Some parts in the older aircraft needed more miniaturization in other cases, components were obsolete or outdated. The electronic warfare equipment that will be installed in the new Compass Calls will partly be drawn from the legacy aircraft, and partly new equipment, Savoie said. 元Harris already conducts depot maintenance for EC-130s in its Waco facility.
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In the second phase, which will take place at the 元Harris facility in Waco, Texas, the company will install mission-specific hardware, such as crew consoles and stations. “That’s what our flight test has proven out, that those changes have been effective.” “Obviously, whenever you make significant outer mold line changes to an aircraft, tweaks to the avionics, especially advanced systems like Gulfstream employs,” Savoie said. So 元Harris had to ensure autopilot functions and avionics, among other items, were responding to how the aircraft is currently shaped and operating correctly. The flight tests went smoothly, he said, with no flutter problems or other issues that can arise when modifying aircraft with unique shapes.īut when an aircraft is modified, factors such as the center of gravity also change, he said.
Following the CAEW design, instead of creating a new design, simplified the process and reduced risk, he said. 元Harris is also installing the bulk of the wiring harnesses, liquid cooling systems and power distribution systems in that phase.ĭuring the design process, Savoie said, 元Harris used as a blueprint the way G550s were previously modified into the Conformal Airborne Early Warning, or CAEW, aircraft flown by Israel and Singapore’s air forces. The first phase, conducted in Savannah, involves modifying the exterior, including expanding the aircraft’s side panels, nose, and tail and installing radomes, external arrays and antennas. The modification to the G550s to make them into Compass Calls will take place in two phases, Savoie said. Maintaining the new electronic warfare equipment that had been added to the old planes - one of which first flew in 1964 - also was a significant challenge. Maintainers needed to regularly inspect the airframes for structural weaknesses and watch out for problems with its wiring and engines. Flying the older EC-130Hs in the harsh and dusty Middle East environment for decades proved taxing.