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64-467: Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing behaviour and systems of aircraft or testing the atmospheric phase of launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft . Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. Data is sampled during the flight of an aircraft , or atmospheric testing of launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft . This data

128-625: A first look at structural loads. The vehicle can then proceed with its maiden flight , a major milestone in any aircraft or launch vehicle development program. There are several aspects to a flight test program, among which: Testing that is specific to military aircraft includes: Emergency situations are evaluated as a normal part of all flight test program. Examples are: engine failure during various phases of flight (takeoff, cruise, landing), systems failures, and controls degradation. The overall operations envelope (allowable gross weights, centers-of-gravity, altitude, max/min airspeeds, maneuvers, etc.)

192-437: A large aircraft are: Specific calibration instruments, whose behavior has been determined from previous tests, may be brought on board to supplement the aircraft's in-built probes. During the flight, these parameters are then used to compute relevant aircraft performance parameters, such as airspeed, altitude, weight, and center of gravity position. During selected phases of flight test, especially during early development of

256-552: A maximum of 853. Though development of this aircraft began in 1988 as a competitor to the 747, the A380 made its first test flight in April 2005. Some of the elements of aerospace engineering are: The basis of most of these elements lies in theoretical physics , such as fluid dynamics for aerodynamics or the equations of motion for flight dynamics . There is also a large empirical component. Historically, this empirical component

320-593: A new aircraft, many parameters are transmitted to the ground during the flight and monitored by flight test and test support engineers, or stored for subsequent data analysis. This provides for safety monitoring and allows for both real-time and full-simulation analysis of the data being acquired. When the aircraft or launch vehicle is completely assembled and instrumented, many hours of ground testing are conducted. This allows exploring multiple aspects: basic aircraft vehicle operation, flight controls , engine performance, dynamic systems stability evaluation, and provides

384-472: A pilot to predict the takeoff, climb, cruise, and landing performance of an aircraft. These charts, provided by the manufacturer, are included in the AFM /POH. Information the manufacturer provides on these charts has been gathered from test flights conducted in a new aircraft, under normal operating conditions while using average piloting skills, and with the aircraft and engine in good working order. Engineers record

448-540: A rocket stage may be recovered while others are not. The Space Shuttle , for example, recovered and reused its solid rocket boosters , the Space Shuttle orbiter that also acted as a second stage, and the engines used by the core stage (the RS-25 , which was located at the back of the orbiter), however the fuel tank that the engines sourced fuel from, which was separate from the engines, was not reused. For example,

512-502: A single test flight for an aircraft is known as a Test Card. This will consist of a description of the Test Points to be flown. The flight test engineer will try to fly similar Test Points from all test plans on the same flights, where practical. This allows the required data to be acquired in the minimum number of flight hours. The software used to control the flight test process is known as Flight Test Management Software, and supports

576-586: A specially trained test pilot , the data is gathered by a flight test engineer , and often visually displayed to the test pilot and/or flight test engineer using flight test instrumentation . It includes the analysis of a flight for certification. It analyze the internal and outer part of the flight by checking its all minute parts. Reporting includes the analyzed data result. Introduction Aircraft Performance has various missions such as Takeoff , Climb , Cruise , Acceleration , Deceleration , Descent , Landing and other Basic fighter maneuvers , etc.. After

640-536: Is an example of interpolating information from a takeoff distance chart: The make-up of the Flight Test Team will vary with the organization and complexity of the flight test program, however, there are some key players who are generally part of all flight test organizations. The leader of a flight test team is usually a flight test engineer (FTE) or possibly an experimental test pilot . Other FTEs or pilots could also be involved. Other team members would be

704-595: Is developing the first stage of the orbital New Glenn LV to be reusable, with first flight planned for no earlier than 2024. SpaceX has a new super-heavy launch vehicle under development for missions to interplanetary space . The SpaceX Starship is designed to support RTLS, vertical-landing and full reuse of both the booster stage and the integrated second-stage/large-spacecraft that are designed for use with Starship. Its first launch attempt took place in April 2023; however, both stages were lost during ascent. The fifth launch attempt ended with Booster 12 being caught by

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768-444: Is essentially certain maneuvers to be flown (or systems to be exercised). Each single test is known as a Test Point. A full certification/qualification flight test program for a new aircraft will require testing for many aircraft systems and in-flight regimes; each is typically documented in a separate test plan. Altogether, a certification flight test program will consist of approximately 10,000 Test Points. The document used to prepare

832-487: Is established and verified during flight testing. Aircraft are always demonstrated to be safe beyond the limits allowed for normal operations in the Flight Manual. Because the primary goal of a flight test program is to gather accurate engineering data, often on a design that is not fully proven, piloting a flight test aircraft requires a high degree of training and skill. As such, such programs are typically flown by

896-544: Is important to read every chart and understand how to use it. Read the instructions provided by the manufacturer. For an explanation on how to use the charts, refer to the example provided by the manufacturer for that specific chart. The information manufacturers furnish is not standardized. Information may be contained in a table format, and other information may be contained in a graph format. Sometimes combined graphs incorporate two or more graphs into one chart to compensate for multiple conditions of flight. Combined graphs allow

960-473: Is lacking For this reason, flight testing is carefully planned in three phases: preparation; execution; and analysis and reporting. For both commercial and military aircraft, as well as launch vehicles, flight test preparation begins well before the test vehicle is ready to fly. Initially what needs to be tested must be defined, from which the Flight Test Engineers prepare the test plan, which

1024-653: Is typically a rocket -powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites ) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space . The most common form is the ballistic missile -shaped multistage rocket , but the term is more general and also encompasses vehicles like the Space Shuttle . Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad , supported by a launch control center and systems such as vehicle assembly and fueling. Launch vehicles are engineered with advanced aerodynamics and technologies, which contribute to high operating costs. An orbital launch vehicle must lift its payload at least to

1088-461: Is validated for accuracy and analyzed to further modify the vehicle design during development, or to validate the design of the vehicle. The flight test phase accomplishes two major tasks: 1) finding and fixing design problems and then 2) verifying and documenting the vehicle capabilities when the vehicle design is complete, or to provide a final specification for government certification or customer acceptance. The flight test phase can range from

1152-625: The Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo aircraft commenced its first flight. It holds the records for the world's heaviest aircraft, heaviest airlifted cargo, and longest airlifted cargo of any aircraft in operational service. On October 25, 2007, the Airbus A380 made its maiden commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. This aircraft was the first passenger plane to surpass the Boeing 747 in terms of passenger capacity, with

1216-559: The Boeing 747 made its first commercial flight from New York to London. This aircraft made history and became known as the "Jumbo Jet" or "Whale" due to its ability to hold up to 480 passengers. Another significant development came in 1976, with the development of the first passenger supersonic aircraft, the Concorde . The development of this aircraft was agreed upon by the French and British on November 29, 1962. On December 21, 1988,

1280-594: The Curtiss JN 4 , Farman F.60 Goliath , and Fokker Trimotor . Notable military airplanes of this period include the Mitsubishi A6M Zero , Supermarine Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109 from Japan, United Kingdom, and Germany respectively. A significant development came with the first operational Jet engine -powered airplane, the Messerschmitt Me 262 which entered service in 1944 towards

1344-695: The European Space Agency is responsible for the Ariane V , and the United Launch Alliance manufactures and launches the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets. Launchpads can be located on land ( spaceport ), on a fixed ocean platform ( San Marco ), on a mobile ocean platform ( Sea Launch ), and on a submarine . Launch vehicles can also be launched from the air . A launch vehicle will start off with its payload at some location on

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1408-529: The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School are the programs designed to teach military test personnel. In the UK, most military flight testing is conducted by three organizations, the RAF , BAE Systems and QinetiQ . For minor upgrades the testing may be conducted by one of these three organizations in isolation, but major programs are normally conducted by a joint trials team (JTT), with all three organizations working together under

1472-687: The first American satellite on January 31, 1958. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was founded in 1958 after the Sputnik crisis . In 1969, Apollo 11 , the first human space mission to the Moon , took place. It saw three astronauts enter orbit around the Moon, with two, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin , visiting the lunar surface. The third astronaut, Michael Collins , stayed in orbit to rendezvous with Armstrong and Aldrin after their visit. An important innovation came on January 30, 1970, when

1536-402: The post-mission phase of a returning booster flight on revenue launches—can be subject to the latter's statistically demonstrated higher risk of accidents or serious incidents. This is mainly due to the unknowns of a new aircraft or launch vehicle's handling characteristics and lack of established operating procedures, and can be exacerbated if test pilot training or experience of the flight crew

1600-444: The upper stage of the launch vehicle or launched to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). A direct insertion places greater demands on the launch vehicle, while GTO is more demanding of the spacecraft. Once in orbit, launch vehicle upper stages and satellites can have overlapping capabilities, although upper stages tend to have orbital lifetimes measured in hours or days while spacecraft can last decades. Distributed launch involves

1664-472: The 2000s and launch vehicles with integrated distributed launch capability built in began development in 2017 with the Starship design. The standard Starship launch architecture is to refuel the spacecraft in low Earth orbit to enable the craft to send high-mass payloads on much more energetic missions. After 1980, but before the 2010s, two orbital launch vehicles developed the capability to return to

1728-480: The Flight Test Engineer in planning the test points to be flown as well as generating the required documentation. Once the flight test data requirements are established, the aircraft or launch vehicle is instrumented with a data acquisition system (DAS), or data acquisition unit (DAU) and sensors , to record that data for analysis. Typical instrumentation parameters recorded during a flight test for

1792-503: The Flight Test Instrumentation Engineer, Instrumentation System Technicians, the aircraft maintenance department (mechanics, electrical techs, avionics technicians, etc.), Quality/Product Assurance Inspectors, the ground-based computing/data center personnel, plus logistics and administrative support. Engineers from various other disciplines would support the testing of their particular systems and analyze

1856-625: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA. It was the first government-sponsored organization to support aviation research. Though intended as an advisory board upon inception, the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory became its first sponsored research and testing facility in 1920. Between World Wars I and II, great leaps were made in the field, accelerated by the advent of mainstream civil aviation. Notable airplanes of this era include

1920-548: The accomplishment of a goal with multiple spacecraft launches. A large spacecraft such as the International Space Station can be constructed by assembling modules in orbit, or in-space propellant transfer conducted to greatly increase the delta-V capabilities of a cislunar or deep space vehicle. Distributed launch enables space missions that are not possible with single launch architectures. Mission architectures for distributed launch were explored in

1984-407: The aerospace industry. A background in chemistry, physics, computer science and mathematics is important for students pursuing an aerospace engineering degree. The term " rocket scientist " is sometimes used to describe a person of great intelligence since rocket science is seen as a practice requiring great mental ability, especially technically and mathematically. The term is used ironically in

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2048-436: The aircraft manufacturer and/or private investors, the certifying agency does not have a stake in the commercial success of the aircraft. These civil agencies are concerned with the aircraft's safety and that the pilot's flight manual accurately reports the aircraft's performance. The market will determine the aircraft's suitability to operators. Normally, the civil certification agency does not get involved in flight testing until

2112-907: The aircraft meets all applicable safety and performance requirements of the government certifying agency. In the United States, this is the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ); in Canada, Transport Canada (TC); in the United Kingdom (UK), the Civil Aviation Authority ; and in the European Union , the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Since commercial aircraft development is normally funded by

2176-456: The aviation pioneers around the late 19th to early 20th centuries, although the work of Sir George Cayley dates from the last decade of the 18th to the mid-19th century. One of the most important people in the history of aeronautics and a pioneer in aeronautical engineering, Cayley is credited as the first person to separate the forces of lift and drag , which affect any atmospheric flight vehicle. Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering

2240-539: The booster stage of a launch vehicle. After 2010, SpaceX undertook a development program to acquire the ability to bring back and vertically land a part of the Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle: the first stage . The first successful landing was done in December 2015, since 2017 rocket stages routinely land either at a landing pad adjacent to the launch site or on a landing platform at sea, some distance away from

2304-838: The boundary of space, approximately 150 km (93 mi) and accelerate it to a horizontal velocity of at least 7,814 m/s (17,480 mph). Suborbital vehicles launch their payloads to lower velocity or are launched at elevation angles greater than horizontal. Practical orbital launch vehicles use chemical propellants such as solid fuel , liquid hydrogen , kerosene , liquid oxygen , or hypergolic propellants . Launch vehicles are classified by their orbital payload capacity, ranging from small- , medium- , heavy- to super-heavy lift . Launch vehicles are classed by NASA according to low Earth orbit payload capability: Sounding rockets are similar to small-lift launch vehicles, however they are usually even smaller and do not place payloads into orbit. A modified SS-520 sounding rocket

2368-421: The charts contain and how to extract information from the charts by direct reading and interpolation methods. Every chart contains a wealth of information that should be used when flight planning. Examples of the table, graph, and combined graph formats for all aspects of flight will be discussed. Interpolation Not all of the information on the charts is easily extracted. Some charts require interpolation to find

2432-418: The data acquired for their specialty area. Since many aircraft development programs are sponsored by government military services, military or government-employed civilian pilots and engineers are often integrated into the flight test team. The government representatives provide program oversight and review and approve data. Government test pilots may also participate in the actual test flights, possibly even on

2496-411: The design of World War I military aircraft. In 1914, Robert Goddard was granted two U.S. patents for rockets using solid fuel, liquid fuel, multiple propellant charges, and multi-stage designs. This would set the stage for future applications in multi-stage propulsion systems for outer space. On March 3, 1915, the U.S. Congress established the first aeronautical research administration, known then as

2560-648: The end of the Second World War. The first definition of aerospace engineering appeared in February 1958, considering the Earth's atmosphere and outer space as a single realm, thereby encompassing both aircraft ( aero ) and spacecraft ( space ) under the newly coined term aerospace . In response to the USSR launching the first satellite, Sputnik , into space on October 4, 1957, U.S. aerospace engineers launched

2624-554: The expression "It's not rocket science" to indicate that a task is simple. Strictly speaking, the use of "science" in "rocket science" is a misnomer since science is about understanding the origins, nature, and behavior of the universe; engineering is about using scientific and engineering principles to solve problems and develop new technology. The more etymologically correct version of this phrase would be "rocket engineer". However, "science" and "engineering" are often misused as synonyms. Launch vehicle A launch vehicle

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2688-608: The first/ maiden flight . Aeronautical engineering "Aeronautical engineering" was the original term for the field. As flight technology advanced to include vehicles operating in outer space , the broader term " aerospace engineering" has come into use. Aerospace engineering, particularly the astronautics branch, is often colloquially referred to as "rocket science". Flight vehicles are subjected to demanding conditions such as those caused by changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature , with structural loads applied upon vehicle components. Consequently, they are usually

2752-460: The flight data and create performance charts based on the behavior of the aircraft during the test flights. By using these performance charts, a pilot can determine the runway length needed to take off and land, the amount of fuel to be used during flight, and the time required to arrive at the destination. The data from the charts will not be accurate if the aircraft is not in good working order or when operating under adverse conditions. Always consider

2816-431: The flight testing, the aircraft has to be certified according to their regulations like FAA 's FAR , EASA 's Certification Specifications (CS) and India 's Air Staff Compliance and Requirements. 1. Flight Performance Evaluation and documentation 2. Reduction of Flight performance to standard conditions 3. Preparation and Validation of Performance Charts for Operating Data Manual (ODM) Performance charts allow

2880-451: The full envelope expansion paradigm of traditional aircraft testing. Previous and current test programs include the early drop tests of the Space Shuttle , the X-24B , SpaceShipTwo , Dream Chaser , Falcon 9 prototypes , OK-GLI , and SpaceX Starship prototypes . Flight testing—typically as a class of non-revenue producing flight, although SpaceX has also done extensive flight tests on

2944-442: The ground. In contrast, reusable launch vehicles are designed to be recovered intact and launched again. The Falcon 9 is an example of a reusable launch vehicle. As of 2023, all reusable launch vehicles that were ever operational have been partially reusable, meaning some components are recovered and others are not. This usually means the recovery of specific stages, usually just the first stage, but sometimes specific components of

3008-430: The information for specific flight conditions. Interpolating information means that by taking the known information, a pilot can compute intermediate information. However, pilots sometimes round off values from charts to a more conservative figure. Using values that reflect slightly more adverse conditions provides a reasonable estimate of performance information and gives a slight margin of safety. The following illustration

3072-725: The integration of all components that constitute an aerospace vehicle (subsystems including power, aerospace bearings , communications, thermal control , life support system , etc.) and its life cycle (design, temperature, pressure, radiation , velocity , lifetime ). Aerospace engineering may be studied at the advanced diploma , bachelor's , master's , and Ph.D. levels in aerospace engineering departments at many universities, and in mechanical engineering departments at others. A few departments offer degrees in space-focused astronautical engineering. Some institutions differentiate between aeronautical and astronautical engineering. Graduate degrees are offered in advanced or specialty areas for

3136-528: The launch site (RTLS). Both the US Space Shuttle —with one of its abort modes —and the Soviet Buran had a designed-in capability to return a part of the launch vehicle to the launch site via the mechanism of horizontal-landing of the spaceplane portion of the launch vehicle. In both cases, the main vehicle thrust structure and the large propellant tank were expendable , as had been

3200-505: The launch site. The Falcon Heavy is similarly designed to reuse the three cores comprising its first stage. On its first flight in February 2018, the two outer cores successfully returned to the launch site landing pads while the center core targeted the landing platform at sea but did not successfully land on it. Blue Origin developed similar technologies for bringing back and landing their suborbital New Shepard , and successfully demonstrated return in 2015, and successfully reused

3264-471: The manufacturer has found and fixed any development issues and is ready to seek certification. Military programs differ from commercial in that the government contracts with the aircraft manufacturer to design and build an aircraft to meet specific mission capabilities. These performance requirements are documented to the manufacturer in the aircraft specification and the details of the flight test program (among many other program requirements) are spelled out in

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3328-597: The military aircraft flight test is the Operational Test (OT). OT is conducted by a government-only test team with the dictate to certify that the aircraft is suitable and effective to carry out the intended mission. Flight testing of military aircraft is often conducted at military flight test facilities. The US Navy tests aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River and the US Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base . The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and

3392-439: The necessity to compensate for the performance numbers if the aircraft is not in good working order or piloting skills are below average. Each aircraft performs differently and, therefore, has different performance numbers. Compute the performance of the aircraft prior to every flight, as every flight is different. Every chart is based on certain conditions and contains notes on how to adapt the information for flight conditions. It

3456-447: The pilot to predict aircraft performance for variations in density altitude, weight, and winds all on one chart. Because of the vast amount of information that can be extracted from this type of chart, it is important to be very accurate in reading the chart. A small error in the beginning can lead to a large error at the end. The remainder of this section covers performance information for aircraft in general and discusses what information

3520-499: The products of various technological and engineering disciplines including aerodynamics , air propulsion , avionics , materials science , structural analysis and manufacturing . The interaction between these technologies is known as aerospace engineering. Because of the complexity and number of disciplines involved, aerospace engineering is carried out by teams of engineers, each having their own specialized area of expertise. The origin of aerospace engineering can be traced back to

3584-551: The same booster on a second suborbital flight in January 2016. By October 2016, Blue had reflown, and landed successfully, that same launch vehicle a total of five times. The launch trajectories of both vehicles are very different, with New Shepard going straight up and down, whereas Falcon 9 has to cancel substantial horizontal velocity and return from a significant distance downrange. Both Blue Origin and SpaceX also have additional reusable launch vehicles under development. Blue

3648-428: The standard procedure for all orbital launch vehicles flown prior to that time. Both were subsequently demonstrated on actual orbital nominal flights, although both also had an abort mode during launch that could conceivably allow the crew to land the spaceplane following an off-nominal launch. In the 2000s, both SpaceX and Blue Origin have privately developed a set of technologies to support vertical landing of

3712-404: The statement of work. In this case, the government is the customer and has a direct stake in the aircraft's ability to perform the mission. Since the government is funding the program, it is more involved in the aircraft design and testing from early-on. Often military test pilots and engineers are integrated as part of the manufacturer's flight test team, even before first flight. The final phase of

3776-450: The surface of the Earth. To reach orbit, the vehicle must travel vertically to leave the atmosphere and horizontally to prevent re-contacting the ground. The required velocity varies depending on the orbit but will always be extreme when compared to velocities encountered in normal life. Launch vehicles provide varying degrees of performance. For example, a satellite bound for Geostationary orbit (GEO) can either be directly inserted by

3840-399: The test of a single new system for an existing vehicle to the complete development and certification of a new aircraft, launch vehicle, or reusable spacecraft. Therefore, the duration of a particular flight test program can vary from a few weeks to years. There are typically two categories of flight test programs – commercial and military. Commercial flight testing is conducted to certify that

3904-492: The umbrella of an integrated project team (IPT) airspace. All launch vehicles , as well as a few reusable spacecraft, must necessarily be designed to deal with aerodynamic flight loads while moving through the atmosphere. Many launch vehicles are flight tested, with rather more extensive data collection and analysis on the early orbital launches of a particular launch vehicle design. Reusable spacecraft or reusable booster test programs are much more involved and typically follow

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3968-441: Was derived from testing of scale models and prototypes, either in wind tunnels or in the free atmosphere. More recently, advances in computing have enabled the use of computational fluid dynamics to simulate the behavior of the fluid, reducing time and expense spent on wind-tunnel testing. Those studying hydrodynamics or hydroacoustics often obtain degrees in aerospace engineering. Additionally, aerospace engineering addresses

4032-467: Was largely empirical, with some concepts and skills imported from other branches of engineering. Some key elements, like fluid dynamics , were understood by 18th-century scientists. In December 1903, the Wright Brothers performed the first sustained, controlled flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft, lasting 12 seconds. The 1910s saw the development of aeronautical engineering through

4096-596: Was used to place a 4-kilogram payload ( TRICOM-1R ) into orbit in 2018. Orbital spaceflight requires a satellite or spacecraft payload to be accelerated to very high velocity. In the vacuum of space, reaction forces must be provided by the ejection of mass, resulting in the rocket equation . The physics of spaceflight are such that rocket stages are typically required to achieve the desired orbit. Expendable launch vehicles are designed for one-time use, with boosters that usually separate from their payload and disintegrate during atmospheric reentry or on contact with

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