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| Press Release Number: EPX200304161 | 16-Apr-03 |
Media open house for VECTOR X-31 Apr. 23 |
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| PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, MD-The VECTOR X-31 flight test team will host a media open house Wednesday, Apr. 23, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. here. The X-31 is in the final test phase of the VECTOR program, with the world's first automated ESTOL landings expected to occur within the week. Subsequent landings will be made at increasing angles of attack and decreasing speed, up until the program conclusion on April 29. The media open house agenda will include: - Walk-around of the aircraft and one-on-one interview opportunities with project test pilots, flight test director and flight test engineers - Briefs from program management for the U.S. Navy, the German Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement, European Aeronautic Defense and Space, and Boeing Aerospace - Demonstration of the X-31 simulator, with ESTOL approach rides given out as available If the open house coincides with an ESTOL flight event, a runway-side photo opportunity may be available. Those wishing to attend must RSVP NO LATER THAN 4 P.M. ON MONDAY, APR. 21, by calling 301-757-6630. Directions will be provided and arrangements made for base access at that time. Background: Originally flown from 1990 to 1995 under the Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability program, the X-31 was brought out of mothballs and delivered to Pax River in 2000 for the VECTOR test program. The X-31 uses thrust vectoring - controlling the direction of its engine exhaust with paddle-like vanes - to maintain control at high angles of attack and reduced speeds, even well below the typical landing speed for an aircraft of its type. Through the VECTOR program, the Navy is exploring the applications of thrust vectoring technology for extremely short takeoff and landing, with a particular eye toward the carrier landing environment. In the Fleet, landings at reduced speeds and subsequently higher angles of attack would impart significantly reduced forces to both the aircraft and, in the case of carrier landings, the arresting gear on the ship. Besides reducing fatigue and increasing system life, such reduced-energy landings would permit aircraft to land heavier, bringing weapons and fuel back to the ship that might otherwise need to be jettisoned. ESTOL has possible applications for unmanned aerial vehicles as well. The X-31 is also being used as a test bed for EADS' new Flush Air Data System, a nose-mounted sensor that measures local pressures used to calculate airspeed, angle of attack, sideslip, and altitude information In November 2002, project test pilots began flying ESTOL approaches to a virtual runway at 5,000 feet, at angles of attack more than twice that for conventional landings. In order to validate the FADS, the X-31 was also flown stably at 70 degrees angle of attack, a feat no other aircraft can perform. In order to perform the automated ESTOL landings to the ground, the X-31 will rely on an Integrity Beacon Landing System that provides aircraft positional data accurate to within two centimeters. Near the end of the high-angle approaches, the aircraft's engine nozzle will come within two feet of the runway before the X-31 performs a derotation maneuver and drops onto its main landing gear. At angles of attack more than 15 degrees, the pilot loses sight of the runway and relies on a camera in the belly of the X-31 to verify the runway is clear of obstructions. -USN- | |
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