An Overview of the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle

Bowers, Albion H. and Pahle, Joseph W. and Wilson, R. Joseph and Flick, Bradley C. and Rood, Richard L. (1996) An Overview of the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle. Technical Report NASA TM-4772, Research Engineering, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

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Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle. The three flight phases of the program are introduced, along with the specific goals and data examples taken during each phase. The aircraft configuration and systems needed to perform the disciplinary and interdisciplinary research are discussed. The specific disciplines involved with the flight research are introduced, including aerodynamics, controls, propulsion, systems, and structures. Decisions that were made early in the planning of the aircraft project and the results of those decisions are briefly discussed. Each of the three flight phases corresponds to a particular aircraft configuration, and the research dictated the configuration to be flown. The first phase gathered data with the baseline F-18 configuration. The second phase was the thrust-vectoring phase. The third phase used a modified forebody with deployable nose strakes. Aircraft systems supporting these flights included extensive instrumentation systems, integrated research flight controls using flight control hardware and corresponding software, analog interface boxes to control forebody strakes, a thrust-vectoring system using external postexit vanes around axisymmetric nozzles, a forebody vortex control system with strakes, and backup systems using battery-powered emergency systems and a spin recovery parachute.

EPrint Type:	NASA Technical Memorandum
Keywords:	Aircraft aerodynamics, Control laws, Flight test, High angle-of-attack, Thrust vectoring
Subjects:	Aircraft/Project: F-18 HARV (01 - 09) Aeronautics: (05) Aircraft Design, Testing And Performance
ID Code:	206
Deposited On:	16 July 2004
Additional Information:	39 pages. Presented at the NASA Langley High-Angle-of-Attack Technology Conference, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, Sept. 17–19, 1996.