This story leaves me doing a little bit of head-scratching. The article seems to center on envelope expansion testing of the Triton in prep for systems testing. This is totally logical. But what I don't understand is why it would take half the test program to "clear the envelope" of an airframe that is essentially unchanged from one that has been flying for a couple of decades! The only thing I can figure is that the Navy wants to fly faster, or slower, or higher than the current users. If that is the case, it might open some visibility into the Navy's planned missions for the plane. On the other hand, I suppose that the Navy's flight control software changes may be so radical that they have to go back and clear the original envelope all over again. Anybody know what the issue is on this?
http://www.stripes.com/news/navy/navy-s-big-triton-drone-completes-ninth-test-flight-1.261773
I read the article as 1/2 way through initial envelope expansion. Not 1/2 way through the test program.
ReplyDeleteGood observation. That may be a better interpretation than the one I used, and brings the plan closer to what you might expect. That said, an 18-flight envelope expansion still seems awfully luxurious when the main thing that has changed is which black boxes are going behind the panels. Is our CG going to change that much?
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