Nine animators from Walt Disney studios recently descended on Edwards AFB, Calif., for a close-up look at the design of modern combat aircraft in order to help them for a possible feature-length animated film. “Research is what fuels our creativity. We came to the source of what’s real . . . to be inspired,” said Disney art director Mike Gabriel. The team made a hands-on inspection of the Flight Test Center Museum’s YF-22 prototype, walked through C-17 and C-130 transports, and took a guided tour of the flight line, including an F-22 briefing. “They wanted to get the essence of what a modern jet fighter looks like,” noted museum curator Fred Johnson. For many on the team, the Nov. 18 visit was their first exposure at a working air base. “I think they got a lot out of it,” said Lt. Col. Francisco Hamm, Air Force Entertainment Liaison Office director. (Edward report by Kate Blais)
The F-47 fighter will be run differently than previous fighter programs and share the same mission systems architecture as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That means advances in one will fuel advances in the other.