Questions tagged [flight-testing]
Flight testing refers to those activities on an aircraft for the purpose of gathering scientific or engineering data or demonstrating compliance with airworthiness regulations.
86
questions
1
vote
1
answer
196
views
Does Boeing and Airbus perform extensive safety inspections and/or stress tests on each other's aircrafts? [duplicate]
I have been wondering if it has been a common practice within the commercial airline industry for an aircraft manufacturer to purchase a brand new aircraft model built by their competitor and to then ...
- 77
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why do Airbus A220s manufactured in Mobile, AL have Canadian test registrations?
I noticed that there are occasionally test flights by Airbus A220 aircraft in and out of the Airbus production site at Mobile, Alabama (KMOB). Some of these aircraft use what are presumably test ...
- 1,097
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
XFLR5 vs AVL vs DATCOM vs OpenVSP
I am working on a model airplane and am coputing some of the data using software.
I have already computed the general stuff using XFLR5 and AVL. My question is, is there any point for me to do the ...
- 133
2
votes
2
answers
292
views
How to accurately test glide ratio in given configuration?
How can glide ratio be accurately measured with typical GA airplane instruments in real conditions?
What, if any, specialty instruments are used for professional glide ratio testing (such as a ...
- 2,604
3
votes
2
answers
349
views
What were the forces imparted by the chicken gun?
How hard does the chicken gun hit? Putting aside the apocryphal story of the British engineers who forget to defrost the chicken before firing it, what is the peak force the average chicken imparts?
(...
- 5,182
2
votes
2
answers
371
views
Modern method to verify speed of a homebuilt aircraft
Summary: In 2001, airspeed of homebuilt aircraft was calculated by flying in a ⊔-shape and using trigonometry to subtract wind effects. Now that we have portable computers, is there a more modern ...
- 1,579
4
votes
1
answer
362
views
Calculating airspeed by flying in a U shape: Horseshoe Heading Technique
I saw some equation in a log recently and I believe it went something as follows:
$v_1$ : flying North, $\ \ v_2$ : flying West, $\ \ v_3$ : flying South.
$$
\text{TAS} = \frac 1 2 \sqrt{v_1^2+v_2^2+...
- 1,579
2
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Calendar months "preceding month" vs "before date"?
What is the difference between 14 CFR 61.39(a)(6)(i) which states, "Has received and logged training time within 2 calendar months preceding the month of the application in preparation for the ...
- 21
4
votes
1
answer
507
views
Is it legal to hire a test pilot to conduct the first flight of a homebuilt ultralight in the United States?
Is it legal in the United States to hire a test pilot to conduct the first flight(s) of a homebuilt ultralight? This seems like a bit of a grey area- FAR 103.1(b) states that an ultralight aircraft is ...
- 2,494
1
vote
1
answer
230
views
Were there civilian female test pilots in the 60's?
In 1962, women couldn't become astronauts because NASA had a requirement that astronauts be experimental jet test pilots. In the 60's, were there any civilian test pilots that tested planes that weren'...
- 2,456
4
votes
1
answer
532
views
How many thousands of flight hours does it take to certify a jetliner?
How much time in flight hours does it take for a civilian aircraft (the Airbus A350-1000 for example) to get its certification from say either FAA or EASA?
To make the question more practical, I used ...
- 949
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is that little black thing tied to the vertical stabilizer? [duplicate]
I have seen this on all Boeing test planes, does this provide information on the planes performance?
- 6,484
11
votes
3
answers
474
views
Could the Mars helicopter Ingenuity have been test-flown outdoors at JPL just for the heck of it? (not that they would)
The Ingenuity helicopter that has flown on Mars is designed for roughly 0.01 bar pressure and a colder atmosphere made of mostly CO2. See links (including video) in this answer to What JPL laboratory ...
- 6,028
-1
votes
1
answer
220
views
What does this logo on prototype aircrafts or cars for test mean? [duplicate]
Sometimes on prototype cars or aircrafts we see a logo just like BMW logo. e.g.
Why? What does it mean? What is it for?
- 3,329
0
votes
0
answers
357
views
Can we submit and sign the 8710 in IACRA after the check ride?
I work at a 142 school and was told we can submit and esign the 8710 after the check ride. The digital esignature shows a date time stamp 9-hours after the beginning of the oral and flight exam. I ...
