During this time of shrinking
defense dollars, all of the armed forces
are trying to get more for each dollar
spent. In keeping with this philosophy
and in order to enhance the safety and
data obtained in the flight tests of a new
aircraft design, the US Navy, Bihrle
Applied Research, and the aerospace
engineering program at NC State have
formed a team to support the flight test
program of the F/A-18E/F with the
flight testing of a 17.5% scale, non-
inertially scaled remotely piloted
vehicle (RPV) of this aircraft. Bihrle
Applied Research and NC State
designed and fabricated the airframe. 
NC State is responsible for installation
of the engines and actuators, the design
and installation of the avionics and
control laws, ground and flight testing,
and research with the data obtained.
Bihrle Applied Research and the
Manned Flight Simulator, Naval Air
Warfare Center are responsible for
application of standard parameter
estimation techniques to update the F/
A-18E/F aerodynamic database. These
are the same techniques that are applied
to data obtained from flight tests of the full-scale aircraft. The Manned Flight
Simulator applies the updated database
to the full-scale aircraft simulation,
conducts handling quality examinations,
applies the knowledge learned to the
full-scale flight test program, and
provides overall program coordination.
The Manned Flight Simulator also
provides simulation support and pilot
training for this program.
The 17.5% scale RPV of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has an all composite airframe. The RPV is powered by two SWB turbojet engines supplying a total of 80 1bf of thrust and burning 2.3 gallons of Jet-A fuel during a flight. The aircraft is over 10 feet in length, with a 7.6 foot wingspan and weight of 140 1bf. The plane is flown by radio control by a pilot standing on the edge of the runway.
The RPV is currently in an initial series of shakedown flights. During this flight series the avionics is a subset of the full avionics array that will be installed later. During the shakedown series of flights, the avionics are a multiple computer network, seven transducers directed at the short period dynamics of the RPV, engine speed and partial control of the stabilator.
The full avionics array obtains the
data for application of the parameter
estimation techniques. This array is
also a multiple computer network
which measures fifty channels of
dynamical data and controls all of the
flight control surfaces. The airborne
computer network is connected to a
computer network on the ground via
telemetry, for storage and real time
display of the aircraft dynamics. A
real time, out-of-the-cockpit video is
transmitted to the ground. The video
and flight data are provided to a
simulator cockpit on the ground for
the pilot to fly the RPV from the
remote cockpit. The simulator
computer takes the pilot's stick
commands and transmits these to the
airborne computer network for control
of the RPV. When the aircraft is at
the appropriate altitude, the radio
control pilot turns over control of the
RPV to the pilot in the remote cockpit.
Upon completion of the flight tests,
the radio control pilot takes over
control of the RPV and lands the
aircraft. The radio control pilot can
also take immediate control of the
RPV in the event of an emergency. The F/A-18E/F RPV first flew on
25 July 1996. The second and third
flights were accomplished on the
morning of 8 August 1996. The
shakedown series of flight tests will be
completed in early November 1996.
The advantages to this type of program are many. First, no pilot is put at risk in flight testing of a scale RPV of a new aircraft. The RPV flight test program can identify dangerous regions of the flight envelope, thus enhancing the safety of the pilot. Much of the full-scale flight test program can be completed using a scaled RPV at a fraction of the cost. The total cost of the F/A-18E/F RPV program is equivalent to a handful of full-scale flight test hours. In the future, the flight testing scaled RPV's in the initial design phase of an aircraft would result in the enhancement of the aerodynamic design of the aircraft.
