SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AEROSPACE REPORTS
A Biweekly Publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
VOLUME 44, ISSUE 9 - MAY 5, 2006
05 AIRCRAFT DESIGN, TESTING AND PERFORMANCE
Includes all stages of design of aircraft and aircraft structures and systems.
Also includes aircraft testing, performance and evaluation, and aircraft and flight simulation technology.
For related information see also 18 Spacecraft Design, Testing and Performance and 39 Structural Mechanics.
For land transportation vehicles see 85 Technology Utilization and Surface Transportation.
20060011264 Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic City International Airport, NJ, USA
Results of Intermediate-Scale Flammability Tests Performed on Hypalon(Trade Name) RB71 Aircraft Duct Insulation
Cahill, P.; Marker, T.; Reinhardt, J.; Feb. 2006; 30 pp.; In English Report No.(s): PB2006-107476; No Copyright; Avail.: National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
Intermediate-scale flammability testing of Hypalon RB71, a thermal acoustical insulation primarily used to insulate ducts, was conducted in a section of a wide-body aircraft. The aircraft section was configured to represent the attic area of a transport category aircraft. Baseline tests were also conducted using metallized Tedlar film cover over fiberglass to wrap the ducts. Temperature versus time and the relative energy release rate versus time were evaluated and are presented in this report. NTIS
Ducts; Elastomers; Flammability; Insulation
20060011580 BAE Systems, UK
Flight Testing the Nimrod MRA4
Gill, Andrew; Bellamy, Alex; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 9-1 - 91-17; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color and black and white illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
The Nimrod MRA4 has been designed to replace the Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol aircraft currently used by the Royal Air Force. Whilst drawing on the airframe configuration of the existing Nimrod, the MRA4 is essentially a new aircraft comprising 95% new design and a new fully integrated mission system. It is undoubtedly the most complex aircraft built by BAE SYSTEMS, with the most challenging flight test programme in terms of time scale. The flight trials are being conducted as a Joint Trials Team in conjunction with, the Defence Procurement Agency, the RAF and Qinetiq. Such trials support can be provided both on board (using flight test observers) and/or via a telemetry down link to theWarton flight test ground station. This paper is to give an overview on the progress of the Nimrod MRA4 flight trials and highlight the innovative methods being used to deliver an efficient and affordable flight test programme. Author
Airframes; Systems Integration; Flight Tests; Aircraft Configurations
20060011581 Aermacchi S.p.A., Venegono Superiore, Italy
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Early Flights Achievement with the Aermacchi M-346 Advanced Trainer
Chimetto, Paolo; Carabelli, Rodolfo; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 13-1 - 13-12; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color and black and white illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
The M-346 advanced trainer, designed and built by Aermacchi, has made its first flight on mid July 2004 and completed a first set of 54 flights in March 2005. The aircraft, on the leading edge of its class of flying vehicles in terms of performance, technology applied and mission capability, has confirmed the soundness of its design. As expected, the initial envelope explored has been found trouble-free, confirming the satisfactory level of reliability of the modelling used for predictions. Next stage of development tests will take the aircraft off the feathers bed of the initial envelope to identify the margins existing against the flutter domain while developing the Flight Control System control laws to be implemented aiming at the carefree handling as final target to achieve. Author
Training Devices; Training Aircraft; Reliability Analysis; Flight Control; Control Theory; Leading Edges
20060011582 Flight Test Squadron (0419th), Edwards AFB, CA, USA
A Year of Bomber Test: Legacy and Lessons Learned
Salasovich, Richard; Harmer, Paul; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 8-1 - 8-10; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A02, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
The 419th Flight Test Squadron (419 FLTS), located at Edwards Air Force Base, California, is responsible for developmental testing of the B-1B, B-2A, and B-52H aircraft for the US Air Force. The Operations Engineering Flight at the 419 FLTS is comprised of operations engineers, test conductors, and test directors who are responsible for coordinating the efforts of the entire flight test team. The operations engineer begins the flight test mission planning process by translating engineering requirements into cogent test cards. They assign specific test points to a mission objective summary and assemble a notional outline of a prospective test mission. They schedule and deconflict resources and mission requirements.
The test conductor then appropriates mission planning activities and acts as the absolute focal point of the mission, ensuring overall quality of the test planning process in the final days leading up to a mission. They conduct the mission readiness review, control the execution of the mission from the control room, and draft the 'quicklook report' documenting that particular flight test in detail.
The test director (as opposed to the test conductor) acts as the squadron commander s representative during a mission and has absolute authority to cancel a mission at any time at his discretion whenever anything fails to meet standard test criteria, proper test discipline, or violates test safety.
Several flight test programs took place on all three airframes over the past year. The B-1B integrated the Joint Standoff Weapon and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile to the platform. The B-2A completed regression testing to validate the newest software drop and added a new tactical Link-16 terminal that promises to improve pilot situational awareness during combat. The focus of B-52H testing has been upgrading the offensive avionics system to carry the platform to 2037.
Lessons learned were documented throughout the three test programs in a never-ending effort to improve flight test safety and efficiency. Communications procedures were standardized between the mission control room, the aircrew, and the range. Ground test planning procedures were adopted to mirror, as much as possible, the rigorous planning required of flight test. Finally, configuration control procedures were implemented to preclude the incorrect integration of test hardware. Author
Bomber Aircraft; B-52 Aircraft; Mission Planning; Flight Tests; Ground Based Control; Configuration Management; Schedules; Situational Awareness; Integrated Mission Control Center
20060011585 Aeronautical Development Establishment, Bangalore, India
Tejas Flight Test: Lessons Learned So Far
Raveendran, S. C.; Prabhu, Malteesh; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 14-1 - 14-6; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color and black and white illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A02, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
The Indian Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) programme has successfully completed the Full Scale Engineering Development (FSED) phase and is presently in the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) clearance phase. Tejas programme is the country s finest example of national effort in pursuit of technological excellence in the field of military aviation. Accordingly, the programme has been a great learning experience for all groups and individuals involved. The paper focuses on some of the lessons learned from this challenging programme. Author
Fighter Aircraft; Flight Tests; Product Development; Flight Envelopes
20060011598 Military Univ. of Technology, Warsaw, Poland
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Transient Temperature Measurements During In-Flight and Wind Tunnel Investigations of Icing Phenomena
Panas, Andrzej J.; Terpilowski, Janusz; Waslicki, Piotr; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 25-1 - 25-9; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color and black and white illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A02, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
The paper deals with a problem of transient temperature measurements performed on the airfoil exposed to icing conditions. Two types of investigations are discussed: in-flight tests and laboratory icing experiments in a wind tunnel. In the first case measurements were performed during test flights of the Polish TS-11 'Iskra' jet plane. A specially designed on board temperature measurement system was utilized to record the temperature changes in five selected points at the wing. Experiments of the second kind were performed on the NACA0012 model airfoil in a small scale icing research tunnel. In this case a multichannel temperature measurement laboratory system was applied. The experiments were focused on the icing phenomena investigations. The obtained results were analysed in view of the supercooled fuel effect on the heat transfer and on temperature distribution. Author
Wind Tunnel Tests; Ice Formation; Flight Tests; Airfoils; Temperature Distribution; Temperature Measurement; Ts-11 Aircraft
20060011599 Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD, USA
Separation Flight Tests of a Small Unmanned Air Vehicle from a C-130 Transport Aircraft
Roberts, DavidW.; Judy, Aaron D.; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 19-1 - 19-12; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color and black and white illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly being considered for various roles in the civilian and military communities. Various launch methods have been explored and have been mostly ground based. The desire to investigate the feasibility of launching a UAV from a larger surrogate air platform existed, but had not been explored. As part of a concept demonstration program, NAVAIR s Test and Evaluation Flight Test Department was requested to conduct flight tests to determine a flight envelope and launch system configuration for which a small (maximum gross weight of 80 lbs), unpowered UAV glider could be safely launched from the cargo ramp of a C-130 transport aircraft. A secondary goal was to demonstrate that the UAV would remain stable enough for the wings to deploy and be flyable via a pre-programmed profile or remotely located pilot. A roll-on/roll-off pneumatic launch system was devised to eject the UAV into the airstream in a controlled and consistent manner, and a test program was executed to incrementally expand the UAV safe launch envelope by building down to a minimum gross weight. Flight tests were conducted in September 2003. Safe separation from the C-130 aircraft was demonstrated, as well as UAV stability for successful wings deployment and fly-out. The success of these flight tests opens the door for development of similar air launched systems that could be used for a myriad of applications. Author
Pilotless Aircraft; Flight Tests; C-130 Aircraft; Stability; Deployment; Systems Engineering
20060011600 Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, CA, USA
The USA Air Force Flight Test Center Experiment in Experimental Design
Kailiwai, George, III; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 21-1 - 21-20; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color and black and white illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
Keeping true to US Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) motto of Toward the Unexplored and mission of conducting and supporting the research, development, test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat, senior AFFTC technical leaders are conducting an experiment on the applicability of design of experiments (DOE) as a possible test strategy for developmental test and evaluation (DT&E) flight test programs. To this end, AFFTC engineers have completed DOE orientation courses and a three-week course in basic statistics and DOE. The AFFTC then identified specific engineer technical experts as members of the AFFTC initial DOE cadre. Members of this initial cadre have implemented DOE as a test strategy to three USAF Test Pilot School (TPS) Test Management Projects (TMPs). Although these TMPs are still on-going, preliminary results show strong applicability to two of the three TMPs Project HAVE NOT and Project START. The third TMP, Project LOST WINGMAN, is a classical DT&E flight test program with a gradual build-up approach in which the test team has chosen to use One Factor At a Time (OFAT), in which the number of factors and levels is kept to an absolute minimum, as the test strategy. Nonetheless, the Project LOST WINGMAN test team has created two DOE test matrices as secondary test objectives to acquire data on the applicability of DOE to these types of gradual build-up DT&E flight test programs. Since DOE as a test strategy continues to show promise, the AFFTC is continuing with training a second DOE cadre in the fall of 2005, and will use DOE for the next round of USAF TPS TMPs. Author
Experiment Design; System Effectiveness; Test Pilots; Project Management; Flight Tests; Aerospace Systems
20060011603 Defence Materiel Administration, Stockholm, Sweden
Swedish Evaluation of a MALE UAV-System in Civil and Military Airspace from a Civilian Airport
Danielsson, Claes; Hylander, Thomas; Olsson, Bengt; Anersso, Rolf; Flight Test: Sharing Knowledge and Experience; May 2005, pp. 15-1 - 15-9; In English; See also 20060011579; Original contains color illustrations; Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A02, Hardcopy; Available from CASI on CD-ROM only as part of the entire parent document
During may-june 2002 the Swedish Defence Material Administration and the Swedish Space Cooperation evaluated a MALE UAV-system operated from Kiruna Airport in the northern part of Sweden. The project was carried out in cooperation with the Swedish Defence forces, the Meteorological Institute of Stockholm University, the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration and with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and Israeli Aircraft Industry Ltd as contractors for the UAV-system (IAI/Malat EAGLE). The test flights were performed in both civilian and military airspace, within the North European Airspace Test range (NEAT), with the UAV taking off and landing at Kiruna Airport. The evaluation was a predemonstration of a MALE UAV for the planned System Demonstration 2005, a demonstration of the new Swedish NBF, 'Network Centric Warfare'. The purpose of the evaluation was also to evaluate a MALE UAV-system for both civil and military use and, in cooperation with military and civilian airworthiness authorities, establish a feasible airworthiness process for Flight Test Permits. As Kiruna airport is the second airport in Sweden to receive the new VDL mode 4, GPS-based, transponder system, the UAV was equipped with this system. The results from the evaluation performed show that it is possible, within the current rules and regulations, to perform flights with UAV s from a civil airport within civil and military airspace. The results also show that NEAT is a proper space to perform this type of flights, as the area is very vast. It also showed that MALE UAV-system would be of use in System Demonstration 2005 as well as for other civilian and military purposes. Author
Civil Aviation; Test Ranges; Aircraft Reliability; Flight Tests; Pilotless Aircraft; Airspace
20060012139 NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA
Power Budget Analysis for High Altitude Airships
Choi, Sang H.; Elliott, James R.; King, Glen C.; [2006]; 12 pp.; In English; SPIE Defense and Security Symposium 2006, 17-21 Apr. 2006, Orlando, FL, USA; Original contains color illustrations Contract(s)/Grant(s): 581.02.08 Report No.(s): SPIE Paper 6219-12; No Copyright; Avail.: CASI: A03, Hardcopy
The High Altitude Airship (HAA) has various potential applications and mission scenarios that require onboard energy harvesting and power distribution systems. The energy source considered for the HAA s power budget is solar photon energy that allows the use of either photovoltaic (PV) cells or advanced thermoelectric (ATE) converters. Both PV cells and an ATE system utilizing high performance thermoelectric materials were briefly compared to identify the advantages of ATE for HAA applications in this study. The ATE can generate a higher quantity of harvested energy than PV cells by utilizing the cascaded efficiency of a three-staged ATE in a tandem mode configuration. Assuming that each stage of ATE material has the figure of merit of 5, the cascaded efficiency of a three-staged ATE system approaches the overall conversion efficiency greater than 60%. Based on this estimated efficiency, the configuration of a HAA and the power utility modules are defined. Author
Airships; High Altitude; Energy Conversion Efficiency; Thermoelectric Generators; Thermoelectric Materials; Photovoltaic Cells
Source: NASA
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