Another Unmanned Aircraft First

RainmanTime

RainmanTime

Super Moderator


Getting closer to actual catapult launches on a real carrier, and then eventually real carrier landings. This is another project of which a small part was brought to you by your's truly. I did the initial design and integration of the engine and throttle control system for this baby, many years ago when it was known as "JUCAS" (Joint UCAS between USAF and USN). Eventually, the Air Force dropped out of the program and it became simply N-UCAS.

Those who do not work in aviation cannot really know the chill that goes thru the bodies of people like me who worked to make this a reality. Probably the closest I will come to giving birth. And the pain was not physical, but it did go on for a period of several years! :)

A hearty "WELL DONE!" (or Bravo Zulu, in Navy lingo) to the US Navy and the N-UCAS development and test team from Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.
RMT
 
Well done Ray! I only fly models, a Cessna and a Spitfire (difficult) but, know a little of the thrill you are experiencing, even if only by a small percentage!
My late father was a Navigator on the Lancasters- and he was a bit of a hero to me!
So, the attraction and thrill of aviaton was bred in to me a little.

I do, having said that- understand the myriad of complexities trying to make something afresh and better than has gone before, being an engineer!
I so clearly recall those (oh so rare) moments of complete originality and inventive thought that flashes through one's mind.... usually, I found when all hope was lost, and nearly having given up- and understood how to spell the word despair not only backwards- but sideways, THEN... THE SMOKE CLEARS AND THE DOOR OPENS TO REVEAL A SHINING LIGHT!

An unforgettable feeling.........always followed by a few beers, not always instantly (too tired sometimes!) but certainly later on!

Well done, from the bottom of my heart!
Dave:)

PS: What is Doctor Who's K9 Robot doing chasing up to the plane before take-off? :p
 
One step closer to the "real thing" which will be a trap (landing) on a carrier at sea...



Sometime this summer we should see the real thing.
RMT
 
servantx said:
Hey Rainman,

Your baby is on the news highlight today.

US Launches Drone From Aircraft Carrier - ABC News
Click to expand...

Yes, it certainly is. It was a long day at work for me today, and I just now got home. So now, here is the video of the historic next step in my baby's maturation.



We did one CAT shot to get off the carrier, and then several low approaches to wave-offs (video shows just one), and then headed back to do a landing on terra-firma at Pax River NAS. Last big step will be an at-sea trap landing on the carrier, sometime before the end of June if we are lucky.

Gives me goosebumps! :D
RMT
 
The series of videos you have seen in this thread are what is known in the aircraft flight test world as the "build up technique." You start simple (catapult takeoffs on land) and with each new test you progress closer and closer to your final goal (autonomous landing trap on an actual carrier asail at sea). So in our last video we saw the first catapult shots of an autonomous UAV from a carrier, with a couple low approaches. In this video you see the low approaches get closer and closer to the deck before the waveoff occurs, and then the final build-up to a complete touch-and-go seen here.



The build up has now shown the UAV can accurately hold the relative glidepath with respect to a moving carrier deck, and that the UAV can also target the same spot on the carrier deck for touchdown. By doing touch and gos we are also showing that the UAV can continue to fly if, for whatever reason, it misses catching a wire on a real trap test.

So, having done the conservative build up, the X-47B UCAS is just about ready for its graduation test. We will be looking at data from the touch and gos in the coming week or two. But next week our other UAV product for the US Navy, the Triton, will likely take center stage when it makes its very first flight. Look for the X-47B's graduation test to happen sometime in June.

RMT
 
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