AeroTest America 2008 Technical Tours Program

AeroTest America 2008 will include a comprehensive program of technical tours – taking place both immediately before the show (17 Nov) & throughout the show (18, 19, 20 Nov), combining to produce a 4 day intensive program:
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In operation in Texas since 1958, the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (LMMFC) High Speed Wind Tunnel (HSWT) facility provides a variety of high-speed tests for the commercial aircraft industry, educational institutions, military and other government agencies requiring high speed wind tunnel test conditions. The HSWT is a blowdown-to-atmosphere, transonic-supersonic, adjustable-Mach-number facility, with a Mach number range of 0.3 to 4.8. The facility can accommodate highly specialized high-speed tests, such aerodynamic force measurements, flutter, store drop trajectories, inlet performance evaluation, jet engine base-flow simulation and dynamic stability.

The HSWT facility Test Systems Design Group conducts transonic and supersonic testing, as well as consultations on force measurement, balances and transducer calibrations; strain gage installations; and design and fabrication of such critical aerospace testing components as six-component internal strain gage force balances; special purpose balances; complete modeling, components, and modifications; stings and support equipment; and thrust and test stand evaluation, among others. The HSWT facility Aerodynamic Support Services team provides design definitions for testing services, including surface sizing analysis, drag predictions, model design support, and empirical and analytical prediction, planning and test support, as well as post-test data analysis, including results presentation; aerodynamic database creation; and support of 3- and 6-DOF simulations. (Please note, due to US Department of Homeland Security regulations, this tour is presently available to US citizens only).

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Founded in 1935 as Bell Aircraft Corporation, Bell Helicopter (Bell), a Textron, Inc., Company, is a global industry leader in the production of commercial and military, manned and unmanned vertical lift aircraft, as well as the pioneer of the revolutionary tilt rotor aircraft. These unique aircraft lift like a helicopter, then fly like an airplane, at twice the speed, three times the payload and five times the range of a traditional helicopter. Since its founding, Bell has delivered more than 35,000 aircraft around the world, and was the industry’s first manufacturer to obtain certification for the commercial helicopter. Today, Bell remains an industry pace-setter in expanding the scope of vertical lift technology. The Bell Helicopter XworX facility provides basic research through concept development, rapid prototyping and testing of these specialty aircraft.

A major tour highlight will be a sneak-peek at the new BA609 flight test tilt-rotor aircraft, at the very location where the inaugural test flight of the world's first civilian tiltrotor took place in March 2003. Designed for low life-cycle maintenance and maximum operational flexibility, this aircraft offers an operator the benefits of cost-effective, point-to-point transportation, at cruise speeds of up to 275 knots and at ranges of up to 750 nautical miles. Additionally, BA609 flight test aircraft have now flown to all corners of the flight envelope, at speeds of up to 304 KTAS in full airplane mode, as well as rearward and sideward flight in 35 kt. in helicopter mode. Pilots are also probing handling qualities at altitudes of up to 25,000 ft. The BA609 is on track to achieve both FAA and European certifications in 2010, with initial customer deliveries planned for 2011.

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