The primary objective of the quasi-tailless flight demonstration is to demonstrate the feasibility of using thrust vectoring for directional control of an unstable aircraft. By using this low-cost, low-risk approach it is possible to get information about required thrust vector control power and deflection rates from an inflight experiment as well as insight in low-power thrust vectoring issues. The quasi-tailless flight demonstration series with the X-31 began in March 1994. The demonstration flight condition was Mach 1.2 at 37,500 feet. A series of basic flying quality maneuvers, doublets, bank to bank rolls, and wind-up-turns have been performed with a simulated 100% vertical tail reduction. Flight test and supporting simulation demonstrated that the quasi-tailless approach is effective in representing the reduced stability of tailless configurations. The flights also demonstrated that thrust vectoring could be effectively used to stabilize a directionally unstable configuration and provide control power for maneuver coordination.
X-31 Quasi-Tailless Flight Demonstration
1994
14 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
X-31 quasi-tailless flight demonstration
NTRS | 1994
|X-31 Quasi-Tailless Flight Experiment
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1995
|X-31A Quasi-Tailless Flight Test Results
NTIS | 1996
|The X-31A quasi-tailless flight test results
NTRS | 1996
|'Tailless' X-31 flight successful
Online Contents | 1994