F-35C Getting Jiggy With It!
F-35C Drop Test
"Uploaded by
LockheedMartinVideos on Apr 9, 2010
Lockheed Martin's F-35C Lightning II carrier variant ground-test article, CG-1, undergoes drop testing at Vought Aircraft in Dallas one of 53 tests planned for CG-1 at Vought. On March 27, CG-1, was dropped
95 inches at 20 feet per second, with an 8.8-degree pitch, 2-degree roll, and 133-knot wheel speed, simulating a carrier-deck landing. During the testing, 500 sensors are monitored, with 2,500 points collected per second. The F-35C will be the Navy's first stealth fighter. In addition to ground testing, flight test continues, with more than 170 test flights logged. During the first quarter of 2010, the three F-35B test aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., outperformed flight test requirements, completing 33 flights compared to the 29 required. Twenty-eight of the flights took place at Patuxent River, with the remaining five conducted from Lockheed Martins Fort Worth plant. (Photo and Video courtesy of Vought Aircraft)"
I'm guessing the F-35B (six foot now increased to 7 foot per/sec?) RoD was deemed too gentle for drop testing? I could be rite or I could be rong...
_____________
For 'ICBM' a good ole story for your reference:
Single Minded
british aerospace | lockheed martin | 1999 | 2360 | Flight Archive
__________
Some more reading bumpf:
Vertical Validation by GUY NORRIS | LOS ANGELES Aviation Week & Space Technology; October 3, 2011; pages 31-32
"...Speaking at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium in Anaheim, Calif., last month, Wilson said results vindicate the simple design concept of the “unified” Stovl control mode. The mode is activated by the push of a “decelerate-to-hover” button in which the throttle commands acceleration and deceleration in the hover. In this mode, the stick commands upward/ downward vertical velocity with a backward-forward motion, while in the hover mode sideways movement of the stick commands bank angle. If released, it returns the aircraft to wings level. Pedals command yaw rate in the hover.
The
fastest descent rate, as controlled by pushing the stick forward,
is set at 7 fps., though the testing has included rates as low as 4 fps. and high as 12 fps.
Testing has also focused on the translational rate command (TRC) mode, which in the hover allows the pilot to make small positional corrections and which brings the aircraft to a standstill if the pilot releases the controls. “It is used to capture the current longitudinal groundspeed and is important for precise positioning in shipboard operations,” says Wilson...."