Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
CUSTOMER CASE STUDY

Cleared for Takeoff
MTS enables a leading aircraft manufacturer to optimize the flight controls of its
flagship business jet.
C US T OM E R CH A LLEN G E

When executive decision-makers need to travel from New York to Dubai or London
to Buenos Aires, no other business jet will get them there faster than the Gulfstream
G650® — an ultra-large-cabin, ultra-high-speed aircraft that sets the standard forexcellence in business aviation. It carries eight passengers and four crew members
on nonstop flights up to 7,000 nautical miles, and at speeds up to Mach 0.925.
To make sure the G650 jet delivers a safe, smooth flight experience, Gulfstream Aerospace
Corporation uses an “Iron Bird” test system — a spatially correct, dimensionally accurate
structure specially fabricated to replicate the actual aircraft — to rigorously evaluate
representative flight controls, hydraulics, electrical systems and landing gear in a range
of operating conditions.
“The Iron Bird test rig feels like a system wedesigned in-house. MTS should be proud ofits contributions to our success with the G650
aircraft. I know we are.”— Dave PowellManager, Advanced Design Research Labs
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation

These evaluations became more complicated when Gulfstream decided to use aninteractive mode of testing, with a pilot operating the jet’s fly-by-wire (FBW) controls.
Because this type of testing involves spontaneous human commands, it provides themost accurate simulation possible for takeoff, in-air maneuvers and landing. But it
requires a testing system that can apply variable forces precisely to all 12 flight control
surfaces, dynamically and in real-time.
“Real-time simulation is critical for testing the G650 instrumentation, especially because
it is our first aircraft with FBW controls,” said Jim Moriarty, lead technician on theproject. “We have to know exactly how the aircraft would perform when receiving real
flight commands.”
Even though the Iron Bird is grounded, the rudder, stabilizers and other control
surfaces move just as they would in flight. Test systems must deliver precise loading
and displacement, because even very small errors could potentially skew the test results
or damage flight system hardware and control surfaces. Gulfstream began looking fortesting partners who could integrate a system capable of interacting with the company’s
flight control software.
“We knew the process would involve customized integration between our software andthe loading system software,” said Dave Powell, testing lab manager for Gulfstream.
“We were looking for a partner with significant technical expertise, including the ability
to make it easy for us to manage advanced hardware functionality in the lab. MTS turned
out to be the ideal candidate.”be certain.

CUSTOMER CASE STUDYMT S SOL U TION

To help the Gulfstream team achieve its
ambitious testing objectives, MTS created acustomized control scheme that detects
how the control surfaces are changing anddelivers these measurements through anelectronic interface. The testing solution
uses the data to anticipate how the pilot isdirecting the simulation and then applies
the correct loads dynamically with minimalrisk of error.
Forces are applied with 11 Model 244
hydraulic actuators and one electric actuator
for the jet’s horizontal stabilizer. To help
protect the Iron Bird system from any
potential damage, Gulfstream employs theMTS Load Abort system, a customized
manifold that simultaneously and uniformly
removes all hydraulic energy present in thesystem if an error threshold is exceeded.
“This is the first time we designed a new
aircraft using the Iron Bird in interactivemode to prove out the design prior to firstflight,” Moriarty said. “It’s a safer, more
efficient and more cost-effective way for us
to see how forces would impact the aircraft.
We’re running tests that were previously done
during flight. It’s also an incredible setup. We
bring in aircraft owners and FAA personnel
and they always walk away impressed.”

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C US T OM E R BEN EFI TS

The MTS solution enables Gulfstream tocreate an Iron Bird test environment withdynamic, load-following capabilities in thelab before first flight.
“One of our primary objectives was neverlimiting the capabilities of the rig,” said
Walter Dumas, Iron Bird engineering lead.
“Now we can program any simulation wewant, and we have complete confidence
that the MTS system will apply the correct
aerodynamic loading to each surface inreal-time. This helps us test the performanceof the flight control hardware and softwaresystems, as well as simplify the integrationof other parts — all of which helps validate
these innovative new technologies.”
By incorporating MTS technology, the lab
has been able to accelerate its leading-edge
flight control testing. It is completing tests
more quickly, which improves efficiency
and keeps the G650 on pace for its planned
entry-into-service date. Introduced in2008, the G650 completed its first flight inNovember 2009 and began flight testing in
December 2009. Today, Gulfstream continues
to expand the G650 test fleet, working toward
FAA and EASA certification in 2011 andentry-into-service in 2012.

“The Iron Bird testing system played a keyrole in the success of the G650’s first flight,”
Powell said. “The testing we performed in2009 really shook down the flight control
systems and identified areas for improvement.
We were able to work with our engineering
team and our suppliers to correct potential
issues proactively and make sure the aircraft
met performance expectations from day one.”
Smooth collaboration between the MTS andGulfstream teams was essential to a successful
integration. MTS software engineers worked
on-site at the Gulfstream lab, and remained
available by phone. MTS engineers provided
assistance during the design and development,
integration, implementation and training
phases of the project, as well as offeringongoing technical support.
“The experience with MTS was great,”Powell said. “Every time I needed them,
they were a phone call away. The field
service team was very responsive, and thework they did was phenomenal. As a result,the Iron Bird test rig feels like a system wedesigned in-house. MTS should be proudof its contributions to our success with theG650 aircraft. I know we are.”

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