Page 9 - Volume 15 Number 9

Honda Aircraft’s full-aircraft stress test fixture, with a sacrificial HondaJet captured in it.
obviously built for serious business. The 187,000-square-foot R&D building is bustling with activity, from coupon and subcomponent testing to full-airframe test rigs that, through 71 actuators, can sample 2,300 data points. Some severe climate testing is also carried out in-house. How severe? Try 185 degrees F at 85 percent humidity – worse than a hot day on the ramp in Houston.
The ASITF – Advanced Systems Integrated Test Facility – can test- fly a virtual HondaJet, including the avionics, flight controls, and both engines. At the ASITF, engineers can check behavior in all maneuvers, before a test pilot is asked to perform them. ASITF data also provide a baseline for expectations of test maneuvers – if a discrepancy is
noted, or if trends diverge between ASITF predictions and actual flight, the telemetry team, with an engineer monitoring his system during test, in real time, will pick it up, sometimes before the pilot can – and the mission is re-evaluated on the spot, saving time and making the program safer. Simulations can be run manually, or aging can be simulated through, say, automated control inputs. Masa Hervonen, the ASITF manager, said that, “automation can make a test that normally takes two weeks, take two days.” The ASITF department is so thorough, it had analyzed flight data from the POC aircraft and extrapolated to the conforming one a year before Hotel Juliet ever flew.
The Telemetry Center itself is populated with engineers, at least
NASHUA FLIGHT SIMULATOR
Customized & Personalized Recurrent Training Turbo-Prop & Piston Twins
King Air 90-100-200 Cheyenne I &II
Cessna 425
Piston Twins
Baron 55/58, 58P, 58TC Cessna 337, 335/340, 414, 421
Pip
r
u
er
Ch
l
a
ieft
“I will be back next year. The instructors at Nashua Flight Simulator were great. The training for my Cessna 414A was top notch.” Philip Davidson, Cessna 414A
“Nashua Flight Simulator has a great recurrent ground and flight King Air program at an unbeatable price.” Carl M. Ziegler, Raleigh, NC- C90
Syllabus Insurance Company Approved
866.505.0077 www.nashuaflightsimulator.com
t
ain
o
,Na
vajo
The telemetry room, where real-time data is relayed from the flight test airplane, is a busy place during a test mission. Engineers can spot divergent trends and relay information to the pilots or modify the test, as necessary. Live in-cockpit cameras show the pilots’ moves.
SEPTEMBER 2011
TWIN & TURBINE • 7