platform and the apparent position of such visual aim point along the platform is adjusted in response to excursions of the platform in the vertical sense so that registry of the visual aim point with an associated visual marker on or in the aircraft at any time indicates that the aircraft is on substantially the same specified glideslope fixed in space relative to the overall platform irrespective of such excursions thereof
2. An aid according to claim 1 comprising an array of lights distributed along the platform which are arranged to be lit selectively to indicate the position of such aim point at any time.
3. An aid according to claim 2 wherein said lights are arranged in a row or parallel rows along the platform and controlled such that the light in the or each row which is nearest to the intended aim point at any time is lit.
4. An aid according to claim 2 wherein said lights are arranged in a row or parallel rows along the platform and controlled such that a single light is lit in the or each row when the intended aim point is within a specified distance of that light and two successive lights are lit in the or each row when the intended aim point is within a specified distance of the mid point between those two lights.
5. An aid according to claim 2 wherein lights are also lit to indicate the effective limits of said array at any time.
6. An aid according to claim 2 wherein said array extends along a length of the platform such that different longitudinal sections thereof are capable of functioning to provide an adjustable aim point for a plurality of specified glideslopes fixed in space in different positions along the platform.
7. An aid according to claim 1 wherein said visual marker on or in the aircraft is presented in a head up display, helmet mounted display, or forward-looking camera display, or com┬нprises a physical marker on the aircraft structure, and repre┬нsents a depression angle from the horizon equal to the speci┬нfied glides lope angle.
8. An aid according to claim 1 for the pilot of an aircraft approaching to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier or the like vessel whereby in use a further visual indication is defined on the deck and the apparent position of such further visual indication is adjusted along the deck in response to excursions of the vessel in pitch so that when viewed along a specified sightline from the aircraft said further indication corresponds to the aftmost limit at which the aircraft will safely clear the stern of the vessel when following a specified glideslope parallel to said sightline irrespective of such excur┬нsions of the vessel.
9. A visual aid for the pilot of an aircraft approaching to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier or the like vessel whereby in use a visual indication is defined on the deck and apparent position of such visual indication is adjusted along the deck in response to excursions of the vessel in pitch so that when viewed along a specified sightline from the aircraft said indication corresponds to the aftmost limit at which the air┬нcraft will safely clear the stern of the vessel when following a specified glideslope parallel to said sightline irrespective of such excursions of the vessel.
10. A method of approaching to land an aircraft on a mov┬нing platform by use of a visual aid according to claim 1.
11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the aircraft is a V/STOL or STOVL aircraft executing a rolling vertical landing.
12. A method of approaching to land an aircraft on the deck of an aircraft carrier by use of a visual aid according to claim 9.
13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the aircraft is a V/STOL or STOVL aircraft executing a rolling vertical landing.
* * * * *
Last edited by spazsinbad on Jul 16, 2011 - 03:37 AM; edited 5 times in total
Posted: Jul 16, 2011 - 12:38 AM
Elite 1K
Joined: Oct 24, 2008 - 01:03 AM
Posts: 1165
Location: Houston
Status: Offline
The Bedford Array is not in the Ford (CVN) design, but..........SRVL is intuitive to the Marines and the LHAs would be the likely platform to test, if not adopt the BA. I'm not opposed to the BA and I do see it as another "good?" Brit idea that is intuitive. The "Bee" will be flying onto the LHA and giving the pilots a tool with which to land on that "postage stamp" in addition to the "Land" button is fundamental. The "landing tools" information developed from the UCAV/ UCLASS programs will also be of great benefit ot the CATO and STOVL communities.
Posted: Jul 16, 2011 - 01:18 AM
Elite 3K
Joined: May 05, 2009 - 10:31 PM
Posts: 8038
Location: OZ
neptune, yes agree that the Bedford Array or similar is not in any USN carrier design at moment. Hence the USN LSOs thinking about such a thing to be retrospectively installed as appropriate. Perhaps reading all the bumpf above will help explain the USN LSO interest in light of the first post from the USN LSO newsletter. Marilyn Manson has a great song (expletives deleted) about "Are you MOFO ready for the newshit"
. [ Chorus ONLY
of 'This is the New SH_T' SONG] F-35 tech brings a lot of new stuff and leaves out a lot of old stuff - in the case of the F-35C the HUD is replaced by the HMDS along with the AoA Indexer I presume (will be in the HMDS). WHAT TO DO?!
Do new stuff.
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Eshu Martin has published painful allegations about Mt Baldy Zen Center and Joshu Sasaki's abuse of women students. Rumors about Reverend Sasaki have circulated for decades, but until now, no member of that community has spoken up publicly. What is missing for many observers are the first-hand accounts of women. For a woman to speak [...] Read More »
Zen is Like a Maserati, Part 3
Zen is like a Maserati (final section 3) This is the third and final post on scholar Dale Wright's address to the National Soto Zen Buddhist Association about the beauty, brilliance, charm and challenges of Zen practice. Wright, a scholar of Eastern religions, distinguished the unique highlights of Zen practice. He is a Zen practitioner, and [...] Read More »
Zen is like a Maserati, Part 2
On October 4th , scholar Dale Wright addressed the National Soto Zen Buddhist Association about the beauty, brilliance, charm and challenges of Zen practice. Wright is a scholar of Eastern religions, and he compared Zen to a Maserati because of its speed, its beautiful aesthetic, its sleek and concise style, its elegant literature and because [...] Read More »
Zen is like a Maserati, Part 1: Sleek, beautiful, expensive, and high maintenance
At the national Soto Zen Buddhist Association meeting yesterday, Dale Wright, a Buddhist scholar from Occidental College, provided us with a broad outline of how Soto Zen was developing in the West. While some of us at Sweeping Zen have been discussing just how Zen has broken down ethically and morally, we have not been [...] Read More »
Those Misbehaving Zen Monks
By Myoan Grace Schireson Recent disclosures about the sexual misconduct of Ken McLeod at Unfettered Mind (see http://patriciaivanconnections.blogspot.ca/) and Fusho Al Rapaport of Open Mind Zen (http://sweepingzen.com/sexual-controversy-surrounds-open-mind-zen) point out how much help Buddhist teachers and their sanghas need to develop a wholesome practice in the West. While it may seem shocking to Westerners that Buddhist teachers [...] Read More »
The ZSS Dialogue: An ongoing study in healing a community
Sweeping Zen is providing a valuable forum for airing questions about Zen teacher misconduct and how the Zen community leadership meets this challenge. The recent dialogue in Sweeping Zen captured in interviews with Roko Sherry Shinge Chayat Roshi and Genjo Marinello brings several important questions into focus: How should a Zen center organization remediate and [...] Read More »
An Opportunity: Zen Ministerial Training In a Buddhist Monastic Setting
Currently, the American and Japanese Zen Buddhist organizations (Soto Zen Buddhist Association and the International Sotoshu) are discussing training standard for Zen priests. We are recognizing, at Zen's 50th birthday in the West, that we have established the foundations of practice, but we have much work to do in helping Zen leaders to translate traditional [...] Read More »
Please read Special Karma by Merry White Benezra
I have just finished reading Special Karma, and I want to express my gratitude to Merry White Benezra for her steady view of Zen practice –both its shining beauty and its shadows. There are many reasons to read Special Karma: To understand Zen monastic practice, to see the dangers of unbalanced Zen practice, to learn [...] Read More »
True Dharma Eye: Enlightenment versus Social Misconduct
I have been contemplating Fukushima Roshi's teaching to me about the Zen word freedom or "jiyu" in Japanese. This teaching is most relevant to the misconduct that has been justified as the privilege of a Zen teacher's enlightenment. Fukushima Roshi, who had studied in America and spoke English well, stated that the most obvious problem [...] Read More »


text: Owners are friendly, the bathrooms are amazing! Super close to town. We stayed in the Fields room. Rainforest shower head, jacuzzi bath tub, comfy beds, fluffy towels. Carson room was the best only e cause it was a bit bigger than the Fields room and had a fireplace. All of the rooms are quite pretty. Price was ok, a tad... More


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March 5, 2012
File Size 7.0 MB / Running Time 7:40 By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief
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Like most of us, Ted Seastrom was challenged, awed and generally beat up by the experience of learning to fly. He thinks those who want to learn should be better prepared for what they're in for. He spoke with AVweb's Russ Niles about an e-book he's published called Learning to Fly an Airplane.
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June 19, 2013
THT Essentials:
Rich Barbieri
John Barten Kyle Boddy Brian Borawski James Gentile Matt Hunter Frank Jackson Chris Jaffe Brad Johnson Jason Linden Dan Lependorf Bruce Markusen Jeff Moore Greg Simons Scott Spratt Dave Studeman Shane Tourtellotte Steve Treder And here's the full roster. Now availableYou can now purchase the Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2013, with 300 pages of great content. It's also available on Amazon and Kindle. Read more about it here.
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THT E-bookThird Base: The Crossroads is THT's e-book, available for $3.99 from the Kindle store. The good news is that anyone can read a Kindle book, even on a PC. So enjoy the best from THT in a new format.Get your very own THT merchandise from our CafePress store. We've got baseball caps, t-shirts, coffee mugs and even wall clocks with the classy THT logo prominently displayed. Also, check out the THT Bookstore. Please support your favorite baseball site by purchasing something today. All content on this site (including text, graphs, and any other original works), unless otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons License. |
About Bojan KoprivicaBojan spent the senior year of his high school in Syracuse, NY as a part of an exchange program. That was in 1989, when he had no idea whatsoever about baseball, but landed in a sports crazed family that gave him no choice but to learn and learn to love this great game. More than 20 years later, he still calls baseball his own and, in addition to every imaginable activity in and around the sport itself, enjoys sharing thoughts on the topic with equally passionate fans from across the world. If you want to know more about how baseball in Croatia got started, drop him a line at bojanatholzfederdotcom.Note: This page displays up to 200 articles at a time. To view a subset of a writer's work, click on one of the following years: 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 Bojan Koprivica's ArticlesClick here to view an RSS feed of this writer's articles. 2008 |


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Learn at Kew - research, train and experience everything Kew has to offer
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Blocking Buffers for Protein Methods
Traditional protein blocking agents (BSA, casein and milk) and exclusive Pierce* Protein Research blocking buffers (SuperBlock*, StartingBlock*, Protein-Free) for Western blotting, ELISA and other immunoassay detection methods with microplates and membranes.
Complete, non-interfering blocking of nonspecific binding sites is increasingly critical and difficult to achieve with more sensitive protein detection methods, such as chemiluminescence. We've developed some of the most sensitive immunodetection products available; you can depend on us to offer optimized and high-performance blocking reagents to match.
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Freescale Calls Up Second Generation Internet Tablets
Freescale drums at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Just as smart, but a bigger display than the Smartphone and costing less than $200 is what the next Internet Generation of 12 to 25-year-olds wants. At least the chipmaker has a fitting idea for it.
A 7" touchscreen, an i.MX515 applications processor and a battery that lasts all day long, that's what Freescale will announce as its reference tablet at the CES that runs from January 7-10, 2010. The smartbook tablet should run Android and other Linux flavors, and its price shouldn't exceed $200. Optional is a stand with keyboard, which qualifies the tablet as a minicomputer. It should show its differentiation from other tablets as they compare to netbooks -- considering that multimedia power and connectivity are nothing new withal.
Freescale claims that it will present with its smartbook tablet the first platform that originated with its own Smart Application Blueprint for Rapid Engineering (SABRE). Starting in February 2010 it should provide manufacturers a template for producing their own inhouse tablets with Freescale issuing block diagrams, schematics, parts lists and Linux board support package. The Texan company founded in 2004 calls the tablet a smartbook, an idea inherited from Qualcomm. The device looks like an ebook reader, weighs less than 9 pounds, and has 512 MBytes working memory, between 4 and 64 GBytes micro-SD card memory and a 3-Mpixel webcam. USB 2.0 and a mini-USB are available for loading files. An option for a SIM card is also foreseen and networking is wireless 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS. Operating systems include Ubuntu, Android and Millos mobile Linux from ThunderSoft, according to the two-page brochure.
Glen Burchers, who Freescale calls its foremost mobile expert, was convinced in his blog entry the end of December 2009 that the time was ripe for tablets (unlike the end of the 1990s when Apple put out its first tablet, Newton, that was less than successful). He describes tablets as powerful mobile devices with bigger displays than smartphones. Its target group is 12 to 25-year-old Internet users, as determined from unspecified recent research by Burchers's employer Freescale. The critical component of success over failure for the smartbook tablet he identifies as the Internet. Why his most convincing arguments shouldn't also apply to netbooks, or why "this time the tablet will finally succeed" may end up as history repeating itself, weren't questions he could easily answer.
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Google and NASA Partner in Quantum Computing Project
Vendor D-Wave scores big with a sale to NASA's Quantum Intelligence Lab.
Mageia Project Announces Mageia 3 Linux
Many package updates and Steam integration highlight the latest from the Mandriva-based community Linux.
FSF Outs the World Wide Web Consortium over DRM Proposal
Richard Stallman calls for the W3C to remain independent of vendor interests.
Debian 7.0 Debuts
The new release supports nine architectures, 73 human languages, and zero non-Free components.
Alpha Version of Fedora 19 Released
Fedora developers release the first alpha version of Fedora 19, known as Schrödinger's Cat, for general testing. The final release is expected in July 2013.
ack 2.0 Released
ack is a grep-like, command-line tool that has been optimized for programmers to search large trees of source code.
SUSE Studio 1.3 Released
New features in SUSE Studio 1.3 include enhanced cloud integration, VM platform support, and lifecycle management.
Xen To Become Linux Foundation Collaborative Project
The Linux Foundation recently announced that the Xen Project is becoming a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project.
RunRev Releases Open Source Version of LiveCode
Open source version of LiveCode is now available for developing apps, games, and utilities for all major platforms.
OpenDaylight Project Formed
OpenDaylight is an open source software-defined networking project committed to furthering adoption of SDN and accelerating innovation in a vendor-neutral and open environment.


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North Korea vows nuclear strike against U.S.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Thursday vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States, amplifying its threatening rhetoric hours ahead of a vote by U.N. diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.
An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.
Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the U.S. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.
Such inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea, and especially so in recent days. North Korea is angry over the possible sanctions and over upcoming U.S.-South Korean military drills. At a mass rally in Pyongyang on Thursday, tens of thousands of North Koreans protested the U.S.-South Korean war drills and sanctions.
The U.N. Security Council is set to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, said the council will vote on the draft sanctions resolution Thursday morning.
The resolution was drafted by the United States and China, North Korea's closest ally. The council's agreement to put the resolution to a vote just 48 hours later signaled that it would almost certainly have the support of all 15 council members.
The statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
It accused the U.S. of leading efforts to slap sanctions on North Korea. The statement said the new sanctions would only advance the timing for North Korea to fulfill previous vows to take "powerful second and third countermeasures" against its enemies. It hasn't elaborated on those measures.
The statement said North Korea "strongly warns the U.N. Security Council not to make another big blunder like the one in the past when it earned the inveterate grudge of the Korean nation by acting as a war servant for the U.S. in 1950." Continued...
North Korea demanded the U.N. Security Council immediately dismantle the American-led U.N. Command that's based in Seoul and move to end the state of war that exists on the Korean Peninsula, which continues six decades after fighting stopped because an armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the war.
In anticipation of the resolution's adoption, North Korea earlier in the week threatened to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War.
North Korean threats have become more common as tensions have escalated following a rocket launch by Pyongyang in December and its third nuclear test on Feb. 12. Both acts defied three Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programs.
U.S. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said the proposed resolution, to be voted on at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT), would impose some of the strongest sanctions ever ordered by the United Nations.
The final version of the draft resolution, released Wednesday, identified three individuals, one corporation and one organization that would be added to the U.N. sanctions list if the measure is approved.
The targets include top officials at a company that is the country's primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organization responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons.
The success of a new round of sanctions could depend on enforcement by China, where most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based.
The United States and other nations worry that North Korea's third nuclear test pushed it closer to its goal of gaining nuclear missiles that can reach the U.S. The international community has condemned the regime's nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people.
The draft resolution condemns the latest nuclear test "in the strongest terms" for violating and flagrantly disregarding council resolutions, bans further ballistic missile launches, nuclear tests "or any other provocation," and demands that North Korea return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It also condemns all of North Korea's ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment.
But the proposed resolution stresses the council's commitment "to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution" and urged a resumption of six-party talks with the aim of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula "in a peaceful manner." Continued...
The proposed resolution would make it significantly harder for North Korea to move around the funds it needs to carry out its illicit programs and strengthen existing sanctions and the inspection of suspect cargo bound to and from the country. It would also ban countries from exporting specific luxury goods to the North, including yachts, luxury automobiles, racing cars, and jewelry with semi-precious and precious stones and precious metals.
According to the draft, all countries would now be required to freeze financial transactions or services that could contribute to North Korea's nuclear or missile programs.
To get around financial sanctions, North Koreans have been carrying around large suitcases filled with cash to move illicit funds. The draft resolution expresses concern that these bulk cash transfers may be used to evade sanctions. It clarifies that the freeze on financial transactions and services that could violate sanctions applies to all cash transfers as well as the cash couriers.
The proposed resolution also bans all countries from providing public financial support for trade deals, such as granting export credits, guarantees or insurance, if the assistance could contribute to the North's nuclear or missile programs.
It includes what a senior diplomat called unprecedented new travel sanctions that would require countries to expel agents working for sanctioned North Korean companies.
The draft also requires states to inspect suspect cargo on their territory and prevent any vessel that refuses an inspection from entering their ports. And a new aviation measure calls on states to deny aircraft permission to take off, land or fly over their territory if illicit cargo is suspected to be aboard.
Lederer reported from the United Nations. Foster Klug in Seoul contributed to this report.
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Museums & Galleries in Jefferson
Recommended Museums & Galleries by Groupon Customers
The Southern Food & Beverage Museum quells culinary curiosities with ongoing exhibits celebrating the unique bites and beverages of the South. Permanent exhibits include Tout de Sweet: All About Sugar, which examines the role of sugar production in Louisiana, and A Table at Galatoire's, which traces the venerable restaurant's history through artifacts such as original plates and salvaged blue-cheese crumbles. Inside the museum, guests encounter The Museum of the American Cocktail, a Martha Stewart brand-endorsed knowledge vault that explores the history of mixed drinks from the 1800s to the modern day, housing original absinthe fountains and Prohibition-era flasks crafted from Al Capone's day planner.
With its imposing, slate-gray façade, the 170-year-old U.S. Custom House may be the last building in which you'd expect to hear the delighted squeals of children. But behind the steely columns, the building erupts into 23,000 square feet of colorful displays and fluttering, scuttling insects, courtesy of the Audubon Society and Insectarium. In the Asian garden, hundreds of butterflies dodge shafts of sunlight to alight on tropical ferns and the shoulders of young visitors. And at the Insects of New Orleans gallery, visitors can ogle the pink katydids, cockroaches, and lovebugs that contribute to the city's heritage.
These bug-filled displays are all part of the insectarium's mission to conserve Louisiana's indigenous species and inspire stewardship in its visitors. While adults can sate their curiosity with the vast array of exotic species, curators gear many displays toward young guests by making them lighthearted and interactive: the Field Camp's entomologist answers questions about how to collect bugs or break up flea-circus strikes, and at Bug Appétit, chefs dole out insect-filled delicacies to adventurous palates.
Beauregard-Keyes House, with a white-columned tuscan portico, was originally built in 1826 on land sold by the Old Ursuline Convent and rises dramatically above two grand stone staircases. Within the restored Victorian interior, period furniture, personal effects, and other ephemera pay tribute to the lives of the house's two most famous residents: Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (1866–1868) and Frances Parkinson Keyes (1944–70), author of tomes such as Dinner at Antoine's, The Chess Players, and War and Peace. Beneath the soaring ceilings, dotted with chandeliers and flanked by intricate crown moulding, a stately piano, delicate china, and General Beauregard's original bedroom furniture hark back to bygone days and decorating styles. Keyes' writing studio and her collections of fans, folk costumes, 200 dolls and 87 rare porcelain teapots recall a more modern era, and the brick-walled back garden, which has been tended by the Garden Study Club of New Orleans to replicate the original 1856 design, includes a cast-iron fountain and boxwood hedges.


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Ireland hand out 2013 central contracts
County players George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Tim Murtagh, Niall O'Brien, Will Porterfield, Paul Stirling and Gary Wilson are among 17 Ireland players to be awarded central contracts for the 2013 season.
The seven, among whom Murtagh is the newest cap having made his international debut last year, are joined by former Northamptonshire man Andrew White in the 'B' category.
Max Sorensen has been elevated to the 'A' bracket alongside the established quartet of Trent Johnston, John Mooney, Alex Cusack and Kevin O'Brien.
Four up-and-coming players - Peter Chase, Tyrone Kane, James Shannon and Stuart Thompson - have earned 'C' contracts.
Boyd Rankin, who hopes to represent England, Nigel Jones and Albert van der Merwe are all absent having announced their retirements from Ireland duty last year.
National coach Phil Simmons said: "There's no doubt that a key part of our success to date has been the move to professionalism.
"It makes such a difference as a coach to be able to work with players on a regular basis and this has been reflected in our dominance at Associate level over the past five or six years.
"The composition of the contracted players is an indication of what I strive for in my teams. There is the spine of experience as well as a number of very talented youngsters.
"While immediate results are paramount, it's always good to be thinking ahead and these contracts offer the younger guys some security as they look to build their careers."


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A proprietary blend of pigments in the Golf Ball Putting Glasses allow you see the lines and read the breaks, and then make the putt with confidence. Lower your score by reducing your putting strokes; these unique glasses will help you see what great golfers see: the clear path to the cup.
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Length: 7.1 Inches Width: 5.4 Height: 1.7 Inches Weight: .057 Lbs
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