Hybrid/Electric Caravan First Flight

 A lot of organizations, to include NASA, are working on electric or hybrid/electric propulsion. A relatively new player has just reached a major milestone with first flight.

https://www.aviationtoday.com/2022/11/23/ampaires-hybrid-electric-grand-caravan-takes-flight/

What is most impressive to me are claims that overall range will actually increase. Guess we will see!

Loss of Su-57 During Flight Test

While an event like this is certainly a big deal in the evolution of any new airplane, the craft has been in the air quite a while before suffering its first crash. (By contrast, the F-16 was almost lost on its unintentional maiden flight, and the F-22 suffered a serious crash very early in its flight testing due to flight control problems leading to a PIO.)

That said, a more informative and potentially worrisome hunk of information may be visible in the picture at the link below.

https://taskandpurpose.com/russia-su-57-fighter-crash

I have been out of pocket for a while, so many of you may understand this better than I do, but those bumps and apertures behind the canopy may be more important than they first appear. You don't add that kind of stuff to the outside of a stealth bird unless they are VERY helpful.

Is this machine intended to be a major node in the operating agency's data network?

Leonardo Gains Momentum on AW609 Certification

Moving from prototype to near-production avionics doesn't sound all that sexy, but it often represents entering the home stretch, assuming that air frame testing is going well.

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-12-27/leonardo-flies-fourth-flight-test-aw609

ATTENTION "FTT" READERS! CHANGES ARE JUST AHEAD!

In the near future, and for a number of reasons, I am gong to change the blog from "Public" to "Private". What this means is that only certain folks will be able see the blog for a while. I may be in a position to go back to "Public" in the future, but for now, if you enjoy the blog, please attach a comment stating that you would like to be included on the "Private" list and I will see if I can get the technology to cooperate so that you will be included.  This will probably mean that you will have to sign in to the blog (or another associated social media account) before using it.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

China's C919 Maiden Flight! (I know it has been a long time... Sorry!)

I have been (and remain) crazily over-committed, but could not let this one slip past.
Congratulations!

http://www.aeronewstv.com/en/industry/commercial-aviation/3892-china-eyes-global-market-after-comac-c919-maiden-flight.html 

I will get back on the job in the next couple of weeks and perhaps do a little catch up.

Gulfstream G600 Makes Maiden Flight Ahead of Schedule!

Well... ahead of the most recent schedule anyway. Even so, this is pretty rare!

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gulfstream-g600-takes-flight-ahead-of-schedule-300380511.html

Lockheed-Martin F-35s Engage in Multiship Comms Evaluation

This doesn't really sound all that exciting, but those who understand the F-35 concept of operations realize that this kind of test may be more important than weapons clearance, or even performance and flying qualities. Their primary role is more likely to be as nodes in a very robust communications network. If that doesn't work, none of the other stuff really matters. A battle plan is probably right on the money if most F-35s never directly interact with the enemy at all.

http://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1022990/multiple-f-35s-take-to-the-skies-to-test-communication-data-links

Boeing-Saab TX Trainer Entry Scores First Flight

The story at the link below has a lot of the typical chest pounding after a first flight, but it does shae a few details about the envelope cleared and duration of the flight. Looks as though there will be a number of entries for this competition.

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/boeings-t-x-takes-its-first-flight

MUST READ: South African Flight Test CapabiIlity in Jeopardy?

The article at the link below is not about a specific aircraft, but it may represent a "wake up call" for many of us in the flight test world regarding "passing the torch". It is not just about South Africa. A similar dilemma has been facing NASA over recent decades as the ability to do truly complex flight testing of advanced research aircraft has become more and more difficult to maintain.

I would consider this article a "must read".

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/test-flying-in-south-africa-at-a-critical-crossroads-2016-11-11

Bombardier Global 7000 Makes First Flight?

The article at the following link is a bit cryptic...

http://www.reuters.com/article/bombardier-airplane-idUSL1N1D50ZJ

... but there are a few more details at this one, including a few words about the flight envelope opened so far:

http://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article112535072.html 

 

Uber? Google? Zee.Aero? Flying Car? New Area 51?

(Photo Credit: Steve Eggleston via Aviation Week)

It would appear that there is yet another entrant in the (nearly 100-year-old) race to develop a marketable "Flying Car". The article at the link below implies that the vehicle has been under development for at least 3 years and is already in flight test. The only photos that I have found do not make it appear to be very roadable, so this may be some kind of early concept demonstrator. You can't discern much from the profile, but if you look closely at the shadow, you will see what look like long, unswept wings, each with 2 (perhaps 3?) extensions from both the leading and trailing edges with some kind of pods at the ends of each extension. This is corroborated by what appear to be red propeller tips visible at the rear of the aft pods. The article has no technical details to speak of, but clearly quotes folks who say they have seen it fly.

http://www.montereyherald.com/article/NF/20161023/NEWS/161029863 

Textron Scorpion Jet Displays Weapons Integration

The story at the link below is more about systems demonstration than about systems test, but it does show the state of readiness of a system that has been in development for a while. As I look at the pictures at the link, I am a bit surprised at the shallow dive angle as well as the low angle of attack. Early launches will often tend to have a wider dispersion and higher CEP than proven systems, so a shallow dive angle allows that wider dispersion to spray munitions over a lot of real estate. It also looks as if the aircraft is operating somewhere near its maximum delivery speed, given the low apparent angle of attack implied by the rocket plumes of the weapons.

http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12271191/scorpion-jet-successfully-completes-first-weapons-capability-exercise

Cessna Citation Longitude Completes Maiden Flight

There are not many details in the story at the link below... a bit about some of the items in the flight profile. A couple of "eyebrow raisers" for me: The gear was evaluated. I presume that this means it was raised and lowered, which is something that is often delayed until subsequent flights. The other item was the pilot comments regarding the "intuitive" nature of aircraft systems. This evaluation was not really a result of the flight test. This assesment took place weeks - maybe months - earlier during evaluations done in ground simulators and hot bench testing. About the best we could expect to hear regarding systems on a first flight would be that they "worked as expected". Presumably they did.

https://disciplesofflight.com/cessna-citation-longitude-first-flight/

UCI Students Launch Human Powered Design on Maiden Flight

This kind of project is so rewarding. In fact, one or two of the students involved listed the project as the high point of their college careers.  The best part was the ingenuity and determination that they showed when it was apparent that modifications would be needed to their plane if it were going to fly. They rolled up their sleeves and made the mods right then and there!

http://engineering.uci.edu/news/2016/9/human-powered-airplane-team-learns-lessons-flight-test

Lockheed-Martin Legion Pod Under Test on F-15C

This story is interesting to me for a couple of reasons. I don't know much about the specs of this pod, but it sounds very unusual. The article at the link is a bit vague, but a little research turns up hints that the pod is intended for use in radar-denied areas and is to provide long-range IR tracking. It is also to contain a secure datalink capability. Okay... putting 3 and 6 together, and given that the F-15C already has a datalink capability, it could well be that the datalink is intended to bridge the 4th-to-5th gen secure comms requirement so that the eagle can work better with F-22 and F-35 partners. But if it were me, that would not be the only possibility. Unless you do a lot of extra work, you can normally only get azimuth and elevation out of an IRST system. You can only make some crude guesses regarding the range of your target. But wait... I probably have a wingman. If he also has a similar pod, and the two pods are talking to each other via secure datalink... then suddenly I have an accurate range as well. Hmmm...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lockheed-martins-legion-pod-completes-125800081.html

Virgin Galactic is Back in the Air

The article at the link below is brief, but it does include about a minute of the obligatory "Here we are flying!" video. I find it interesting that Wibaux anticipates an extended flight test process. I'm not sure what he means by that, but after initial "production flight test" profiles to show that basically everything works, and assuming no major structural or engine redesigns since SpaceShipOne, I would expect the flight test program to pick up just about where it left off.  Guess we will see.

http://www.aeronewstv.com/en/industry/research-innovation/3518-maiden-flight-for-virgin-galactics-new-vessel.html

Virgin Galactic Prepares for Maiden Flight of "Unity"

The brief statement of intent at the link below contains no new flight test information, but for those not directly involved in flight test, it provides an excellent explanation of how and why people continue to push the limits and fly into the unknown. No, it is not written in those terms, but it nevertheless ventures into the thinking of a team of adventurers who refuse to go down without a fight. I salute everyone who shares the same spirit.

Photo Courtesy Virgin Galactic

http://www.virgingalactic.com/update-from-mojave-preparations-for-unitys-flight-test-program/

Airlander 10 Airship Mishap Being Probed

While there is not much detail provided in the story at the link below, the good news is that the team does, indeed, appear to be taking the recent mishap as a wake-up call. The are expressing their intent to learn from whatever caused the crash.

Photo Courtesy K. Atherton - Popular Science via YouTube

http://www.popsci.com/airship-company-plans-to-recover-from-crash

Power Lines: 1 - Airlander: 0

A lot of times it is the little things that get missed during test planning. These airships are not easy to work with. Fortunately, it would seem that the recent incident may simply serve as a wake-up call to the test team.

(Photo Credit: EEDS News Agency)

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/24/technology/worlds-largest-aircraft-crash-airlander-10/

Hybrid Air Vehicles Airlander 10 Completes First Flight

While not a totally new design (it is an adaptation of a previous DOD test article) the aircraft has still undergone major modifications. The article is non-technical, but provides a little bit of information on the vehicle.

http://phys.org/news/2016-08-giant-helium-filled-airship-airlander.html