Chinese Farmer..Designer..Builder..Test Pilot

Maybe some of you EAA guys with international connections can get a copy of AC90-89A to this guy before it's too late.  He's already been saved from a bad design by the design itself, been a minor victim of his next design, and is now hoping that the third time is the charm with yet another radical design.  You guys at NTPS host nearly all nationalities, maybe one of your students can talk some sense into him?

(Photo Credit: Jason Lee)

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/30/7526736-former-chinese-farmer-builds-flying-saucer

T-45 Goshawk flies on Biofuel Blend

Biofuel testing has been under way for several years in all services.  I guess this is something that needs to be done, and these blends "may" enter active service eventually, but a cursory review of basic economics will tell you why that is probably a long way off.  I truly hope someone proves me wrong, but personal opinion: these tests make good PR, but they won't reduce anyone's costs or improve operational effectiveness any time soon.  The day they really threaten the oil-based infrastructure, I'm thinking that OPEC will open the spigots a bit, drag the price per barrel down just enough to force biofuel investors to find better places for their money.  But hey, what do I know?

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2011/08/28/navy-training-aircraft-completes-flight-using-biofuel/

WORLD-WIDE FLIGHT TEST & FLIGHT RESEARCH (beta testing)

Okay, here is the first shot at this.  The table provided below is probably less than 20% of currently ongoing flight testing, and the current test phases listed have probably morphed since I first gathered the information.  If you or your organization would like to link me to better data, it will let folks know what you're up to and get you the credit you deserve.  If you're with EADS, Embraer, Pilatus, IAI, Saab, Beechcraft, NASA etc, I know some of you have got work in progress, so add a comment to point me at the appropriate press-releases and I will update this list.  If I've given the wrong location, wrong point of contact, or if I just mis-spelled your name, please let me know.

ORG/LOC	AIRCRAFT	TEST OBJECTIVES	CONTACT-AFFILIATION	REMARKS
SUKH/ZHU	T-50	Systems, Propulsion	Sergei Bogdan-TP	For Indian AF?
TsKB/TsAGI	Rysachok	Initial certification	Yevgeny Gordeyev-M	5th plane added
BOE-M/WICH	B-52	Systems Testing	Scot Oathout-M	CONECT Datalink
CMC/XIAN	ARJ21	Icing, stalls	Wu Guanghui-M	Flutter complete?
LM/PXRVR	F-35C	Carrier Suitability	Fred Schenk
LM/EDWS	F-35A	Systems, Maturity	Laurie Quincy-M
AW/	AW-159	Performance	Mark Burnand-TP
SCA/MOJ	367 Bipod	Initial Airworthiness	Doug Shane-M	Twin Fuselage, roadable
NG/EDWS	RQ-4B	Systems	George Guerra-M
CSNA*/COLO	C-172	Electric Propulsion	Eric Snelgrove	*with Beyond Aviation

ABBREVIATIONS:

AW – Augusta-Westland

EDWS – Edwards AFB

BOE-M – Boeing Military

C - customer

CMC – Comac (China)

COLO – Colorado

CSNA – Cessna

LM – Lockheed-Martin

LOC – location

M – manufacturer

MOJ – Mojave

NG – Northrop-Grumman

ORG – organization

TP – test pilot

SCA – Scaled Composites

SUKH – Sukhoi Aircraft

TsAGI – Russian Flight Research Institute, Samara

TsKb – Progress Aircraft

XIAN – Xian, China

ZHU – Zhukovsky

Electric Cessna 172 Soon?

Apparently a small company that specializes in eco-friendly solutions is already taxiing an electrically powered 172.  Anticipate the same issues as with other all-electric airplanes: weight and range.  The good news is that they are starting with a proven airframe, so they can focus on the propulsion system. 
The bad news is that they are starting with a proven airframe, so it will be hard to optimize performance.  It looks like the electric 172 will be a dedicated trainer.  That would make sense: pull out the back seat and use the extra payload for enough batteries to give you a reasonable training sortie.  Guess we'll see...

http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=7aae9343-ae7e-40f8-a15d-8233643e87b4

Scaled 367 BIPOD Roadable Aircraft?

Apparently a recent Rutan design has already flown a few short hops down the runway, perhaps back in July.  Any of you guys in the Antelope Valley see it?

http://www.compositesworld.com/news/aspiring-roadworthy-aircraft-designs-multiply

http://www.ecofriend.com/entry/model-367-bipod-burt-rutans-hybrid-electric-flying-car/

Comac's ARJ21 Moves Cautiously

Apparently testing has fallen behind schedule due to the weather being too nice.  (No, not kidding.)  They are trying to perform icing tests on the commercial-class aircraft but have not had enough inclement weather to get all the required test points.  Flutter is apparently complete, but Hi-AOA is still ahead.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/08/24/361199/chinas-arj21-falls-behind-on-flight-test-schedule.html

B-52 out of Edwards Tests Datalink System

As military (and frankly, civilian) operations become more network-centric, tools like the Conect system will add depth to the grid.  More and more, every airplane is just a link in an information collection and management network, sharing whatever data is available with others on the grid.  Like your review of this blog, anyone anywhere can know whatever they want almost instantly.  If anyone knows where the target is, then everyone knows, so there is no direction to look for an incoming attack.

http://www.4-traders.com/BOEING-4816/news/BOEING-CONECT-Upgrade-Successful-in-Flight-Test-Aboard-B-52-13763842/

TsKB Rysachok Trainer/Transport under Test

Apparently the plane is intended to replace the An-2, which hails nearly all the way back to the DC-3 era, as a light-duty transport and multi-engine pilot trainer.  No report yet on the current test objectives or how the tests are going.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/08/22/361088/maks-tskb-progress-flight-tests-new-twin-turboprop.html

Sukhoi T-50 Engine Stall?

Looks like an engine problem interrupted a planned test sortie at Zhukovsky.  No verdict yet on what the problem was that caused the high-speed abort.  Personally I have to scratch my head at performing active flight test as part of an airshow... talk about opening yourself up to scrutiny.  Hopefully the test objectives were fairly benign.  I guess everybody has their own approach to flight test and to marketing.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2379924.ece

(Photo courtesy GEI)

COMING SOON... Worldwide Test Summary

In an effort to make this Blog a bit more useful, I will soon be rolling out a new item.  It is still under construction and I will truly need your help with it, but I plan to build and upload a table of all flight test activity that is ongoing... worldwide.  It will include information regarding location, responsible test organization, aircraft and/or system under test, even points of contact and current test objectives if they are known, all in a single table.  The "Beta" version should be available for download soon and I promise that it will be incomplete and erroneous.  That's where I will need your help.  When it surfaces, please take a look and tell me what I'm missing.

Thanks!

F-35 Testing to Resume

It looks like DoD is confident enough that they understand the cause of a recent system malfunction that they are putting the test fleet back to work.  It looks as though they plan to use telemetry to monitor a potential faulty valve to mitigate the risk of a similar failure in the future.  Unfortunately, the production aircraft don't have similar instrumentation, so they may have to wait a while.

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2011/08/18/f-35-test-jets-cleared-to-fly-again/

787, 800-XPR, and 747-8 Keep FAA Busy

Several airplanes have hit the certification branch in quick succession:  Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, the Honeywell-powered Hawker Beechcraft 800-XPR, and the Boeing 747-8 freighter.

http://thunderfeeds.com/reader/news/boeing-completes-flight-certification-testing-for-787

http://www.fly-corporate.com/content_news.php?mynews=3374

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-19/boeing-said-to-win-u-s-faa-certification-for-747-8-jumbo-jet.html

DARPA's HTV-2 may have Self-Terminated

While the plan was to fly a lot longer, 3 minutes of data while stable at speeds in excess of Mach 15 has to be counted as a success in my book.  A few details are provided in the link below.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/darpa-fills-us-htv-2s-semi-successful-flight-and-very-successful-crash

B-787 / Rolls Royce Ready for Certification?

It is still not entirely clear how close the Dreamliner is to certification, but of course the FAA operates on its own schedule, so you can't fault Boeing entirely.  On the other hand, the track-record for the 787 schedule so far has been a string of shifts to the right, so more delays are no longer news.  The article at the link below does provide a few interesting tidbits about recent test conduct.  We'll just have to wait to see what the FAA thinks of the results.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=comm&id=news/avd/2011/08/17/12.xml&headline=Tests%20Ending%20For%20Rolls-Powered%20787

Sonex Testing Accelerates

Six flights in three days for a new design is pretty aggressive, especially since one of them was first flight!  I wonder if any data is being captured electronically.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/08/diy-jet-completes-first-flight/

Photo Courtesy wired.com.

Slow Week on the Test Ranges?

I haven't run across much that deserves your attention in the last few days. 

The folks on the Six O'clock News have to fill a half-hour, whether there is anything happening or not.  So when nothing is really worth reporting, we learn more than we want to know about the lastest "movie star DUI" trial.  If you're aware of something that is breaking we'd love to hear about it, otherwise we'll keep watching the net.  Fly Safe!

AW-159 Lynx Wildcat vs The Rockies

The test team is being hosted in Colorado to see how well the helicopter handles simultaneous high altitudes and high temperatures.  I can attest that the last few weeks have included both, since I'm perched on the front range near Pike's Peak myself.  Reports are that the tests are going well.

http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/ci_18668659

DARPA's HTV-2 Shut Down by Communication Glitch

Very frustrating second flight, but instrumentation systems are often the long pole, especially in a flight environment that heretofore has only been experienced behind an ablative heat shield under a planned communications blackout.  Given the environment, it's actually kind of impressive that the first flight went so well.  Some sources say that unless USAF or Army come alongside pretty soon, DARPA may need to shelve this one for a while.  Guess we'll see.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2011-08-11-hypersonic-glider-launched_n.htm

Monnett's Sonex Jet Makes First Flight

Always an exciting day.  Looks like earlier landing gear configuration issues have been corrected.  It is a bit unusual for the first flight to include stalls... maybe the reporter overstepped the facts... but the pilot came home and brought the jet with him, so they must have done something right.

http://www.eaa.org/news/2011/2011-08-10_subsonex.asp

Army Settles Rotary Flight Test at Redstone

Looks like nearly all of the Ft Rucker people elected to move to "beautiful" Redstone Arsenal.  That says something about what they expect to be doing in the coming years.  As a Dryden and Edwards veteran, I've got to tell you that nobody would even consider the place if it were just based on appearances.  You go there for the exciting work that goes on.  Hopefully Redstone will be the same. 

I wonder what their first few projects will be...

http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2011/08/opening_of_helicopter_testing.html

F-35s take a Hiatus After Ancillary Turbine Failure

Hopefully this will be easy to diagnose, but more importantly easy to fix.  Support system failures early in the life-cycle often lead to major re-designs.  That could cost both money and weight, and the program doesen't have a lot of buffer left in either one.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/03/fighter-usa-lockheed-martin-idUSN1E7721X620110803

Boeing 747-8 Completes FAA Certification

In a bit of a publicity stunt, Boeing decided to use the final series of tests to do a bit of advertising.  Focus of the tests was apparently the Flight Management System as well as general system functionality and reliability.  Ever seen a jumbo-jet used as a skywriter?  Hope you guys were having fun!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015808331_boeingjumbo04.html

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-boeing-747-8-freighter-completes-certification-flight-testing-2011-08-03?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Global Hawk Block 40 Matures

Systems will nearly always be the primary focus of this program as improvements are brought forth.  That isn't to say that the plane couldn't use a more robust approach in the areas of propulsion as well as human factors, because it could.  But what makes it valuable are the boxes that it carries.  The rest is just a pickup truck to get the boxes where they need to be.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Global-Hawk-results-please-Northrop-Grumman-s-1717945.php