"...This autumn will see a futher two Flight Test Group organised lectures, the first of which taking place on September 19th, ‘Revolutionising STOVL Flight Control for the Joint Strike Fighter‘, will describe the flight tests conducted on the Harrier, how and why the evaluation was set up as it was, and the results achieved...."
Flight Test activity at the Society | Events | The Royal Aeronautical Society
Flight Test Group Lecture
REVOLUTIONISING STOVL FLIGHT CONTROL FOR THE JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER
JUSTIN PAINES, CHIEF FLYING INSTRUCTOR - FIXED WING, EMPIRE TEST PILOTS’ SCHOOL
LONDON / 19 SEPTEMBER 2013
"The Harrier was one of the most iconic aircraft in RAF and RN service, but it’s unique capabilities came at a price in the complexity of the piloting task. As a result, a number of research programmes in the US and UK sought to simplify STOVL flight control for the next generation of STOVL aircraft.
The debate was complicated by the US research effort taking a strong different line to the UK effort, which was pioneered at RAE Bedford, and the resulting transatlantic impasse threatened to leave the Joint Strike Fighter programme with no clear direction on how to improve the Harrier’s complex piloting task. As a result, the UK research effort took a step back, implementing a variety of concepts for international evaluation by a mixed team of Harrier and non-Harrier experienced pilots, using the UK’s Vectored-thrust Aircraft Advanced Control (VAAC) Harrier.
The challenges in conducting the flight test were matched only by the challenges of what continued to be a heated and emotional debate between the research teams. Pilot opinion was deeply divided and based strongly on prior experience and apriori opinion. A seemingly endlessly controversial topic that could only be solved by hard data, led ultimately to a decision to adopt the preferred UK strategy.
This lecture will describe the flight test conducted, how and why the evaluation was set up as it was, and the results achieved. But it will also chronicle one of the most controversial and revolutionary decisions in flight control history. With the benefit of hindsight, the F-35 well into flight test and many pilots now operating in STOVL mode, the lecture will also look at the question “Were we right”?
Justin Paines entered the RAF in January 1988, joining the Harrier force in 1990. After a long tour on No 1 (Fighter) Squadron, including operational duties over northern Iraq, he completed Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, flying all the main US fighter types and several historic aircraft over that year. He joined Boscombe Down as a Test Pilot on the experimental (VAAC) Harrier programme and also flew test programmes in Harrier GR7 and T-10, Hawk and Tucano aircraft. He returned to the US to join the Joint Strike Fighter programme and flew the X35 A, B and C experimental aircraft.
After a tour as an Instructor on ETPS, he left the RAF and joined QinetiQ, once again flying the VAAC Harrier programme, developing advanced control concepts for the F-35B STOLV aircraft, and innovative landing technologies for Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
Justin rejoined ETPS in 2009, where he now serves as Chief Flying Instructor (Fixed Wing)."
http://aerosociety.com/Assets/Docs/E...st_lecture.pdf (100Kb)