Page 10 - Aerospace Valley Hybrid Air Show Program - October 5-10, 2020.....

EDWARDS, from 8
the decade also saw the development And moving forward? Preparations flight have occurred at this base than
of sophisticated new facilities at Ed- are underway at Edwards for the future anywhere else in the world. The de-
wards that met the challenges of the test flights of the B-21 Raider bomber mands of the Global War on Terror-
new technologies. — the Air Force’s newest bomber, and ism and the ever-accelerating pace of
The Integration Facility for Avionic the T-7A Red Hawk — the Air Force’s technological change over the past
Systems Test, the Benefield Anechoic newest flight training aircraft that will half-century have been daunting, but
Facility and the Test and Evaluation, replace the 58-year-old fleet of T-38C the Edwards flight test community
Modeling and Simulation Facility — Talons. repeatedly demonstrates its ability to
all part of the Avionics Test and In- adapt to these changes and to master
tegration Complex — permitted the Where we stand today the many challenges they impose.
testing and integration of new and Flight testing at Edwards has come a The turbojet revolution, the space
complex software-intensive systems long way since the first olive-drab XP- revolution, the systems revolution and
on the ground before they were taken 59A lifted off from the lakebed almost now the unmanned aircraft systems
into the air. 80 years ago. Over the years, the U.S. revolution have imposed seemingly in-
Spectacular events have become Air Force and the world of aerospace surmountable obstacles. Each barrier,
almost commonplace at Edwards over April 14, 1981: The Space Shuttle Columbia landed on Rogers Dry Lake have continued to meet the future in however, has been overcome through a
the years, but they have always repre- following its first orbital flight mission, piloted by astronauts John Young and the clear blue skies above the base. combination of technical aptitude, dar-
sented only a small part of the Flight Robert Crippen (U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School Class 65A). An estimated Every single aircraft to enter the Air ing ingenuity and skillful management.
Test Center’s workload. The primary 300,000 people watched the event from a special viewing site on the east shore. Force’s inventory — and a great many Indeed, the Air Force Test Center’s
job has always been to assure that This marked the first flight of NASA’s Space Transportation System (STS-1), that failed to do so — has been put
American aircrews go into combat and the first time that an orbital vehicle had left the earth under rocket power through its paces at Edwards. Some unique blend of natural, technical and
with the most effective and reliable and returned on the wings of an aircraft. human resources has transformed it
operational aircraft in the world. Navy and Army aircraft have been into something much more than a ben-
The capabilities of existing aircraft ed third-generation stealth technology, X-24, X-33, X-34 and X-38, a series tested there as well. efit to the Air Force: it is an irreplace-
such as the F-15 and F-16 have been following the SR-71 and F-117. of new lifting bodies, technology dem- Arguably, more major milestones in able national asset.
continually refined and expanded, even The new bomber, by far the most so- onstrators and half-scale models that
as totally new aircraft and systems in- phisticated and complex airplane ever might make space flight, research and
corporating radical new technologies built, was soon followed in the early development safer and more economi-
are developed for future operational 90s by the arrival of the YF-22A and cal, were tested at Edwards by NASA
use. The YF-16 was in a fly-off com- the YF-23A, both of which would soon during the decade.
pletion with the YF-17, which became give a new definition to the term “air
the basis for the U.S. Navy’s F-18 Hor- superiority.” The new millennium brought new
net. The two prototype fighters were the projects with worldwide impact. The
first airplanes to blend stealth with X-35A and X-32A, competing models
The dual-role F-15E, for example, agility and high-speed, supersonic for the Joint Strike Fighter program,
was developed in the 1980s and went cruise capability. The YF-22A was made their first flights in September
on to demonstrate truly remarkable selected to become the Air Force’s and October 2000. The X-35A won
combat effectiveness in the Persian new advanced tactical fighter after a the competition in 2001 and a devel-
Gulf conflict of the early 1990s. The brief demonstration and validation oped, armed version went on to enter
Low Altitude Navigation and Target- risk reduction flight test program. Now production in the early 21st century as
ing Infrared for Night, or LANTIRN, named the Raptor, the F-22A contin- the F-35 Lightning II. Various configu-
system revolutionized air-to-ground ues to undergo test and evaluation at rations of the JSF have been developed
combat operations during the same Edwards. for America’s flying armed services
conflict by denying our adversary the A new group of research projects and for foreign air forces as well.
once-comforting sanctuary of night. came to Edwards in the 1990s. Global Today flight testing is ongoing on
The late 1980s also witnessed the Hawk, an unmanned aerial vehicle upgrades to aircraft currently in the Air
arrival of the first giant flying wing to that has been used extensively in Af- Force inventory, as well as the newest
soar over the base in nearly 40 years. ghanistan as well as Iraq, made its first tanker — the KC-46 Pegasus. In recent Sept. 21, 1964: North American Rockwell’s XB-70 Valkyrie experimental aircraft
The thin silhouette, compound curves flight at Edwards in February 1998 years, Edwards has been instrumental made its first flight from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., to Edwards Air
and other low-observable characteris- and has gone on to fill a critical role in proving the in-flight refueling capa- Force Base. It was flown by North American test pilot Alvin S. White and Col.
tics of the B-2 Spirit bomber represent- in America’s war on terrorism. The bility of the Pegasus, with the aircraft Joseph F. Cotton. Originally conceived as a strategic bomber with the ability
refueling many different airframes in to cruise at Mach 3 speeds, the two XB-70s completed were used as joint Air
the skies over Southern California. Force/NASA high-speed research vehicles only.

Oct. 24, 2000: The X-35A made its first flight and tested air vehicle performance
and handling characteristics. After 28 test flights, the aircraft was converted to
the X-35B, which added the shaft-drive lift fan, aft swivel nozzle, and roll posts.
On July 20, 2001, to demonstrate the X-35’s STOVL capability, the X-35B took
off in less than 500 feet, went supersonic, and landed vertically. The X-35C
first flew on 16 December 2000 and tested simulated carrier recovery and
power approach. In the fly-off between the X-32 and the X-35, the latter was
judged to be the winner. As a result, a contract for System Development and
Demonstration of the F-35 was awarded, on Oct. 26, 2001, to Lockheed Martin. The B-21 Raider, currently being built by Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, Calif., will be flight tested at Edwards Air
Force Base.

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