Keeping you on the cutting edge.

No Ads... No Nonsense. Just Flight Test News and Analysis.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

A-10 Warthog Pushes External Tanks to the Limit

The story at the link below may sound bland - extending the envelope of the plane's external tanks - but this can actually be some pretty exciting work.  It looks like g-loading and airspeed limits are being extended, and there are a lot of aspects to stores carriage.  They have to worry about structural issues at the top end and during maneuvering, about proper venting and pressurization across higher speeds, about handling qualities, as well as jettison characteristics at various fuel levels.  What about interactions with other stores configurations?  The list goes on.  From the comments of the test pilot, it would seem they had concerns about aircraft controllability, and that is always exciting to plan a test around.  Sounds like fun!

http://www.dvidshub.net/news/112609/40th-fts-expands-10-fuel-limitations-combat

No comments:

Post a Comment

Feel free to join the discussion! Do you know something more about a recent flight test? Jot a line and let us know how it went! Think you know what will be coming next? Tell us what to expect! (Comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately.)