Pilots hit sound solution for Joint Strike Fighter

AS RESIDENTS plotted court action over Williamtown’s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets, Wing Commander Matt McCormack was in Texas with a brief.

In the bowels of Lockheed Martin’s aeronautics division in Fort Worth, he was to find out if the jets could fly more quietly over Port Stephens.

The wing commander and Squadron Leader Jordon Sander spent hours strapped into flight simulators.

‘‘I was fully immersed in the issues at home prior to going over,’’ Wing Commander McCormack said.

‘‘Being pilots, our overriding concern was safely operating the aircraft.’’

The brief offered unfettered access to the world’s top experts on acoustics, aeronautics, noise modelling and engines.

At stake were property values that had sagged with the initial noise forecast for the jets, which are louder than the current F/A-18 Hornets.

The breakthrough came when the pilots grasped the JSF’s power, and that it needn’t exert itself to take off and land. They found a quieter, low-power setting for Williamtown pilots to use over houses, and enjoyed a carbon copy preview of aviation’s future.

‘‘It’s like a hot knife through butter,’’ Wing Commander McCormack said.

The pilots returned with a playbook for flying a $120million piece of machinery over houses without ruining property value and lifestyles.

Defence Secretary David Feeney announced the results, a revised noise exposure forecast for RAAF Base Williamtown, on Wednesday to overjoyed residents.

Hundreds of houses in and around Raymond Terrace, Salt Ash, Medowie were instantly freed of jet noise limitations.

Wing Commander McCormack will return to Williamtown in January to train Hornet pilots.

Source: http://www.theherald.com.au