Page 3 - Aerotech News and Review, March 4, 2022

Armstrong helping with complex F/A-18E tests

by Jay Levine and Elena Johnson installed on the aircraft will measure
NASA Armstrong the response.”
The amount of load applied to the
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research aircraft starts low and then increases
Center’s Flight Loads Laboratory in with subsequent test cases.
Edwards, Calif., is working on its most “The load cases for this test were
complex loads calibration tests on an designed to reach a maximum of ap-
F/A-18E Super Hornet. proximately 60 percent of the airframe
The aircraft is from the Naval Air allowable limit load,” she explained.
Systems Command (NAVAIR) in “There are 11 horizontal tail load cas-
Patuxent River, Md. es, 62 wing load cases, and 14 vertical
NAVAIR retired its previous loads tail load cases resulting in a total of 87
test aircraft and NASA Armstrong staff test cases.”
are assisting to prepare the new aircraft As each phase is completed, equa-
for its role to help safely manage in tions are formulated from the test re-
flight maneuvers and determine how sults.
the F/A-18E fleet will perform if pro- “Equations are used to evaluate real
posed upgrades are incorporated. time loads during test flights and sim-
Larry Hudson, NASA Armstrong ulations,” she explained. “Those real
Flight Load Laboratory chief test en- time loads consist of aerodynamic and
gineer, explained a few elements of inertia loads, or forces that the aircraft
the work. structure experiences during flight.”
“The number of load control chan- The laboratory is not unfamiliar
nels used at one time is nearly 40% with load calibration programs and
more than the next largest test ever brings that experience to this work.
performed in the lab,” Hudson said. For example, there was an important
“Testing involves loading three areas lesson learned from the F/A-18 Active
of the aircraft: wings, vertical tails, Aeroelastic Wing Loads Calibration
and horizontal tails. We typically have Test in 2001 that involved reduction
done loads calibration tests on wings.” in the test load limit.
Testing on the horizontal tails “The biggest lesson learned was the NASA photograph by Joshua Fisher
wrapped up in October. The second fact that you do not have to load test A top view shows the wing loading test configuration of a F/A-18E from the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
phase began in December 2021 on the an aircraft wing beyond 60 percent of in Patuxent River, Md.. The aircraft is in NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Flight Loads Laboratory in
wings and is set to continue through the design limit load to obtain accurate Edwards, Calif., for the center’s biggest load calibrations tests. This testing is needed before the aircraft can serve
March. A third phase is estimated to loads equations,” Hudson explained. as a test vehicle for determining if it can safely manage maneuvers and proposed upgrades.
start in May to test the aircraft’s two “Being able to test to a lower load
vertical tails. limit reduces the risk of damaging the
Testing includes the operation of aircraft during testing.” The aircraft was configured for test hydraulic actuator loads. Before the load trains, or the columns of hardware
84 hydraulic actuators during the per- One of the biggest challenges early by removing parts not needed for the F/A-18E was brought into the labora- through which load travels, and whiffle
formance of 87 load cases, said Kim on for this project was bonding the calibration and installing test-specific tory and attached to the floor tracks trees.
Tucker, NASA Armstrong F/A-18E 180 load pads to the wings and verti- hardware where necessary, Tucker with restraining hardware, center staff The overall effort is expected to be
test project manager. cal tails. It provided an opportunity for said. also worked on load pad bonding onto complete by summer 2022, when test-
That includes the simultaneous op- NASA Armstrong staff to innovate, as Aircraft wing and tail pad bonding the aircraft. specific hardware will be removed,
eration of 56 actuators during the load- they frequently do during a project. surfaces were prepared by removing In addition, work was completed on and the aircraft will be configured for
ing tests on the wings to determine the “We had to develop a well thought the radar absorbent material and paint the design, analysis, and fabrication flight and returned to NAVAIR. When
structure’s response. out vacuum bonding process for both coatings and applying a fresh layer of of many hardware pieces for the test
“For each test case, hydraulic ac- horizontal and vertical surfaces, which primer to promote load-pad adhesion. setup. The hardware pieces included it returns, the work NASA Armstrong
tuators will push and/or pull on the required doing it right the first time,” NASA Armstrong completed set up fixtures for the wing test, horizontal staff assisted with will enhance safety
aircraft surface to put it into tension he added. of all the load pads and bonding and spindle test, and vertical tail test, as for the F/A-18E fleet by understanding
or compression with a known amount NAVAIR’s F/A-18E arrived at assembled test structures called whiffle well as aircraft restraining hardware, the implications of proposed upgrades
of force,” Tucker said. “Strain gages NASA Armstrong in October 2020. trees needed to distribute prescribed and hundreds of components for the and in flight maneuvers.

F-35 Dual Capable Aircraft Team wins national award

by Giancarlo Casem Secretary of Defense’s promise to deliver F-35A nuclear capabil- development. The award is named after Col. Franklin C. Wolfe
Edwards AFB, Calif. ity to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by January 2024, who served as assistant chief and then chief of the Armament
Campbell said. Laboratory of the Army Air Forces Materiel Command, the pre-
Representatives from the F-35 Integrated Test Force’s Dual “America and her Allies are depending on this integration of decessor to Air Force Materiel Command, from 1939 to 1944.
Aircraft Capable Team received the prestigious Col. Franklin C. tactical nuclear weapons with stealthy fifth-generation fighter air- This year’s win is the second Wolfe award in the F-35’s history.
Wolfe Weapons Systems Award during presentation ceremony at craft to deter adversaries from initiating violent conflict,” Camp- In 2018, F-35C Joint Strike Fighter Wing out of Naval Air Sta-
the Joint Program Office headquarters in Arlington, Va., Feb. 16, bell explained. “The pairing gives combatant commanders, and tion Lemoore, Calif., received the F-35 enterprise’s first Wolfe
2022. ultimately our Commander in Chief, far greater flexibility in the Systems Award. The F-35’s second award is a significant step in
Order of Daedalians Chairman of the Board Lt. Gen. (Ret.) application of military power.” the Lightning II’s relatively short lifespan so far.
Nicholas B. Kehoe presented the award along with Lt. Gen. Eric The DCA Program Manager, Lt. Col. Jason Shirley attributed “The F-35 is maturing into an incredibly capable and versatile
Fick, F35 Joint Program Executive Officer. Chief of Staff of the the team’s success to “alignment.” weapons system. It has come a long way since I was a line F-35
Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. selected the DCA team “Without teamwork, we would have never been able to accel- test pilot in 2017 during the jet’s System Development and Dem-
for their work in completing developmental testing of the F-35A erate our schedule and overcome the COVID challenges that we onstration (SDD) phase,” Campbell said. “All three variants of
to pair with the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb. faced as a team,” Shirley said. “Without having alignment with
“I am immensely proud of the ITF for winning this recognition, the nuclear stakeholders, we would have never been able to work the aircraft, which are all tested at the Edwards ITF, now bring
but I am not at all surprised,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Campbell, together as a collective team to execute our accelerated develop- unprecedented lethality and promise superior survivability in our
F-35 ITF Director and 461st Flight Test Squadron Commander. mental flight test campaign.” toughest air missions: the destruction of enemy air defense, defen-
“The Secretary of Defense prioritized the transformation of the The Order of the Daedalians is a professional order of American sive and offensive counter-air, and penetrating strike.”
F-35A into a ‘dual-capable aircraft,’ such that it can deliver the pilots initially organized in 1934 by a group of American World Following the developmental phase, the DCA team will con-
B61 tactical nuclear weapon, at the top of his strategic needs.” War I pilots. Today, the Order advocates for American air and tinue to further develop the F-35’s nuclear capabilities with an
The F-35 ITF executed nine ground and 19 flight tests during space power, flight safety and an esprit de corps in military air overall goal of nuclear certification in January 2024, while the
the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, collecting 492 forces. The Order’s philanthropic arm, the Daedalian Foundation, rest of the F-35 ITF at Edwards AFB continues to advance and
critical nuclear certification test points. The ITF’s work during this awards scholarships for young men and women with a desire to enhance the Lightning II.
time culminated a three-year, 87-flight, 198-flight-hour develop- pursue a military aviation career. “I project that the F-35 will grow into an even more capable
mental test campaign one year ahead of schedule, Campbell added. The Wolfe Weapons System Award is presented to individuals system thanks to new software, sensors, and weapons over the rest
The successful execution of this test program reinforced the or organizations who have achieved exceptional weapons system of this decade,” Campbell said.

March 4, 2022 Aerotech News and Review 3
www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview