Volume 5, Number 4     July/August 1997

  Aerospace Technology Development

First Flight for Tailless Aircraft

HAT COULD BE FIGHTER AIRCRAFT OF THE future had an "outstanding" first test-flight.

The X-36, a NASA/McDonnell Douglas remotely piloted, tailless aircraft, took off from Dryden Flight Research Center and flew for five minutes at an altitude of approximately 4,900 feet. More test flights are scheduled.

"We thought the flight was outstanding. We are beginning to show what the fighter aircraft of the future will look like," said X-36 Program Manager Rod Bailey. When we saw this airplane lift off, we saw the shape of airplanes to come."

Ames Research Center leads the X-36 program and is responsible for continued development of necessary critical technologies for future tailless, stealthy fighter aircraft. Lack of vertical tails greatly enhances the airplane's stealthy characteristics and holds promise for greater agility than available in existing military fighter aircraft.

McDonnell Douglas has built two 28-percent-scale X-36s, remotely piloted jets that fly without traditional vertical and horizontal aircraft tails. Each aircraft measures 18 feet long, three feet high, has a 10-foot wing span, weighs 1,250 pounds and is powered by a Williams Research F112 turbofan engine with 700 pounds of thrust.

A pilot in a ground station cockpit with a heads-up display remotely controls the X-36. The pilot-in-the-loop approach eliminates need for expensive and complex autonomous flight control systems. The design reduces aircraft weight and drag and explores new flight control technologies. The aircraft use split ailerons to provide yaw control and normal raising and lowering for roll control and incorporates a thrust vectoring system.

"The flight control system functioned flawlessly and we look forward to subsequent flights to demonstrate the full range of maneuverability of the aircraft," said X-36 Project Manager Mark Sumich.

"We knew within five to ten seconds into the flight that we had a good flying airplane," said McDonnell Douglas X-36 Program Manager Gary Jennings. "Flying in a simulator is one thing, but until you actually fly the airplane, you do not really know how it will handle. We found out that it handled extremely well."

The $20 million X-36 project is funded by a roughly 50/50 cost-sharing arrangement between NASA and McDonnell Douglas.

"The first flight went very well. It was just textbook perfect," said X-36 Project Pilot Larry Walker. "It was a nice takeoff and the handling was great. I knew instantly that it was a nice flying airplane. I see no obstacles in the future for this type of technology."

For more information, contact Fred Brown at Dryden Flight Research Center.
Call 805/258-3449 E-mail: fred.brown@dfrc.nasa.gov

Please mention you read about it in Innovation.