March 14, 2003

Krista Laursen
Director, HIAPER Project Office

In looking back at the date of the last HIAPER status report that I sent out, I was embarrassed to discover that it was stamped 30 December 2002. My apologies for the nearly three month lapse in communicating on the status of the project to all of you, but I am happy to report that a host of positive developments in the HIAPER project are what have conspired to keep me from sending out more regular updates.

The first, and perhaps most significant, development to report on is the receipt of the next increment of HIAPER funds from NSF in January. Owing to the dedicated and focused efforts of Jim Huning, Bernard Grant, and others at NSF on behalf of the HIAPER project, an increment in the amount of $13M was received by UCAR in approximately the middle of January. These funds provided the $10M needed for infrastructure development and integration for the GV and also provided the remaining portion of funds required for UCAR to enter into the Phase B portion (to cover interior completion, the chemical exhaust system, and some other tasks) of the HIAPER subcontract. The arrival at UCAR of the new increment of HIAPER funds allowed us to enter into Phase B on time and eliminated the costly need to re-negotiate the second phase of the subcontract. I want to thank Jim, Bernard, and everyone at NSF again for all of their efforts and strong support of the HIAPER program.

Now that the needed HIAPER infrastructure funds are in hand, a number of the HIAPER integrated project teams (IPTs) are beginning work in earnest to design and develop the various infrastructure components for the aircraft. Work has been started to develop design specifications for the data acquisition system and the data display and access software, and efforts are also underway to formulate specifications for the aircraft intercommunication (ICS) and SATCOM systems and for aircraft equipment racks. Additionally, Dick Friesen of the HPO and Jack Fox and Mark Lord of ATD have put together a package of information on possible manufactured wing pods to be considered for purchase for the GV. Specifications for the two pods presently under consideration -- a pod that has been certified for flight on F-16s and a 400 gallon pod that flies on P-3 aircraft -- have been posted to the HIAPER website (www.hiaper.ucar.edu/pods/index.html) and numerous members of the scientific community have been asked to review the specifications and comment on the pros and cons of both pods. Once feedback has been received from the community on this topic, the HPO and ATD will formulate a recommendation regarding which of the two pods should be considered for initial purchase and development for the GV.

Related to the infrastructure work outlined in the preceding paragraph, HPO staff have -- for the past several weeks -- been working with ATD personnel on a detailed planning exercise to fully outline the staffing resources needed to complete the infrastructure work and to identify those ATD staff members who will be working on the various tasks. This exercise is being undertaken in an effort to ensure that a very clear and detailed road map is laid out now regarding how each of the critical infrastructure tasks will be completed and that all necessary resources are made available for the successful completion of each task

From the 11th to 13th of this week, a number of NCAR and UCAR staff members, Dave Jorgensen (the chair of the HAC), and Jim Huning of NSF participated in the HIAPER preliminary design review (PDR) in Greenville, South Carolina. This intensive review, held near Lockheed's modification facility, provided an opportunity for the entire HIAPER project team to sit down and go over all of the design work that has been done to date for the GV. Over the course of two-and-a-half days and a lengthy Power Point presentation (which includes 367 slides), Gulfstream and Lockheed personnel presented detailed information on the modifications to be made to the aircraft and proposals for the interior aircraft configuration and also outlined the production schedule for the modification work and the safety and quality control measures that will be followed over the course of the work done at Lockheed. NCAR and UCAR staff were extremely happy with the outcome of the design review discussions, and we all feel that we are on track with all aspects of the program. A number of action items were generated over the course of the PDR, and these items will be dealt with by UCAR, NCAR, Gulfstream, and Lockheed personnel in the coming weeks leading up to the project critical design review (CDR) in June. Day two of the PDR provided the participants with another opportunity to visit and walk through the "green" HIAPER GV at Lockheed, and we also got the chance to tour the hangar where the aircraft will be modified and to visit the new Lockheed paint hangar where the completed, modified aircraft will receive its final colors.

In my December status report, I outlined the arrangement that had been made with Gulfstream whereby an upgraded digital flight data recorder system (DFDRS) was to be installed in the GV. I am happy to report that the installation, testing, and FAA certification of this system was completed on time in February, and the aircraft was returned to Lockheed from Gulfstream on 3 March. According to the updated production schedule we (the HPO) recently received from Gulfstream, the HIAPER aircraft will now be jacked and shored in June 2003 in preparation for the start of the installation of the modifications in July 2003.

In Conclusion

As you can imagine, we are now entering a very busy -- but also very exciting -- phase of the HIAPER project in which work will shortly commence to modify the aircraft and when ideas for configuring the various infrastructure components of the aircraft (data system, software, etc.) will start to become a reality. As we progress through these various design phases in the coming months, I will continue to keep all of you updated via these status messages, and I also invite you to bookmark the HIAPER web site and to keep checking there for the latest news and information.

As we have now reached the one year anniversary of the HPO, we are now undertaking the effort to thoroughly review and update the contents of the HIAPER Website as needed. So, as you continue to visit the website for the latest information about the project, also keep an eye out for changes and improvements to the site content that will be made in the coming months.

As always, should you have any questions about the HIAPER program, please do not hesitate to contact me here in the HPO.