E-2D Advanced Hawkeye pilot, copilot, and three naval flight officers (NFO) may soon be able to endure longer flights, across greater distances and in greater comfort due, in part, to a recently developed ergonomically-designed seating system initially funded by the Naval Air Systems Command’s (NAVAIR) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program ..read more

A new training simulator exclusive to the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) is stressing out F-35 Lightning II pilots in a good way. The Joint Simulation Environment (JSE) has been operational at NAWCAD, located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, for nearly two years. The simulator, which was installed inside an existing NAWCAD building, has drawn so much attention due to its ability to display near-peer fifth-generation threats in a virtual environment that training at the facility has been added to the syllabus for top tier pilots who train at the Navy Strike Fi ..read more

Naval Aviation is built on a physically and mentally rigorous syllabus that requires students and instructors to overcome many challenges. Student Naval Aviators (SNAs) are sometimes required to make split-second decisions, respond to simulated emergencies and occasionally respond to actual inflight emergencies. Some naval air stations that support SNA training are located in major migratory corridors where hundreds of migrating bird species create an additional challenge to safe flight. To address this challenge, in June 2010, Commander, Naval Installations Command, established the Bird/Anima ..read more

In an effort to avoid the seasonal bird migrations at its home station in Kingsville, Texas, Training Air Wing 2 (TW-2) established a detachment training site at Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 5-21. Fort Worth also offered the opportunity for the wing to use the base’s newly acquired Improved Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System (IFLOLS ..read more

The autumn mix of red, brown, yellow and green reflective and life preserver vests are muted under still dim hangar lights as two separate teams unstrap and unchain the Wildcat HMA Mk2 maritime attack helicopter, with its next-generation versatility, and the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft, with its fifth generation capabilities, before moving the aircraft to the aft lift ..read more

The Navy this summer accepted the first Block II E-6B Mercury upgraded entirely by Northrop Grumman Corp., an initiative that is slashing modification times thanks to practices implemented by the Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications Program Office ..read more

John Engelbrecht has a favorite hat and shirt—both have embroidered images of the E-2C Hawkeye aircraft on them. Engelbrecht, who turned 90 in March, loves to watch E-2 videos on the military channel, and there is no topic of conversation he likes more than the E-2C and the 25 years he spent as an engineer providing technical support for the system ..read more

A simple, “washer-like” design helped avoid a serious F-35 Lightning II accident in mid-October and enabled an uneventful landing at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina ..read more

Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications Program Slashes E-6B Mod Times The Navy this summer accepted the first Block II E-6B Mercury upgraded entirely by Northrop Grumman Corp., an initiative that is slashing modification times thanks to practices implemented by the Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications Program Office ..read more

Self-Proclaimed ‘Biggest Fan’ of E-2 Aircraft Visits NAS Patuxent River for Tour John Engelbrecht has a favorite hat and shirt—both have embroidered images of the E-2C Hawkeye aircraft on them. Engelbrecht, who turned 90 in March, loves to watch E-2 videos on the military channel, and there is no topic of conversation he likes more than the E-2C and the 25 years he spent as an engineer providing technical support for the system ..read more