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X-31 Flying Again at Pax River
Story Number: NNS020522-16
Release Date: 5/22/2002 3:32:00 PM
By James Darcy, Naval Air Station Patuxent River Public Affairs
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (NNS) -– An experimental aircraft used by the Navy to test new flight technologies flew back in the air May 17, after a year of reconfiguration and ground testing to upgrade its avionics.
The X-31 is equipped with three paddle-like tail vanes that, when activated, redirect the engine’s exhaust plume in response to pilot input. This "thrust vectoring" can provide control and lift at dramatically low speeds and high angles.
The X-31 has been around since 1990, when it was used for the Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability (EFM) program, which explored air combat applications for thrust vectoring. That program was discontinued in 1995, the same year the X-31 made its last flight, at the Paris Air show. The aircraft was later shipped to Pax River in April 2000, where it was largely rebuilt for the Vector program.
The Navy’s ultimate goal for Vector is to prove that thrust vectoring can be used for extremely short takeoff and landing (ESTOL). Vector is a joint venture between the Navy, Germany’s defense procurement agency (BWB), Boeing Aerospace and European Aeronautic, Defence and Space (EADS).
The May 17 mission was a functional check flight to ensure that the aircraft would perform as expected with its numerous upgrades and modifications. These include new flight control software, an auto-throttle system, a belly-mounted video camera and components of inertial navigation and global positioning systems. These upgrades will ultimately enable the aircraft to perform thrust-vectored, high precision ESTOL landings at reduced speeds and high angles of attack.
The X-31 also now carries EADS’ Flush Air Data System (FADS), a nose-mounted sensor package accurate at all angles of attack.
"The airplane flew nicely and as predicted," said German Naval Reserve Cmdr. Rüdiger "Rudy" Knopfel, who piloted the flight. "I’m very confident for the future of the program."
Before the end of the summer, the X-31 will fly ESTOL approaches to a virtual runway in the sky, to ensure that the INS/GPS system accurately guides the aircraft with the centimeter accuracy required for ESTOL landings. The Vector program will culminate in ESTOL runway landings.
In the carrier landing environment to which the ESTOL technology might someday transition, a small reduction in landing speed could have significant implications for bring-back weight, aircraft service life, and wind-over-deck requirements for the carrier. Thrust-vectored ESTOL may also have applications for unmanned aerial vehicles.
It made its first flight for Vector in February 2001. After two months of basic flight testing, the aircraft began a year of upgrading and ground testing to ready it for the current flight test period, in which it will perform ESTOL landings to a "virtual runway" at 5,000 feet.
For more information about Naval Air Station Patuxent River, go to http://nas.nawcad.navy.mil.
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