9/8/2016 2 min read
Hovakimyan's students, Javier Puig Navarro (far left) and Kasey Ackerman (next to Javier), joined the test pilots at Edwards Air Force Base.</p>
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Testing of MechSE Professor Naira Hovakimyan’s L1 adaptive flight control system on a manned VISTA F-16 aircraft is underway at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The F-16 round of advanced testing comes on the heels of Hovakimyan’s first-ever successful test of the technology on a manned Learjet aircraft in 2015. The VISTA F-16, or variable stability inflight simulator test aircraft, will cover 10 two-hour flights in a range of flight conditions and simulated failures,
Conducted by pilots at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, the L1 tests aim to verify the safety, predictability, reliability, and repeatability of the technology as a backup safety flight control system in an emergency.
Alongside Hovakimyan, her graduate students, Kasey Ackerman and Javier Puig-Navarro, have worked hard to modify the L1 system for the current phase of testing, which is expected to last about two weeks.
“The Learjet is a slower aircraft with inherently stable dynamics, while the F-16 is more maneuverable, with faster dynamics,” Puig-Navarro said. “The Learjet was definitely very challenging, and a necessary step on the way to the F-16. As a result, all the experience acquired from the Learjet tests was very important to move on to a faster and more dynamically challenging aircraft.”
Read the full story published by Aviation Week [subscription required].
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