A testbed aircraft is an aeroplane, helicopter or other kind of aircraft intended for flight research or testing the aircraft concepts or on-board equipment. These could be specially designed or modified from serial production aircraft. [1] [2]
A testbed aircraft is an aeroplane, helicopter or other kind of aircraft intended for flight research or testing the aircraft concepts or on-board equipment. These could be specially designed or modified from serial production aircraft. [1] [2]
For example, in development of new aircraft engines, these are fitted to a testbed aircraft for flight testing, before certification. New instruments wiring and equipment, a fuel system and piping, structural alterations to the wings, and other adjustments are needed for this adaptation. [3] [4]
The Folland Fo.108 (nicknamed the "Folland Frightful") was a dedicated engine testbed aircraft in service from 1940. The aircraft had a mid-fuselage cabin for test instrumentation and observers. Twelve were built and provided to British aero-engine companies. A large number of aircraft-testbeds have been produced and tested since 1941 in the USSR and Russia by the Gromov Flight Research Institute. [2] [5]
AlliedSignal, [6] Honeywell Aerospace, [7] Pratt & Whitney, [8] and other aerospace companies used Boeing jetliners as flying testbed aircraft. [9]
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry.
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astronautics. Aerospace organizations research, design, manufacture, operate, or maintain both aircraft and spacecraft.
Folland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturing company which was active between 1937 and 1963.
A testbed is a platform for conducting rigorous, transparent, and replicable testing of scientific theories, computing tools, and new technologies.
Mikhail Mikhailovich Gromov was a Russian and Soviet military aviator, test pilot, and Hero of the Soviet Union.
The Irkut MC-21 is a single-aisle airliner, developed in Russia by the Yakovlev Design Bureau and produced by its parent Irkut, a branch of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), itself a 92%-owned subsidiary of Russia's state-owned aviation giant Rostec.
The Honeywell TPE331 is a turboprop engine. It was originally designed in the 1950s by Garrett AiResearch, and produced since 1999 by Honeywell Aerospace. The engine's power output ranges from 575 to 1,650 shaft horsepower.
The Boeing X-51 Waverider is an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight at Mach 5 and an altitude of 70,000 feet (21,000 m). The aircraft was designated X-51 in 2005. It completed its first powered hypersonic flight on 26 May 2010. After two unsuccessful test flights, the X-51 completed a flight of over six minutes and reached speeds of over Mach 5 for 210 seconds on 1 May 2013 for the longest duration powered hypersonic flight.
A hydrogen-powered aircraft is an aeroplane that uses hydrogen fuel as a power source. Hydrogen can either be burned in a jet engine or another kind of internal combustion engine, or can be used to power a fuel cell to generate electricity to power an electric propulsor. It cannot be stored in a traditional wet wing, and hydrogen tanks have to be housed in the fuselage or be supported by the wing.
The Garrett TFE731 is a family of geared turbofan engines commonly used on business jet aircraft. Garrett AiResearch originally designed and built the engine, which due to mergers was later produced by AlliedSignal and now Honeywell Aerospace.
The General Electric GE38 is a gas turbine developed by GE Aviation for turboprop and turboshaft applications. It powers the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion as the T408.
The Gromov Flight Research Institute or GFRI for short is an important Russian State Research Centre which operates an aircraft test base located in Zhukovsky, 40 km south-east of Moscow. The airfield is also known as Ramenskoye air base.
Honeywell Aerospace is a manufacturer of aircraft engines and avionics, as well as a producer of auxiliary power units (APUs) and other aviation products. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, it is a division of the Honeywell International conglomerate. It generates approximately $10 billion in annual revenue from a 50/50 mix of commercial and defense contracts.
The Pratt & Whitney/Allison 578-DX was an experimental aircraft engine, a hybrid between a turbofan and a turboprop known as a propfan. The engine was designed in the 1980s to power proposed propfan aircraft such as the Boeing 7J7 and the MD-91 and MD-92 derivatives of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80. As of 2019, it is still one of only four different contra-rotating propfan engines to have flown in service or in flight testing.
The Boeing Phantom Eye was a high altitude, long endurance (HALE) liquid hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Boeing Phantom Works. The aircraft was Boeing's proposal to meet the demand from the US military for unmanned drones designed to provide advanced intelligence and reconnaissance work, driven by the combat conditions in Afghanistan in particular. In August 2016, the Phantom Eye demonstrator was disassembled for display at the Air Force Flight Test Museum.
The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was issued on June 30, 1960, and it entered service with United Airlines on July 5, 1960. A total of 154 Boeing 720s and 720Bs were built until 1967. As a derivative, the 720 had low development costs, allowing profitability despite few sales.
Arseny Dmitrievich Mironov was a Russian scientist, aerospace engineer, and aviator. He was one of the oldest researchers in aircraft aerodynamics and flight testing, a Gromov Flight Research Institute (GFRI) director from 1981 to 1985, a recipient of the Stalin Prize in 1948 and the USSR State Prize in 1976, and an honorary citizen of Zhukovsky.
Max Taitz was a scientist, an engineer, and one of the founders of Gromov Flight Research Institute (1941). He was a doctor of engineering, a professor, and a recipient of the Stalin Prize, and the honorary title of Honoured Scientist of the RSFSR (1961).
Pavel Nikolaevich Vlasov is a Russian test pilot, engineer, one of the Gromov Flight Research Institute directors (2010–2017), chief of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (2017–2021) and Hero of the Russian Federation.
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