Flight testing is the aerospace engineering method of evaluating an aircraft's or spacecraft's actual performance, handling and systems by flying it, rather than relying only on ground simulation or wind tunnel data, typically progressing from cautious initial test flights through an expanding envelope of speed, altitude and maneuvers. Specially instrumented test aircraft, flown by trained test pilots and monitored by engineers on the ground, record data used to verify that the vehicle meets its design requirements and to certify it as airworthy before it enters regular service. Every new aircraft type undergoes a formal flight test program before civil or military certification.
Facts
Core PrincipleIn-flight evaluation of the behaviour of an aircraft or launch vehicle 1 FAQs
How is a flight test program organized and how many test points does it involve?
Three phases: preparation; execution; and analysis and reporting. A certification program has about 10 thousand test points.
Flight testing is carefully planned in three phases: preparation, execution, and analysis and reporting. In preparation, flight test engineers define what must be tested and write a test plan of specific maneuvers or systems to exercise, and each single test is called a test point. A full certification or qualification program for a new aircraft consists of approximately 10,000 test points. Because the testing of a new aircraft carries unknowns about its handling and lacks established operating procedures, the planning is done before the vehicle ever flies.
Connections
Sources
1. Flight test, Wikipedia
Introduction
Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops technologies and equipment required for in-flight evaluation of behaviour of an aircraft or launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft at the atmospheric phase of flight.
In Group: Interface Definition and Verification Testing, Intro
Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops technologies and equipment required for in-flight evaluation of behaviour of an aircraft or launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft at the atmospheric phase of flight.
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