If all stays on track, the Air Force technical community could see an advanced composite cargo aircraft flight demonstrator (see above) by Sept. 30, 2008. Barth Shenk, program manager, told us earlier this week, that AFRL’s Air Vehicles Directorate is now evaluating proposals submitted last month and expects to finalize its recommendation by the end of this month. Besides asking for a “detailed design description,” the only constraint placed upon contractors was to be innovative and use close to production-ready composite materials. Schenk said that AFRL wants contractors to be free to build aircraft by unconventional means, and in unconventional ways.
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…