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Product Name: Flight Research - F-15 ACTIVE/F-18 HARV
Product Description
 In March 1996, NASA initiated flight testing of a new thrust vectoring
concept that could lead to significant increases in the performance of both
civil and military aircraft flyingat subsonic or supersonic speed.
The tests at Dryden Flight Research Center are part of a program known as ACTIVE
(Advanced Controls Technology for Integrated Aircraft), a collaborative effort
of NASA, the Air Force's Wright Laboratory, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA),
and Pratt & Whitney Government Engines & Space Propulsion unit (POW).
The test aircraft is a twin-engine F-15 ACTIVE, a modified version of the Air
Force F-15B fighter built by MDA and powered by F-100PW-229 engines, each of
which is equippedwith a nozzle that can swivel 20 degrees in any direction,
giving the aircraft thrust control inthe pitch (up and down) and yaw
(left-right) directions. This vectored (deflected) thrust system could replace
conventional drag inducing aerodynamic controls and thereby gain increased fuel
economy or range.
The tests began with four flights in March/April, then progressed to the first
supersonic flight on April 24. On that occasion, the F-15 ACTIVE successfully
demonstrated both pitchand yaw deflections at speeds of Mach 1.2 to1.5. The
flight test plan contemplated about 60 flights totaling 100 hours at speeds up
to Mach 1.85 and angles of attack (the angle betweenthe aircraft's body/wings
and its actual flight path) up to 30 degrees.
The F-15 ACTIVE program is representative ofthe type of flight research
conducted by NASA to explore new technologies and new flightregimes. NASA
conducts such programsindependently or in cooperation with U.S.industry and the
Department of Defense,sometimes in cooperation with internationaldevelopment
teams.
Another example of a Dryden flight researchprogram is NASA's High Alpha
investigation.High Alpha refers to high angles of attack, aflight regime in
which the airflow becomesextremely complex. To provide aircraft manufacturers
with a technology base for designinghigh performance aircraft capable
of"supermaneuverability" and of maintainingstability/controllability at high
angles of attack,NASA conducted the decade-long High Alphaprogram that concluded
on May 29, 1996 withthe final flight of NASA's F-18 HARV (HighAlpha Research
Vehicle).
In the first phase of the program, initiated in1987, the F-18 HARV explored
angles of attackup to 55 degrees. In the second phase, NASA investigated thrust
vectoring technology to determine the impact on aircraft maneuverability at high
angles of attack. In the final phase, the F-18 HARV's handling qualities were
evaluated by 14 different pilots representing NASA, the Department of Defense,
and support contractors McDonnell Douglas Aerospace and Calspan Corporation.
Among other flight projects under way at Dryden are two examples of test
programs intended to support NASA activities not directly connected with
aeronautics advancement. One is a project involving airborne tests of an
advanced thermal protection system (TPS) for use on the X-33 Reusable Launch
Vehicle. The project employs an F-15B Flight Test Fixture-II (FTF-II) aircraft
foratmospheric testing (the ascent and landing phases of the launch vehicle's
operation), where the potential threat to the TPS is impact with rain drops,
cloud droplets or ice crystals. Test participants include Marshall Space Flight
Center and Rockwell International.
Another new program involves testing the Theseus, a robot aircraft to be
employed in NASA's Mission To Planet Earth program for research in such areas as
stratospheric ozone depletion and the atmospheric effects of future high speed
civil transport engines. Built by Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation,
Fairmont,West Virginia, Theseus is a twin-engine propeller-driven craft with a
143-footwingspan. Constructed largely of composite materials, it is capable of
carrying 700 pounds of science instruments to altitudes above 60,000 feet for
durations of more than 24 hours. The planemade its initial flight at Dryden in
May 1996.
Company Details
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