• December 5, 2016
  • 4:00 p.m.
  • 117A Surge Building
  • Mr. Rick Hooker
  • Lockheed Martin
  • Faculty Host: Dr. Pradeep Raj

Abstract:

Revolutionizing Next Gen Air Mobility with the Hybrid Wing Body

The seminar will focus on the design of new air mobility aircraft which face significant challenges of cleaner emissions, quieter community operations, and greater fuel efficiency than today’s aircraft.  Successfully overcoming these challenges requires the development of revolutionary configurations and technologies that are enabled with new design tools and processes. Lockheed Martin (LM), in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and NASA, has developed a revolutionary new mobility aircraft called the Hybrid Wing Body (HWB).  This multi-role aircraft is capable of serving as a dedicated military airlifter, tanker, and commercial freighter while being cleaner, quieter, and significantly more fuel efficient.  For example, the HWB burns 51 – 74% less fuel, has more than 80% reduction in emissions, and is 32dB quieter than today’s aircraft. This presentation will describe the seven-year development history of the HWB and its underlying technologies, the enabling new design tools and processes, and ongoing efforts to mature the aircraft in order to manufacture future fleets of HWB based airlifters, tankers, and commercial freighters.

 

 

 

 

Biography:

Mr. Rick Hooker recently joined Vortex Control Technologies—a Green Technology company--as Chief Engineer where he is developing drag reduction technologies for commercial aircraft. Prior to joining VCT, he was a Senior Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Marietta, GA, for the last 18 years. During his tenure at LM, he was instrumental in developing numerous fuel saving technologies for the Air Force’s Air Mobility Fleet, and he led the Aerodynamics and CFD team in Georgia to support all production programs, such as C-130J, C-5, P-3, and F-22, as well as future advanced design concepts. For last seven years there, he was responsible for the design, development, and maturation of the revolutionary Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) configuration, which is the LM entry into NASA’s ongoing X-plane demonstrator program.  Before joining Lockheed Martin, Rick worked for six years as a Senior Engineer/ Scientist at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in Long Beach, CA, where he gained valuable experience in CFD application for aircraft analysis and design as well as in wind tunnel testing. Rick received his BS and MS degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University.       

 

Mr. Hooker has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including: (a) two prestigious LM Aero Star awards for outstanding technical contributions; (b) the 2014 AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Best Paper award and the 2014 LM Best Technical Paper award; and (c) two LM Engineer of the Month awards.  He was a member of the High Reynolds Number Transonic Semispan Test Team that received the 2015 NASA Associate Administrator Honorable Mention Award for Technology and Innovation, and he was the Chief Engineer of Speed Agile Concept Demonstrator (SACD) program that was selected for the 2013 Aviation Week Laureate Award.  His work has been featured on two covers of Aviation Week. He is an Associate Fellow of AIAA.