Boeing Completes First JSF In-Flight Conversions to STOVL Mode
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., April 16, 2001 -- In what veteran test pilot Dennis O'Donoghue called "the best day of my flying career," the Boeing Joint Strike Fighter X-32B Friday successfully completed its first in-flight conversions - from conventional to short-takeoff-and-vertical landing (STOVL) flight mode and back again. The milestone marks the beginning of flight test of the Boeing direct-lift solution to the customer's STOVL requirement.
On the aircraft's third test flight, O'Donoghue, the company's lead STOVL test pilot, demonstrated the first flow-switch transition, re-directing the X-32B's engine thrust from the cruise nozzle to its lift nozzles and then back again. The transition was accomplished at 180 knots and 9,500 feet during the 58-minute flight.
Later the same day on the aircraft's fourth flight, O'Donoghue completed seven flow-switch transitions at speeds ranging from 140 to 185 knots and altitudes between 6,000 and 9,500 feet. The aircraft spent approximately 40 minutes of the 52-minute flight in the STOVL mode. Semi-jetborne handling qualities tests including throttle transients and lift-nozzle thrust vectoring also were completed during the flights.
O'Donoghue said the conversions between conventional and STOVL flight modes were extremely smooth.
"Today's testing confirmed the ease in conversion between conventional and STOVL flight modes as well as the low pilot workload required," O'Donoghue said. "Ease of operation and the ability to rapidly convert to and from conventional and STOVL modes gives the pilot tremendous operational flexibility and are key advantages of direct lift.
"The flow-switch transitions from cruise nozzle to lift nozzles and back again took approximately three seconds, which reinforces the data we collected in our simulations, on the engine test stand and during X-32B ground tests," he added.
Katy Fleming, Boeing JSF system test director, said flow-switch transition between conventional and vertical thrust is the key to STOVL flight. "These initial transitions give us confidence that our system is working as designed," Fleming said. "The X-32B flight-test program will help prove our direct-lift system is simple, reliable and low-risk."
A former U.S. Marine Corps Harrier pilot, O'Donoghue added that he continued to be impressed with the handling qualities of the X-32B. "The plane flies just like the simulator. That's significant because we're closely matching actual performance with what we predicted in years of modeling and simulation."
Boeing JSF One Team members Pratt & Whitney (F119-614 engine supplier) and Rolls-Royce (STOVL components including the lift nozzles) have been involved in all ground and flight testing.
The X-32B completed its first flight on March 29 when O'Donoghue piloted the plane on a 50-minute flight from Palmdale, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight marked the aircraft's entry into a four-month test program to validate the Boeing direct-lift approach to the STOVL requirements for the Marine Corps and the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.
Maj. Jeff Karnes, U.S. Marine Corps, also a Harrier pilot, became the first Marine to fly the X-32B when he piloted the aircraft on its second flight April 11. Karnes is part of an integrated test team that includes One Team and U.S. and United Kingdom government test pilots and engineers.
The X-32B will complete a number of flights at Edwards before moving to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., for the majority of STOVL testing. The overall flight-test program will include approximately 55 flights totaling about 40 hours.
Underscoring the commonality of its JSF design, Boeing is using just two aircraft to demonstrate all government requirements for the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, U.K. Royal Navy and Royal Air Force in the concept demonstration phase of the program. Boeing used its X-32A aircraft to demonstrate both aircraft carrier and conventional-takeoff-and-landing objectives. The X-32A completed its flight-test program Feb. 3 after 66 flights and 50.4 flight hours with six different pilots.
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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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