Boeing JSF X-32B Completes Low- and Medium-Speed Taxi Tests
PALMDALE, Calif., Jan. 10, 2001 -- The Boeing X-32B Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator on Monday moved closer to first flight with the successful completion of initial low- and medium-speed taxi tests to verify function and integration of crucial aircraft systems.
The X-32B will demonstrate the company's direct-lift approach to the short-take-off-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) requirements of the U.S. Marine Corps and the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
"The propulsion and on-board systems met our expectations, which were based on X-32B static tests and our experience on the X-32A," said Frank Statkus, Boeing vice president and JSF general manager. "The high level of commonality built into the X-32A and -B is paying off. Just like the X-32A, the -B performed well at 30 knots and again at the medium-speed taxi test at 60 knots."
During the taxi tests, Boeing lead STOVL test pilot Dennis O'Donoghue stayed in contact with test engineers who monitored the aircraft's instrumentation from their control room.
"We conducted functional checkout of the nosewheel, steering, brakes and anti-skid systems, and evaluated ground handling qualities during these tests. Everything went exactly as planned," O'Donoghue said. "During taxi, the aircraft handled just like the X-32A."
The next step involves Boeing certification and government verification of low- and medium-speed taxi test data prior to the high-speed taxi test.
Following high-speed taxi, the X-32B will begin flight test with an initial flight from Palmdale to test facilities at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The first flights at Edwards will validate basic airworthiness, to be followed by STOVL transition testing at altitude. The aircraft will then be flown to the Navy's test facility at Patuxent River, Md., to continue testing, which will include vertical landings.
Statkus added that taxi tests are important steps leading to the X-32B first flight, but the focus is really on successful completion of the whole flight-test program: "First flight will happen when the team and the plane are ready to begin the entire flight test program, and that is determined in large part by this kind of interim testing."
Boeing has 30 years of experience with direct lift -- the only combat-proven approach to STOVL flight. "Technological advances allow us to greatly improve the performance of direct lift on JSF," Statkus said. "This essentially eliminates the long and costly process of refining a new concept. It also significantly increases long-term product reliability and reduces maintenance requirements."
To perform STOVL maneuvers, the system redirects engine thrust downward through lift nozzles in the airframe. For conventional flight the lift nozzles are closed and thrust flows rearward through the two-dimensional thrust-vectoring cruise nozzle -- the same as in the X-32A -- to propel the aircraft forward and up to supersonic speeds.
In more than 500 trials on the STOVL engine run stand, transition times between conventional and vertical thrust and back again have been consistently accomplished in one to three seconds. This rapid and direct transition capability is critically important for unrestricted STOVL operations and aircraft safety.
At Pratt & Whitney facilities in West Palm Beach, Fla., the Boeing One Team is putting a STOVL qualification engine through a series of durability tests that will lead to propulsion system certification for STOVL flight.
The company's X-32A demonstrator, which made its first flight Sept. 18, 2000, completed 100 percent of its government-required aircraft carrier variant low-speed handling tests at Edwards as well as aerial refueling and supersonic flight before the end of the year.
Boeing, the world's largest producer of military aircraft, is competing to build the JSF under a four-year concept demonstration phase contract with the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and the British Royal Air Force and Navy. A competition winner is scheduled to be selected later this year.
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01-07
Contact Info:
Randy Harrison
(206) 655-8655
randolph.c.harrison@boeing.com
Chick Ramey
(206) 662-0949
charles.b.ramey@boeing.com
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