NASA Technical Memorandum 4772

An Overview of the NASA

F- 18 High Alpha Research

Vehicle

Albion H. Bowers, Joseph W. Pahle, R. Joseph Wilson,

Bradley C. Flick, and Richard L. Rood

October 1996

NASA Technical Memorandum 4772

An Overview of the NASA

F- 18 High Alpha Research

Vehicle

Albion H. Bowers, Joseph W. Pahle, R. Joseph Wilson,

Bradley C. Flick, and Richard L. Rood

Dryden Flight Research Center

Edwards, California

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Office of Management

Scientific and Technical

Information Program

1996

AN OVERVIEW OF THE NASA F-18 HIGH ALPHA RESEARCH VEHICLE

Albion H. Bowers

Joseph W. Pahle

R. Joseph Wilson

Bradley C. Flick

Richard L. Rood

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

Edwards, CA

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 thrustvectoring 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.

NOMENCLATURE

ANSER

CRAFT

DPRAM

FCC

FS

HAIRRY

HANG

HARV

actuated nose strakes for enhanced rolling

control power, robustness, agility, and flying qualities tradeoffs

dual-port random access memory

flight control computer

fuselage station, in.

High-Angle-of-Incidence Requirements for Roll and Yaw

High-Alpha Nosedown Guidelines

High Alpha Research Vehicle
HATP

KEAS

LEX

MATV

MDA

NACA

NASA

OBES

PGME

RAV

RFCS

SRC

STEMS

TVCS

VISTA

0

High-Alpha Technology Program

knots equivalent airspeed

leading-edge extension

Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring

McDonnell Douglas Aerospace

National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

on-board excitation system

propylene glycol monomethyl ether

remotely augmented vehicle

research flight control system

spin recovery chute

standard test evaluation maneuvers set

thrust-vectoring control system

Variable-Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft

angle of attack, deg

radial nose angle, deg

INTRODUCTION

Interest in high-angle-of-attack flight has increased in recent years. High-angle-of-attack

research has progressed from stall characteristics to spin resistance and is now in the area of

poststall agility. To support this recent interest, NASA has developed the High-Alpha Technology

Program (HATP). One of the objectives of this program is flight validation of ground-based design

methodologies, and a modified F-18 aircraft was used to this end. This aircraft is called the NASA

F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV).

History: Missile Platforms to Departures to Air Combat Maneuvering and Agility

Research into high-angle-of-attack flight has waned and revived over the history of aviation

(fig. 1).t,2 High-angle-of-attack research has also changed over the years. Initially, high-angle-ofattack research was only concerned with stall characteristics. Research then evolved to departure

and spin characteristics, and now concentrates on exploring the poststall region of the high-angleof-attack envelope. Early jet aircraft emphasized high performance with classical metrics,

2
primarily speedandaltitude.Theseaircraftweredesignedwith little regardfor flying qualitiesat

highangleof attack,t_, other than minimal attention to departure resistance. Aircraft that began as

gun platforms moved towards missile platforms. The F-1 O0 Super Sabre, the F-104 Starfighter, and

the F-4 (n6e F-110) Phantom II aircraft are examples of this trend.

High c_

research

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980

Year

Figure 1. Interest level of high-angle-of-attack activity.

I

2OO0

960687

With a shift in emphasis back to air combat maneuvering from nonmaneuvering missile

platforms during the Vietnam conflict, 3 initial emphasis shifted back to air combat training with

existing aircraft. Development of aircraft to take advantage of high-or flight began later. Advances

made in fly-by-wire and fully digital flight controls allowed some degree of confidence in using

some of the high-t_ regime. The early examples of these aircraft were the F-16 and F/A-18 (n6e

YF-17), and today are the JAS-39 Gripen, the Euro-Fighter 2000, and the F-22 Lightning aircraft.

NASA Formulation of the High-Alpha Technology Program

With this recent interest in high-a flying qualities in the aircraft community, NASA has

emphasized high-t_ research as well, although NASA has always been interested in high-t_

flight. 4-7 Research conducted by NASA includes aileron rudder interconnects, thrust vectoring,

and unconventional control surfaces to allow greater enhancements in high-or flight dynamics

and solve classical problems such as wing rock, departure, nose slice, and high-or pitchingmoment discrepancy. 8'9 Ground-based research on thrust vectoring has demonstrated the promise

of being able to exert moments in corners of the envelope where aerodynamic forces and control
powerarevery low. Useof forebodyflows for aircraftcontrol athigh _ wasalsoshownto have

greatpotential.1°

Threehigh-orflight programsstartedin the 1980's:the X-31A researchaircraft,l_the F-16

Variable-Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA) Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring

(MATV) project,12andtheNASA-sponsoredHATPusingtheHARV. 4'5'7'13-17 Stated objectives of

these programs were, respectively, demonstration of enhanced fighter maneuverability at poststall

angles of attack with a controlled-configuration vehicle design; retrofit of thrust vectoring on an

existing design to evaluate tactical usage of such a system; and a pure high-t_ research program to

understand basic high-o_ aerodynamics, possible control law synthesis, innovative control

effectors, inlet and engine integration research, and possible expansion of design guidelines.

All of the NASA aeronautics centers participated in the HATP, and the program was directed

by a representative steering committee (fig. 2). NASA Ames Research Center contributed

computational fluid dynamics and their '80- by 120-ft wind-tunnel facility. 18-21 NASA Langley

Research Center worked with subscale wind-tunnel testing, advanced control law synthesis, and

computational fluid dynamics. 1°.22-26NASA Lewis Research Center worked on inlet and engine

integration. 27'28 NASA Dryden Flight Research Center conducted the flight research with the

F- 18 HARV.

Headquarters

High Alpha Technology

Program Manager

Langley I

Ground Research

Techn cal Lead ]

IEx erna' :e r'°'dynam'ce II

Technical Steering

Committee

Langley

Ames

Lewis

Headquarters

Dryden

I

Dryden J

Flight Research

Vehicle Manager

Lewis

Inlet Aerodynamics

960688

Figure 2. High-angle-of-attack technology program organization.

The aircraft selected was the full-scale development F-18 Ship 6, now called the NASA F-18

HARV. 7'17'29 Prior to use for NASA research, this F-18 airframe had been used for the high-o_ and

spin testing of the F- 18 configuration. To gain more redundancy than exists in fleet F/A- 18 aircraft,

a battery-powered emergency system had been installed in this particular airframe. This aircraft

had also been previously fitted for a spin recovery chute (SRC). These special modifications for

this particular airframe led to its selection. The aircraft was subsequently modified extensively to

4
include thrust vectoring, a unique instrumentationsystem,unique aircraft systems,additional

emergencysystems,amodifiedflight controlcomputer,29andlater,forebodystrakes.

VEHICLEAND SYSTEMDESCRIPTION

The aircraft configurationis describedbelow.The systemsusedon the HARV enabledthe

aircraftto performdifferentresearchmissions.Manyof thesesystemsareintroducedhere,suchas

theSRC,theemergencypowersystems,thethrust-vectoringcontrolsystem(TVCS), theresearch

flight control system(RFCS),the forebody strakesystem,the simulation,and the remotely

augmentedvehicle(RAV) system.

HighAlphaResearchVehicle

TheHARV hashadthreeconfigurations:thebaselineF-18configuration,thethrust-vectoring

installationconfiguration,andtheadditionalforebodyvortex-flow control configuration(fig. 3).

Thesethree configurationscorrespondto the approximatephasesof the flight tests and are

discussedlaterin the paper.This largeandambitiousflight testmatrixwasonly possiblewith a

phasedapproachto theprogram.TheHARV is afull-scaledevelopmentairframeof theF/A-18A

aircraftandis atwin-engine,single-place,fighter/attackaircraft.Theearlyaircraft usedtheF-18

EC8962-1

(a)Phaseone,noTVCS,noANSERsystem.

Figure3. HARVconfigurationfor thethreephasesof theflight program.
EC910028-9

(b) Phasetwo,TVCSinstalled,noANSERsystem.

EC9543197-1

(c) Phasethree,TVCSinstalled,ANSERsysteminstalled.

Figure3. Concluded.

type designation,of which the HARV aircraft is one.Later, the U.S. Navy changedthe type

designationto F/A-18to alignthedesignationwiththediverserolesof fighterandattack.TheF-18

aircraft was built for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell DouglasAerospace(MDA) (St. Louis,

6
Missouri) and the Northrop Corporation (Newbury Park, California). The HARV is powered by

two modified General Electric (Lynn, Massachusetts) F41M-GE-400 afterburning turbofan engines

rated at approximately 16,000 lbf static thrust at sea level. The F-18 aircraft features a midwing

configuration with a wing-root leading-edge extension (LEX) that extends from the forward

portion of the fuselage and blends into the wing (fig. 4). Table 1 shows the HARV nominal

969689

Figure 4. Three views of the HARV general layout (phase two TVCS configuration).

7
dimensions and weights. The flight envelope was also limited with the various systems on board

the aircraft (fig. 5), although with the SRC installed and the center of gravity forward of

26.5 percent mean aerodynamic chord, the aircraft was not limited in o_.

Table 1. Nominal dimensions of the NASA F-18 HARV. Internal fuel

is 6480 Ibm, which corresponds to approximately 60 percent fuel.

The HARV is in the clean configuration, with landing gear retracted

and pilot and support equipment included.

Phases two

Parameter Phase one and three

Weight, Ibm 31,980 36,099

Reference wing area, ft2 400 400

Reference mean aerodynamic chord, ft 11.52 11.52

Reference span, ft 37.4 37.4

Overall length, ft 56 56

Center of gravity

Percent mean aerodynamic chord 21.9 23.8

Fuselage station 454.33 456.88

Waterline 105.24 105.35

Roll inertia, slug-ft 2 22,040 22,789

Pitch inertia, slug-ft 2 124,554 176,809

Yaw inertia, slug-ft 2 139,382 191,744

Product inertia, slug-ft a -2,039 -2,305

Wing aspect ratio 3.5 3.5

Stabilator span, ft 21.6 21.6

Stabilator area, ft 2 88.26 86.48

The HARV carries no stores or missiles and is highly instrumented for research purposes. The

wingtip launching rails and missiles were replaced with wingtip camera pods and airdata sensors.

The in-flight refueling capability and tail arresting hook were retained; 24 flights were made with

in-flight refueling, but the tailhook was never used.

For the first phase of the flight test program, the aircraft was flown in the baseline configuration

as described above. In this configuration, the maximum attainable trim _ was approximately 55 °,

limited by the maximum aerodynamic control. Most HARV modifications were internal for this

phase of the program and consisted mostly of an extensive instrumentation system for recording

research aircraft parameters of interest. Also incorporated in this phase were onboard systems to

emit an evaporating dye, propylene glycol monomethyl ether (PGME), to mark on-surface

8
Altitude,

tt

50 x 103

4O

3O

20

10

//////////////// I

-- Late Phase 2 and Phase 3 /

RFCS envelope /

/ Phase 2

/ and

/ Phase 3

/ envelope

/

Early Phase 1

RFCS envelope

_ 5.4 g--_

//////////////_

/

I I

.2 .4 1.0 1.2

/j

//

//

//

//

I #I

.6 .8

Mach number

Figure 5. HARV envelope.

Phase I /]

envelo_

fMaeh.9 JJ

II

_/ _ 60O KEAS

/I I

forebody streamlines, 3° and smoke to trace off-surface flows around the forebody and the LEX

vortices. 3]-35 Later, the ports used for the PGME were plumbed to pressure instrumentation so that

extensive pressure surveys could be made of the aircraft forebody. Early in this phase a noseboom

was installed and calibrated for airdata. The noseboom was known to interfere with forebody

flows, so wingtip airdata probes mounted on wingtip pods were fabricated and calibrated so that

the noseboom could subsequently be removed. A rotating rake was installed on the LEX to

measure vortex characteristics for a few flights. 36 Late in the first flight phase, an SRC was

installed on the aft fuselage of the aircraft to prepare for the upcoming thrust-vectoring flights.

Near the end of phase one, vertical longitudinal fences were installed on each LEX upper

surface. These fences were developed as a modification to the U.S. Navy F/A-18 aircraft to reduce

tail buffeting and increase structural life. Because of the desire to maintain a consistent external

geometry for aerodynamic research with established ground and flight aerodynamic data bases,

these fences were generally not used during aerodynamic characterization research on the HARV

aircraft. An aerodynamic evaluation of these fences was conducted, and they were used for most

of the TVCS and the actuated nose strakes for enhanced rolling (ANSER) research with controls,

flying qualities, propulsion, and handling qualities.

Also incorporated near the end of the phase one flight test program, in preparation for phase

two, was a set of battery-powered emergency backup systems. These battery-powered systems

were to power the hydraulics, electronics, and electrical systems of the aircraft in the event of a

dual-engine flameout. These systems were from the original U.S. Navy spin testing of the aircraft.

9
Thesecondphaseof the flight test program was centered on the TVCS. Six paddle-like vanes

were positioned, three around each engine, so that they could impinge on the exhaust flow and

create thrust vectoring. With these vanes functional, an additional 15 ° of trim o_are available to a

maximum 70 ° o_.

The conventional F-18 flight control system was modified to include an RFCS and the

capability to command the thrust-vectoring vane actuators. The RFCS was an embedded computer

executing research flight control laws that could be engaged and disengaged by the pilot within a

limited envelope. The RFCS control laws and F-18 701E computer (General Electric, Lynn,

Massachusetts) control laws operate in parallel; both computed continuously throughout the flight.

The conventional F-18 control laws were used for takeoff, for landing, and as a backup in case of

RFCS failure. The second set of control laws was a research control law set. 37 The hardware to

accommodate this dual set of flight control laws resulted in one of the single largest changes ever

incorporated in F-18 flight control computers (FCCs). During this phase, the aircraft underwent a

second major downtime to make an extensive modification to instrumentation, including an inlet

rake in the right engine. 27

The final flight phase of the HARV project emphasized forebody vortex-flow control. A

modified forebody was fabricated at NASA Langley with mechanically actuated strakes. NASA

Langley also designed the control laws to control the forebody control surfaces. The strakes are the

aerodynamic surfaces of the ANSER system, but some extensive internal changes, both hardware

and software, were made as well. An analog interface box was required to perform fault detection

and control of the actuators for the strakes. When the RFCS was designed, the intent was to only

control the six vanes of the TVCS, but the addition of the strakes for the ANSER system required

two new command paths out of the FCCs, which required the analog interface box. The control law

release was also called ANSER. NASA Ames had proposed an alternative concept using slot

blowing. 38-'4°The project could only take one concept to flight, and the NASA Langley actuated

strake was selected as a more mature technology than the other concepts.

Data Acquisition and Research Instrumentation

The instrumentation system used for data acquisition changed greatly over the course of the life

of the aircraft. The original instrumentation system provided aircraft attitudes, rates, center-ofgravity and cockpit accelerations, angular accelerations, oc, angle of sideslip, multiple total and

static pressures, aerodynamic surface pressures, total temperature, stick and rudder-pedal forces

and positions, control surface positions, fuel quantities, strains, temperatures, and discretes such as

switch positions. Wingtip probes that provided research airdata were updated from a National

Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) probe configuration to a free-swiveling selfaligning probe configuration, although the tip retained a similar configuration to the NACA probe

tip. A second instrumentation system was added to obtain 1553 bus data from the FCCs, mission

computers, inertial navigation system and other remote terminals, aerodynamic surface pressures,

aeroservoelastic accelerometers, nose and wing flush airdata sensing pressures, engine pressures,

strains, temperatures, and discretes such as nose strake interface box status bits. Thrust-vectoring

vane loads and critical temperatures were added for phase two, and additional forward fuselage

10
loads,interfaceboxparameters,andnosestrakeinstrumentationwereaddedfor thethirdphaseof

theflight program.Eachof thesesystemswastelemeteredwith norecordingonboardtheaircraft.

A researchinletrakewasinstalledin therightinlet duct(fig. 6), anda third systemwasprovided

to obtainthe inletresearchdata.In orderto avoida third telemetrystream,the third systemwas

digitally recordedonboard.

EC9341084-7

Figure6. Instrumentedinletrakeinstalledin therightinlet (looking aft).

Maximumdatarateswereashighas2142samples/secandasmanyasnearly2000parameters.

Controlroomdisplayswereplannedin advanceto optimizemonitoringscans,for familiarization,

andto maximizepotentialflight researchtime.Examplesshownareof the spinpage,asusedby

the missioncontroller during high-t_andhigh-yaw-ratemaneuvers(fig. 7), and the flightpath

reconstructorusedby flight mechanicsresearchersto monitor aircraft motionsand stateduring

parameteridentificationmaneuvers(fig. 8).42

SpinRecoveryChute

An SRC was added to the aircraft late in the first phase. This system was a significant

modification to the aerodynamics of the aircraft. The SRC system was previously used by MDA

and the U.S. Navy for the spin testing done in the full-scale development testing of the F-18. This

system was reinstalled to reduce the amount of validation required of the flight control software

for high-or flight. High-or velocity-vector rolls with thrust vectoring, which were planned, were

anticipated to appear exactly identical to spins in conventional aircraft. 42 The SRC installation was

11
50Sl

3_1,0 k !

0,0 K •

4 4

50--

-511

-75

RIII_T

0

g_o_Sg 1

Figure 7. Mission controller spin page display for monitoring high-or and high-yaw-rate

maneuvers.

done as further risk reduction in the event of a failure of the thrust-vectoring system and the

subsequent failure of conventional control-recovery techniques. The aircraft limitations with the

SRC installed were Mach 0.9 and 600 knots equivalent airspeed (KEAS). The system was never

fired in flight, but was test-fired during a high-speed taxi test (fig. 9). Flight test during phase two

proved the aircraft could recover using control surfaces during low and oscillatory spin modes,

control law down modes (reversion from RFCS control laws to 701E computer control laws) at

peak yaw rates of velocity-vector roll to simulate failures and recovery, and control law down

modes with maximum aggravated control inputs during velocity-vector rolls.

During phase three, simulation studies revealed that asymmetric strake failures at high g and

high o_ (40°-55 ° ct) resulted in unacceptable recovery characteristics. A positive strake closure

system was designed, and the SRC was retained for all of phase three. When envelope expansion

of each phase was complete, however, the SRC system was found to be of lessening importance,

but no method was found where its deletion could be made, even after envelope expansion.

Operationally, the SRC consumed a great deal of time--time that could have been better spent on

research tasks had the SRC been removed from the aircraft.

12
96oe92

Figure 8. Flightpath reconstructor as used by flight mechanics researchers during parameter

identification maneuvers.

Emergency Power Backup Systems

Battery-operated emergency power systems were installed in the aircraft at the end of phase

one in preparation for phase two. These systems were previously used in the full-scale

development spin tests, reducing certification time for the HARV application. The intent of these

systems was to continue aircraft systems operation in the event of a dual-engine flameout or

unrecoverable dual-engine stalls. If called upon, the emergency power system provides power for

FCCs, mission computers, inertial systems, and airdata computers. Additionally, the batteries

power a hydraulic pump to provide hydraulic pressure to the aircraft control-surface actuators. The

system was modified from the U.S. Navy spin flight configuration by increasing battery capacity,

and power could be maintained for approximately 14 min using continuous maximum controlsurface motions. At the end of phase two, the project team concluded the aircraft envelope had been

sufficiently cleared out so that the emergency system could be removed without excessive risk, and

13
EC89009-9

EC91-518-21

Figure9.Spinrecoverychuteasinstalledanddemonstrated.

that theusefullife of the systemhadbeenrun. Theemergencypowersystemwasremoved.This

decisionwasbasedon the excellentrecordof 0 unintentionalenginestallsduring 277 high-oc

flights. A totalof 383high-o_flights wasmadewith0 unintentionalenginestalls.

14
Thrust-Vectoring Control System

The TVCS was primarily a mechanical system of three high-temperature nickel steel vanes, or

paddles, installed around each engine. As existing structure and the SRC of the aircraft had to be

considered, the vanes were not equally spaced around the engines or equally sized (fig. 10).

Extensive heat shielding was required to prevent excessive temperatures from impinging on the

systems and aircraft in the aft fuselage area. These minor variations in spacing and sizing resulted

in a slight asymmetry to the thrust-vectoring effectiveness control power. 43-46This implementation

Maximum-afterburner //

nozzle 348 In2-----_ //_//_/'//_

118" AI"/////H/#///Z_ _,

i "

nozzle 220 in2-.-J_l _,_/_ _ _/

103.5".. .... _""

Upper vane

_'_i \\

\\

\

_,________________,, \ 138.5"

', I

' I

I I

I

!

I

/

/

_ Lower

vane

960693

20 in.

._ 5.185 _ Radius = 36 in. in.

/

20 in.

12.591 in.

,1

Lower and

outer vanes

9.120 in. ---_

--- 15 in.

Area = 263.64 in2

Figure 10. Thrust-vectoring vane geometry,

platforms.

Upper vane

20 in.

Area = 358.76 in 2

12.420 in.

960694

end view (left engine looking forward) and vane

15
of a TVCS was intended only as a research system. No effort was expended on making the system

more than a boilerplate operational system to allow research to be gathered, because maintenance

is intensive on such a system and useful life of the system was expected to be short.

With the TVCS and SRC installed, the project had to contend with a large weight and balance

problem. The installation of the TVCS increased the weight by 2200 Ibm. The addition of the SRC,

emergency systems, and ballast* increased the weight by an additional 1500 Ibm, and 419 Ibm was

added by equipment and wiring not directly related to the TVCS.

With this additional weight, the inertia values were approximately 50 percent greater than the

previous flight-tested maximum for the interdiction mission. As a result, the maximum

symmetric g allowed was reduced to 5.4 and -2.0. During asymmetric maneuvering, the aircraft

was limited to between 4.3 g and 0 g. In addition, the weight distribution acted as a pitch damper

and was perceived as a time delay to the pilot when flying exceptionally high gain tasks.

Failure in these cases was anticipated in the aft cockpit canopy sill area near fuselage station

(FS) 300, possibly hampering ejection, so instrumentation strain gages were installed and

monitored for the remainder of the program. Installation of the TVCS limited maximum speed to

450 KEAS on the HARV aircraft. These g and airspeed limitations were the results of analysis only;

no extensive flight envelope clearance was done in the program. The system might have been

capable of a much greater performance envelope than was used had there been a such requirement.

Research Flight Control System

In order to control the six new control surfaces, a modification was made to the EGGs. 7'47 The

Pace 1750A (Performance Semiconductor Corp., Sunnyvale, California) FCCs were modified to

incorporate a dual-port random access memory (DPRAM) and RFCS (fig. 11). The purpose of

the DPRAM was to pass parameters back and forth between the 701E computers and the RFCS.

The purpose of the RFCS was to allow rapid changes and reduced development time for

experimental control laws of the unique control effectors in the high-or envelope. For the most

part, the RFCS flight control software was designed to be class B software and not flight critical.

As such, the verification and validation of the RFCS flight control software was greatly

streamlined, allowing rapid changes to be effected in the event of unexpected research results.

This class B capability of the FCCs made the aircraft a very flexible and capable research tool,

where different systems could be flown and compared back-to-back with other systems on an

aircraft of a known configuration. Changes of this sort were done many times in the course of the

program, and this innovative approach and execution greatly aided in gathering timely and

effective research data. Having a dedicated research team in place that could rapidly handle

changes provided a very flexible approach to problem solving. Parts of the control law executive

and some limit functions were deemed flight critical, and thus were isolated in the software and

tested according to class A standards.

*To maintain an acceptable center of gravity, a total ballast of 893 Ibm was added to the forward fuselage.

16
Analog out

to surfaces

-_- Flight control _ Analog out

laws "1..17 _ to vanes

Dual-port RAM 1 v Interface box

Research flight ___v for strakes

control system

960695

Figure 11. Flight control computers incorporating a research flight control system.

During phase one, the 701E computers had carried the then-current fleet production

8.3.3 flight control law release by MDA. With the RFCS upgrade, the 701E computers were

updated to the new release of the fleet production MDA 10.1 F-18 release. The RFCS control laws

would be engaged within certain envelope restrictions imposed by the flight control law software.

The envelope for RFCS flight was restricted to less than Mach 0.7, a minimum altitude of

15,000 ft mean sea level, and an initial maximum altitude of 35,000 ft mean sea level that was

later expanded to 45,000 ft mean sea level. Because of potential errors in the flight software within

the RFCS control laws, the 701E computer control laws were always retained as a backup. Any

RFCS anomalies that might threaten the aircraft would be mitigated by reverting to the 701E

computer control laws. As figure 11 shows, the basic F-18 control system retained control over all

input and output signal management functions, including commands to the thrust-vectoring vanes.

When the RFCS was not engaged, the basic system commanded the vanes to a fixed, retracted

position of-10 deg. A solenoid-latched switch was installed on the instrument panel to arm the

system, and the nosewheel steering switch on the stick was selected to engage the RFCS. To

disengage, the pilot activated the paddle switch to revert to 701E computer control laws. All

control laws used a programmable fade to prevent instant gain changes. Later, the Pace 1750A

processors were upgraded to the Pace 1750AE configuration.

Research functions were also implemented in the mission computers and selectable through the

digital-display interfaces. These research functions included the synthesis of some control system

feedbacks not available in the standard F/A-18 aircraft, as well as unique research displays used by

the HARV pilot. These displays in the head-up display included fixed reticles for tracking tasks,

vertical lines for target gross acquisitions during tracking, and displays to annunciate the aircraft

control mode. Another part of the flight software was the on-board excitation system (OBES).

Software in the OBES held preprogrammed research and envelope expansion maneuvers and could

perform frequency sweeps, doublets, or even act to degrade control power for individual or

multiple surfaces. The OBES was used for flutter envelope clearance, 48 control power research

studies, 49 and aerodynamic 41'5°-54 and control law parameter identification research. 25

Forebody Strakes

For the third and final phase in the HARV flight test project, a set of ANSER was installed on

the forebody of the HARV.I° These strakes were designed with a longitudinal hinge line to actively

17
controltheforebodyvorticesandseparationlines(fig. 12),whichallowedroll controlat higho_to

beperformed.55Thestrakesweredesignedandtestedby NASA Langleyandinstalledandflown

at NASA Dryden.ControllawswerealsodesignedbyNASA Langleyto controlthestrakes.The

ANSER required that two additional control-surfacecommandsbe brought from the FCCs.

Initially, it wasthoughtthattheTVCSor two vaneswouldhaveto bedeactivatedbecauseof the

limited actuatoranaloginput/outputavailablefrom theFCCs.This deactivationwouldnot allow

back-to-backcomparisonsof theTVCS andANSERor of anintegratedANSER-TVCS mode.

Finally, theFCCmotherboardcardsweremodified,whichallowedcommandsto betappedout of

theDPRAM andinto ananaloginterfacebox.Theinterfacebox isrequiredto performall thefault

detectionandactuatorcontrolthatis normallydoneby theFCCs.

EC9543249-14

Figure 12.ForebodyvortexcontrolstrakesinstalledontheHARV.

Simulation

Simulationswereanimportantcomponentof theprojectsupportandresearchinfrastructure.

Thebatchversionof the simulationwasthe most basic,followed by a fixed-basecockpit with

softwaresimulation,thenahardware-in-the-loopsimulationwith varyinglevelsof hardware,and

finally a full iron-bird F-18 with completehydraulicsand actuatorsfor all surfacesexceptfor

leading-andtrailing-edgeflaps.Thefixed-basecockpitcouldalsousealargescreenvisualdisplay

mountedin front of thecockpit.Manyof thecomponentsin thecockpitareflight-ratedhardware,

such as the up-front controller, the head-updisplay, and the digital-display interfaces.The

hardware-in-the-loopsimulationusedFCCs,aninterfacebox,andsimulatedactuatormodels.The

missioncomputerswereusedin all fixed-basesimulations.

18
The simulation aerodynamicmodel used was the MDA F-18 aerodynamicmodel. The

aerodynamicmodelreflectedresultsobtainedfrom flight testing.To this model,NASA addedthe

pitching-momentincrements,drag increment,anddirectional-stabilityincrementcausedby the

SRCinstallation;ruddercontrolpowerincrementcausedby thrustvectoringinthepitchplane;and

aerodynamicinteractioncausedby thrustvectoring.16Rotarybalancedatawereinvestigatedbut

werenot used.The comparisonof spinsfrom flight datawith simulationdataindicatedthat the

incorporationof rotarybalancedatawith theMDA aerodynamicmodelwouldresultin excessive

dampingin the simulation.This simulationfacility wasbuilt at NASA Dryden and dedicated

almostexclusivelyto theHARV project.

NASA Langleyalsomadeextensiveuseof theirdifferentialmaneuveringsimulatorfor control

law evaluations and development.Project pilots made extensive use of the differential

maneuveringsimulatorduringtheearly developmentcycleof control laws that wereeventually

usedin flight evaluation1°'56andthemaneuverdevelopmentthatsubsequentlyimprovedtheresults

and efficiency of the flight test. The PatuxentRiver Naval Air Test Center(LexingtonPark,

Maryland)dome simulationwasusedto evaluatepowerapproachwith variousfailures of the

TVCS.Thisevaluationwasnotrepeatedfortheforebodystrakephaseof flying becausethestrakes

wereineffectiveat thelow anglesof attack(lessthan15° o0.t°

RemotelyAugmentedVehicleSystem

TheRAV capabilitywasalsoincorporatedontheHARV.57This systemalloweduplink control

of theinstrumentlandingsystemneedlesandotherindicatorsusedto guidethe pilot to precise

flight conditions.Otherwise,excessivepilot workloadcausedby the high-o_environmentmight

preventaccurateresearchmaneuversfrombeingaccomplished.Aphotographicstill cameraonthe

rightwingtip of theaircraftcouldbetriggeredfrom aconsoleonthegroundusingtheRAV system

aswell. The RAV systemandsimulationfacilities werecloselyalignedandexemplifythe wellfoundedinfrastructurethat aidedthe ability of the project to gatherdatain the most efficient

mannerpossible.

RESEARCHPHASES

Becauseof thelargeresearchprogramto beperformed,astagedresearchandinstrumentation

approachwastaken(fig. 13).Eachflight phasewasusedto performspecificresearch.Thethree

phasesaredescribedin thefollowing subsections.

PhaseOne

Phaseoneconsistedmostlyof aerodynamicresearch.Somepreliminarywork for theTVCS

wasperformedby controlsandpropulsion.

19
84

Plane arrives V

Phase I flights 1 - 101 I

LEX fence installed

SRC installed

Phase 2 flights 102 - 277

Inlet rake installed

Control law changes

Phase 3 flights 278 - 383

Instrumentation changes

Guest pilots

87

Year

88 89 90 91 92 93 94

: I I I I I I

95 96

I I I

V

V

V V

NASA-0 NASA-0

Version 24 Version 27

V V

NASA-1ANSER

v

Figure 13. HARV research phase chronology.

I---t

V V VV

96O696

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamic research dominated in phase one (fig. 14). Specific aerodynamic experiments

performed included extensive flush-port pressure surveys over the forebody and the LEX of the

aircraft, on- and off-surface flow visualization, LEX vortex surveys, and wing rock surveys. The

forebody pressure data allowed characterization of forebody vortex footprints over the HARV

aircraft. 58-6] Research using these data included flush airdata sensing 62-66 and wing rock at high oc,

and provided baseline data for comparison to wind-tunnel and computational fluid dynamics

results. 39 Photographs of PGME traces (on-surface flow visualization) were also used for

comparison with computational fluid dynamics and wind-tunnel results. 67 One result was the

discovery of a laminar separation bubble on the forebody that allowed fine-tuning of some

computational fluid dynamics codes and an interpretation of wind-tunnel results; results

comparisons are excellent (fig. 15). The LEX survey rake data allowed characterization of the LEX

vortex for comparison to light-sheet wind-tunnel and computational fluid dynamics data (fig. 16).

The smoke system allowed off-surface flow visualization of the LEX and forebody vortices. The

system also allowed comparisons of vortex burst point and vortex interaction patterns with windtunnel and water-tunnel data. Wing rock was extensively documented in this phase of the program

with the smoke systems, forebody pressures, and flight mechanics instrumentation.

Controls

Baseline data were gathered in the control discipline with the HARV control system. This

work was performed in preparation for the thrust-vectoring work in phase two. Principle interest

was in the FCCs and the 1553 bus, both of which required modification for the thrust-vectoring

flight tests.

20
• Direct comparisons

- Computational fluid dynamics

- Small- and large-scale wind tunnel

- Flight

• On- and off-surface flow visualization

- Smoke

- Tufts and dye

• Aerodynamic parameter identification

• Alrdeta

- Innovative high alpha probes

- Flush Air Oeta Sensing (FADS) System

• Pmnum surveys

- Low rate surface pmuura

-Tall buffet

- Vortex rake surveys

Figure 14. Aerodynamic research.

_o0C_7

Wind Tunnel Oil Flow Visualization, cr=36 °

16 Percent F-18 Model, LaRC 14 x 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel

960698

Figure 15. Forebody flow visualization in wind tunnels and flight with significant laminar flow and

separation.

21
Details of F-18 Forebody Fluid Mechanics

On-Surface Flow Visualization

• Anomalies

- Wind tunnel model testa indicated

significant amounts of laminar flow

- Full-scale aircraft was not expected to

experience laminar flow

• Flight result

- Significant amount of laminar

flow noted In flight

Figure 15. Concluded.

960699

EC90 319-106

Figure 16. Leading-edge extension vortex survey rake results.

22
EC90319-107

Figure16.Concluded.

EC90319-109

23
Propulsion

Baselinedataweregatheredin thepropulsiondisciplinewiththeHARV systemsinpreparation

for thethrust-vectoringwork in phasetwo.Principleinterestwas in theareaof baselinedataon

enginecharacteristicsusedto createathrustestimatorfor controlswork with thrustvectoring.

PhaseTwo

Phasetwo of the flight program concentratedmostly on thrust-vectoringcontrols and

propulsion, although some aerodynamicresearchwas still conducted.Initially, 25 different

experimentswerevying for flight timein thisphase.Manyof theseexperimentsweredeletedafter

prioritizationof experiments,andonly thosemostapplicableto theHATP wereselectedfor flight.

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamicresearchin phasetwoobtainedLEX andforebodydataasbeforebutat higherot

conditionspossiblebecauseof the TVCS capability.Wing, aft fuselage,and left vertical-tail

pressuresurveyswerealsoobtainedduringthisphase.21Highsample-ratedynamicpressureswere

measuredontheright verticaltail for tail buffetresearch(fig. 17).Thetail buffet dataweretaken

with the LEX fencesboth installed and removedfor vortex-tail interactionstudiesand were

comparedwith full-scalewind-tunneland computationalfluid dynamicsdata.68'69The OBES,

installed with the RFCSfor this phaseof flying, allowedcomparisonand evaluationof three

different techniquesof aerodynamicparameteridentification.4_'s°-54 These techniques were an

OBES-programmed sequential single-surface doublet series, an OBES-programmed input to a

single surface, and a RAV-programmed optimal pilot-flown series.

Figure 17. Tail buffet data from flight. Mach = 0.6; ot = 30 °.

24
Controls

Controlsresearchcametotheforefrontduringphasetwo (fig. 18).70Theadditionof theTVCS

andtheassociatedchangesto theaircraftsystemscausedgreatchangesto operationof theflight

test.The addedcontrolpowerof theTVCSeliminatedthetransientwing rock in the 38"-45° o_

region(fig. 19).Sevendifferentcontroldesignmethodologieswereusedfor TVCSoperation.

qualities 1

evaluation

I"VCS; ANSER

Design

guidelines

HANG, HAIRRY,

STEMS

RFCS; TVCS

NASA-O

Variable-gain

output feedback

NASA-1

and ANSER

CRAFT

(Control power,

Robustness, Agility,

and Flying qualities

Tmdeoffl) NASA-1

and ANSER

Figure 18. Controls research.

Pseudo

controls

NASA-1

and ANSER

960701

RFCS off (phase 1)

30 , ; ;

20 ........... i ......................

10 ....... ' ..............

-10 -- __01....V ---_'-.......... :-- : t

20 ' ', ', '

_0......... i.......... !........... i---

......................

Time, sec

Deg

Roll angle

RFCS on (phase 2) ------ Sideslip angle

.......... i ............................ '

_-"_" - !...... -_i -- -

........... i ............................

Deg/sec

Roll rate

---- Yew rate

0 10 20 30

Time, sec

960702

Figure 19. HARV dynamic motion at 40 ° (_ without the TVCS (phase one data) and with the TVCS

(phase two data).

25
Regardlessof designmethodology,the longitudinalcontrol laws usedo_commandat high

anglesof attack.In all cases,the_ commandbeganto blendwell beforethemaximumlift tx was

reached. Where the crossover occurred depended upon the individual control law. At low angles

of attack, the longitudinal control laws are conventional blends of pitch-rate command and normalforce command. Because of program constraints, pitch-rate command control law architectures at

high angles of attack were not investigated.

The lateral axis commanded wind-axis roll rate. Directional control commands varied between

control laws from pure angle-of-sideslip command to stability-axis roll rate. In every case, the

control laws were designed to be flown "feet on the floor." Many pilots, although not all, expressed

dissatisfaction with this scheme for yaw control at high angles of attack.

The first control law was the initial control law set, referred to as NASA-071 and originally

provided by MDA as a part of the TVCS modification. The initial set was later modified by the

NASA Langley, MDA, and NASA Dryden team. The NASA-0 control law used a longitudinal

model-following design and an eigenstructure assignment design in the lateral--directional axes.

This control law also used a schedule for mixing pitch and yaw commands to the TVCS vanes,

referred to as Mixer 1.37 Because much of the high-a maneuvering proposed for the HARV looks

like "controlled-spin" conditions, a down mode from the RFCS to the basic flight control system

during these maneuvers would satisfy the built-in spin mode logic, and an immediate spin recovery

would be initiated. As a result, yaw rate-expansion flights (spins) were flown as a part of the

envelope expansion of the NASA-0 control law and the TVCS. Seventy-five spin attempts (at

flight idle and military power settings) resulted in 70 fully developed spins. Low and oscillatory

spin modes were investigated with yaw rates varying from 25 deg/sec to as high as 90 deg/sec (left

and right). This yaw-rate expansion gained confidence that the SRC would not be required

to recover the aircraft from a spin and resulted in the SRC never being fired in flight. During

phase two, NASA Langley developed a control law, called NASA-l, as a precursor to the later

TVCS and ANSER control law. 25,26The NASA-1 control law, and later the ANSER control law,

used a technique called variable-output feedback gain to design the longitudinal axis. 72,73 An

eigenstructure-assignment design procedure known as control power, robustness, agility, and

flying qualities tradeoffs (CRAFF) 26,74 was used in the lateral--directional axes in combination with

a control power allocation technique called pseudo controls. 75 In addition, NASA-1 and ANSER

control laws used Mixer 4.276 to control the TVCS vanes. The experience gained with the NASA- 1

control law as risk reduction for the ANSER control law was extremely positive. The OBES

allowed variation in surface rates and limits to vary control power for evaluation of various levels

of pitch recovery in a NASA Langley-led research task called High-Alpha Nosedown Guidelines

(HANG). 49 Later, a similar set of evaluations was made in lateral-directional variations called

High-Angle-of-Incidence Requirements for Roll and Yaw (HAIRRY). 77

Guest-pilot programs were occasionally flown during the course of the program. Some of these

guest-pilot programs were limited in scope, such as demonstration of the aircraft capabilities;

others were more extensive and produced significant findings in control power effectiveness TM and

flying qualities. 77 Guest pilots had a large role in the HARV project, especially near the end of the

program. The HARV project also saw some turnover of pilots because of the length of the program.

This turnover resulted in a large cross section of piloting technique in evaluation of the aircraft that

was further augmented by the guest-pilot pool (table 2).

26
Table2.Pilotsof theNASA F-18HighAlphaResearchVehicle.

Organization Agency

ProjectPilots

EinarEnevoldson Dryden NASA

EdSchneider Dryden NASA

Bill Dana Dryden NASA

Jim Smolka Dryden NASA

Mark Stucky Dryden NASA

PhilBrown Langley NASA

GuestPilots

DavePrather PatuxentRiver U.S.Navy

ChuckSternberg PatuxentRiver U.S.Navy

Ric Traven PatuxentRiver CanadianAir Force

Billie Flynn F-16MATV CanadianAir Force

C. J.Loria PatuxentRiver U.S.MarineCorps

DanGriffith DefenseResearchAgency UnitedKingdom

LarryWalker McAir McDonnell-Douglas

JeffPeer F-16VISTA CalSpan

RogersSmith Dryden NASA

GregFenton PatuxentRiver U.S.Navy

Bob Roth PatuxentRiver U.S.Navy

TomMcMurtry Dryden NASA

GordonFullerton Dryden NASA

DanaPurifoy Dryden NASA

Validation flights of a proposedhigh-o_MIL-STD-1797Aguidelinewerealsomadeby using

basicfightermaneuversandsomelimited air combatmaneuvering.Thismaneuverseriesis called

thestandardtestevaluationmaneuversset(STEMS).79

27
Propulsion

Duringexpansionof thehigh-orenvelopewith theTVCS,aconcernwasraisedregardingthe

possiblestall marginof the GeneralElectricF404engines.During phaseone,no problemshad

beenencountered,butwith theincreasedctin phasetwo,theprecautionwastakenof addingabias

inthe"T56" feedback.TheT56parameteris atemperaturefeedbacksensedbetweenstations5 and

6in theengine,andaddingabiasto thisfeedbackresultsin greaterstallmarginthanexistswithout

it. Thebiaswasthree-positionselectable:nobias,40 R in themediumposition,and 85R in the

highposition.Duringtheenvelopeexpansion,nounintentionalenginestallswereencountered,and

theT56 biaswasneverrequiredduringanyof theflight testing.

Partway throughphasetwo, therightengineandinlet of theHARV aircraftwereextensively

instrumented.27Flushstaticportsandhigh-ratepressuresensorswereinstalledin theinlet lip and

down theduct. Thehighly instrumentedinlet rakewasinstalledjust forward of theright engine

compressorfaceat this time.The datafrom theseinstrumentswererecordedonboardtheHARV

aircraft.A high rateof digital datarecordingwasusedin thehopeof capturinganenginestall

during high-ordynamicmaneuveringflight. During steady-stateflight, no engineanomalieshad

beenrecorded;to captureanenginecompressorstall,military powersettingspinswereflown to

90deg/secyaw rate. In thesemaneuvers,severalself-recoveringpop-stallsdid occur,and the

dataweresuccessfullycaptured(fig. 20). Duringthis phase,investigationswerealsomadeinto

planarwaves (organpipe effect), and researchcontinuedin enginediagnosticsand real-time

thrustmeasurement.At theendof phasetwo, theinletrakeandmostof theinlet instrumentation

wasremoved.

PhaseThree

Phasethreehadprimaryemphasisonforebodyvortexcontrol,38calledtheANSERsystem.The

programlead for this phasewas NASA Langley, with NASA Dryden providing support in

implementationof theANSERsystemin theflight program.

ActuatedNoseStrakesforEnhancedRolling

Controlsresearchfor theANSER systemhelpedto evaluatethe benefitsandtradeoffswith

regardto thrustvectoring,strakes,andcombinationsof the two.By usingthe samecontrol law

designsynthesisasNASA- 1andmakingmodeandgainselectionavailableto thepilot throughthe

digital-display interfaces,direct back-to-backcomparisonswere performedto quantify these

differences.Thecontrol law wasa developmentandexpansionof thepreviouslyflown NASA-1

control laws.26Threemodeswereavailableto thepilot with this system.Thesethreemodeswere

a thrust vectoring-only mode,a thrust-vectoringmode in longitudinal control with a thrustvectoredand strake-blendedmodefor lateral control,and a strakemodewith thrust-vectoring

control longitudinally and strakescontrolling the lateral mode.Additional OBES-programmed

maneuverswereflown to investigateinternalclosed-loopcontrollaw parametersfor identification

to helpcharacterizetheoverallsystemperformanceof theANSERcontrolsandtheaircraft.

28
Pitch rates: - 45 deg/sec to 45 deg/sec

Yaw rates: - 5 deg/eec to - 55 deg/sec

Angles of attack: 45 ° to 100 °

Angle of sideslip: - 18 oto 20 °

Engine gas end I _'_ /- 40 dynamic pressure

fuel system _ _'I \ l probe engine

100 m

Self-recovering stalls

1 2 3 4

80 _ _- Combuster _/_

60 m

Pressure,

Ibf/in 2

4O

20- V I( II II /-- Engine face

0 I 2 3 4

Time, sec

960703

Figure 20. Rake and inlet on right side, in-flight compressor pop-stall time history.

Aerodynamics

Forebody pressures were used to characterize effects of forebody vortex control. 10,55Additional

pressure ports were installed on the strakes to measure integrated forces and moments and to

examine areas of separation and the vortex footprints on the forebody. The smoke system was used

again, and effects of forebody vortex rollup into the stronger LEX vortices were quantified. One

result of the smoke visualization tests was the reduction of the vortex coherence to 4 or 5 body

lengths of the aircraft behind the strake. Comparison of the strake vortex path with wind-tunnel and

29
water-tunnelresultshasshownthe flight andwind-tunneldataagreewell. The strakevortex is

approximatelyonevertical-tailheightabovethetips of theverticaltails.Thewater-tunnelresults

indicatethe strakevortex passesbetweenthe tips of the vertical tails (fig. 21). SomeOBESprogrammedaerodynamicparameteridentificationmaneuverswerealso flown to verify windtunnelandcomputationalfluid dynamicspredictionsregardingtheeffectivenessof thestrakes.

ANSER Flow Visualization

(z = 30", Strake Deployed 90"

Flight

Wind tunnel

Strike vortex

Water tunnel

In-flight vlsualizabon of forebody/strake flowfletd

provides understanding of flowfleld Interaction,

control coupling, and CFD validation

Figure 21. ANSER forebody vortex control comparisons.

9_7_

Controls

Controls research in phase three concentrated on the ANSER control laws. An evaluation of

the STEMS flying qualities was also made, 79.8° and a short study of falling-leaf characteristics of

the HARV configuration was flown. These maneuvers may be used in a MIL-STD-1797A release

to evaluate aircraft flying qualities. The HARV investigation is the most complete of the STEMS

evaluations yet flown. The STEMS evaluations were performed with ANSER control laws flown

back-to-back with the 701E computer control laws as a control. The ANSER control laws allowed

the variation in control effectors and compared forebody strake vortex control with thrustvectoring and basic F-18 aerodynamic control. The intent was to evaluate the ability of the

maneuver to discriminate the high-o_ flying qualities differences between the augmented

unconventional control and baseline aircraft.

30
CONCLUDINGREMARKS

TheNASA F-18High AlphaResearchVehicle(HARV) project,asapartof theNASA HighAlpha TechnologyProgram (HATP), hasproven to be a flexible, capableresearchtool to

investigatethehigh-angle-of-attackregimewith particularemphasisin theareasof aerodynamics,

propulsion,control law research,andhandlingqualities.Manyof thesecapabilitieswereessential

to theperformanceof theprojectandto theextensivebodyof researchproducedby theprogram.

Theeffectivenessandtimelinessof theprojectweregreatlyaidedby innovativethinking and

execution.Theaircraftwasanexcellenttoolfor researchin manyareasbecauseof awell-founded

infrastructure,significantresearchinstrumentation,aflexible approachto problemsolving,anda

dedicatedresearchteam.The researchbaseincorporatedinto the HARV projectand the HATP

spannedall majoraeronauticscenterswithin NASA.

Two major mechanicalsystemsweredeveloped.The first systemwas the thrust-vectoring

control system.Thesevaneswereintendedasanadd-onresearchsystemonly, hencetheirboilerplateandmaintenance-intensivenature.Emergencybackupsystems,whichwererisk-reducingin

envelopeclearance,provedto have a limited useful life that wasdesignedinto the program

schedule.Theresearchinstrumentationwaskeptseparatefrom theaircraftsystemssothatparallel

work could be performedon instrumentationand aircraftsystems.The secondsystemwas the

actuatednosestrakesfor enhancedrolling control laws.Thesecontrollawswerealsodesignedas

aresearchsystemfor forebodyvortexcontrol.Thespinrecoverychutewasalsofound to havea

limited usefullife within theprogram,butnoprovisionfor its deletionwasevermade.

The threeflight phasesof the project stagedintensiveresearchinto different partsof the

schedule,allowingforcompletionof averyambitiousresearchprogram.Aerodynamicsdominated

thefirst phaseof theresearchflights,andcontrolsandpropulsiondominatedphasetwo. Thethird

andfinal phaseof theflight researchwasprimarily in forebodyvortexcontrol,althoughsignificant

work wasalsodonein variouscontrollaw synthesistechniquesandflying qualitiesevaluations.

REFERENCES

IChambers,JosephR., "High-Angle-of-Attack Technology: Progressand Challenges,"

High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology Conference, NASA CP-3149, vol. 1, May 1992,

pp. 1-22.

2Chambers, J. R., "High-Angle-of-Attack Aerodynamics: Lessons Learned," AIAA-86-1774,

June 1986.

3Shaw, Robert L., Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering, Naval Institute Press, 1985.

4Chambers, Joseph R., Gilbert, William E,

Technology, NASA CP-3149, vol. 1, May 1992.

5Chambers, Joseph R., Gilbert, William E,

Technology, NASA CP-3150, vol. 2, May 1992.

and Nguyen, Luat T., High-Angle-of-Attack

and Nguyen, Luat T., High-Angle-of-Attack

31
6Matheny, Neil W., High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology Conference, NASA

CP-3137, vol. 1--4, Apr. 1992.

7Regenie, Victoria, Gatlin, Donald, Kempel, Robert, and Matheny, Neil, "The F- 18 High Alpha

Research Vehicle: A High-Angle-of-Attack Testbed Aircraft," AIAA-92-4121, Aug. 1992.

SNguyen, L. T., Gilbert, W. P., Gera, J., Iliff, K. W., Enevoldson, E. K., and Carr, P. C.,

"Application of High-Alpha Control System Concepts to a Variable-Sweep Fighter Airplane,"

AIAA-80-1582, Aug. 1980.

9Hammett, L. N., Jr., An Investigation of the F-16 High-Angle-of-Attack Pitching-Moment

Discrepancy, AFWAL-TR-81-3107, Sept. 1981.

_°Murri, Daniel G., Biedron, Robert T., et al, "Development of Actuated Forebody Strake

Controls for the F-18 High-Alpha Research Vehicle" High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and

Technology Conference, NASA CP-3149, vol. 1, May 1992.

l_Canter, Dave, "X-31 Post-Stall Envelope Expansion and Tactical Utility Testing," Fourth

NASA High Alpha Conference, NASA CP- 10143, July 1994.

12Zwerneman, W. D. and Eller, B. G., "VISTA/F-16 Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring (MATV)

Control Law Design and Evaluation," Fourth NASA High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143,

July 1994.

13Regenie, V., Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

_4Gilbert, William P. and Gatlin, Donald H., "Review of the NASA High-Alpha Technology

Program," High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology Conference, NASA CP-3149, vol. 1,

May 1992, pp. 23-59.

_SGilbert, William P., Nguyen, Luat T., and Gera, Joseph, "Control Research in the NASA

High-Alpha Technology Program," AGARD-CP-465, Apr. 1990.

16Bowers, Albion H., Regenie, Victoria A., and Flick, Bradley C., "F-18 High Alpha Research

Vehicle: Lessons Learned," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

17Gera, Joseph, "Flight Test Status of the NASA High-Angle-of-Attack Technology Program,"

High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology Conference, NASA CP-3137, Apr. 1992, pp. 1-11.

_8Meyn, Larry A., Lanser, Wendy R., and James, Kevin D., "Full-Scale High Angle-of-Attack

Tests of an F/A-18," AIAA-92-2676, June 1992.

_9Biedron, Robert T. and Whitaker, David L., "Hybrid Structured/Unstructured Grid

Computations for the F/A-18 at High Angle of Attack," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA

CP-10143, July 1994.

2°Murman, Scott M., and Rizk, Yehia M., "Computational Investigation of an F- 18 Aircraft in

the High-Alpha Regime," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

21Fisher, David F. and Lanser, Wendy R., "Flight and Full-Scale Wind-Tunnel Comparison of

Pressure Distributions From an F-18 Aircraft at High Angles of Attack," Fourth High Alpha

Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

32
22Hall,R. M., Banks,D. W., et al, "A StatusReporton High Alpha TechnologyProgram

(HATP)GroundTestto Flight Comparisons,"Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143,

July 1994.

23Erickson, G. E., Water Tunnel Flow Visualization and Wind Tunnel Data Analysis of the

F/A-18," NASA CR-165859, May 1982.

24Nguyen, Luat T. and Gilbert, William E, "Impact of Emerging Technologies on Future

Combat Aircraft Agility," AIAA-90-1304, May 1990.

25Murphy, Pat, Lallman, Frederick J., et al, "'NASA-1-HARV Control Law Evaluation Using

Flight Test Data," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

26Murphy, Patrick C. and Davidson, John B., "Control Design for Future Agile Fighters,"

AIAA-91-2882, Aug. 1991.

27yuhas, Andrew J., Ray, Ronald J., et al, "Design and Development of an F/A-18 Inlet

Distortion Rake: A Cost and Time Saving Solution," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA

CP-10143, July 1994.

28Podleski, S. D., "Installed F/A-18 Inlet Flow Calculations at High Angles of Attack and

Moderate Side Slip," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

29Kempel, Robert, F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle Description, Uniform Resource Locater

http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Projects/HARV/VDD/kempel2.html.

3°Fisher, David E, Richwine, David M., and Banks, Daniel W., Surface Flow Visualization of

Separated Flow on the Forebody of an F- 18 Aircraft and Wind- Tunnel Model, NASA TM- 100436,

May 1988.

31Curry, Robert E. and Richwine, David M., "An Airbome System for Vortex Flow

Visualization on the F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle," AIAA-88-4671, Sept. 1988.

32Fisher, D. F., Curry, R. E., Del Frate, J. H., and Richwine, D. M., "In-Flight Flow

Visualization Techniques on a Vortex-Lift Fighter Aircraft," Flow Visualization V: Proceedings

of the 5th International Symposium on Flow Visualization, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New

York, 1990, pp. 543-548.

33Fisher, David E, Del Frate, John H., and Richwine, David M., "In-Flight Flow Visualization

Characteristics of the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle at High Angles of Attack,"

SAE-89-2222, Sept. 1989.

34Del Frate, John H. and Zuniga, Fanny A., "In-Flight Flow Field Analysis on the NASA F- 18

High Alpha Research Vehicle with Comparisons to Ground Facility Data," AIAA-90-0231

Jan. 1990.

35Richwine, David M. and Fisher, David E, "In-Flight Leading-Edge Vortex Flow-Field Survey

Measurements on a F-18 Aircraft at High Angle of Attack," AIAA-91-3248, Sept. 1991.

36Richwine, David M., Curry, Robert E., and Tracy, Gene V., A Smoke Generator System for

Aerodynamic Flight Research, NASA TM-4137, Sept. 1989.

33
37Pahle,Joseph,Wilson, Joe,Connelly,Patrick, and Carter,John,"Preliminary Flight Test

Results with Multi-Axis Thrust Vectoring" High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology

Conference, vol. 2, NASA CP-3137, Apr. 1992, pp. 35--49.

38Lanser, Wendy R. and Meyn, Larry A., "Forebody Flow Control on a Full-Scale F/A-18

Aircraft," AIAA-92-2674, June 1992.

39Gee, Ken, Agosta-Greenman, Roxana M., et al, "Computational Analysis of Forebody

Tangential Slot Blowing," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

4OLanser, Wendy R., Meyn, Larry A., and James, Kevin D., "Comparison of Full-Scale, SmallScale, and CFD Results for F/A-18 Forebody Slot Blowing," Fourth High Alpha Conference,

NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

41Gates, Russell J., Bowers, Albion H., and Howard, Richard M., "A Comparison of Flight

Input Techniques for parameter Estimation of Highly-Augmented Aircraft" AIAA-96-3363, 1996.

42Wilson, R. Joe, Pahle, Joseph W., and Connelly, Patrick J., "Results of the High Yaw Rate

Expansion Flights" High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology Conference, NASA CP-3137,

Apr. 1992, pp. 13-34.

43Bowers, Albion H., Noffz, Gregory K., Grafton, Sue B., Mason, Mary L. and Peron, Lee R.,

Multiaxis Thrust Vectoring Using Axisymmetric Nozzles and Postexit Vanes on an F/A-18

Configuration Vehicle, NASA TM-101741, Apr. 1991.

44Berrier, Bobby L. and Mason, Mary L., Static Performance of an Axisymmetric Nozzle With

Post-Exit Vanes for Multiaxis Thrust Vectoring, NASA TP-2800, May 1988.

45Asbury, Scott C. and Capone, Francis J., Multiaxis Thrust-Vectoring Characteristics of a

Model Representative of the F-18 High-Alpha Research Vehicle at Angles of Attack From 0 ° to 70 o,

NASA TP-3531, Dec. 1995.

46Johnson, Steven A., Aircraft Ground Test and Subscale Model Results of Axial Thrust Loss

Caused by Thrust Vectoring Using Turning Vanes, NASA TM-4341, Jan. 1992.

47Chacon, Vince, Pahle, Joseph W., and Regenie, Victoria A., Validation of the F-18 High Alpha

Research Vehicle Flight Control and Avionics Systems Modifications, NASA TM-101723,

Oct. 1990.

48Brenner, Martin J., "Aeroservoelastic Modeling and Analysis of a Thrust Vectoring F/A-18

Configuration and Correlation with Test Data" High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology

Conference, NASA CP-3137, Apr. 1992, pp. 69-97.

49Ogburn, Marilyn E., Foster, John V., et al, "High-Angle-Of-Attack Nose-Down Pitch Control

Requirements for Relaxed Static Stability Combat Aircraft," High-Angle-of-Attack Technology,

NASA CP-3149, vol. 1, May 1992, pp. 639-658.

50Klein, Vladislav, "Aerodynamic Characteristics of High-Angle-of-Attack Research Vehicle

(HARV) Determined from Flight Data" High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology

Conference, NASA CP-3149, vol. 1, May 1992, pp. 265-278.

5_Morelli, Eugene A., "Flight Test Validation of Optimal Input Design Using Piloted

Implementation," IFAC SYSID-No. 559, July 1994.

34
52Napolitano,Marcello R., Paris,Alfonso C., Spagnuolo,Joelle, and Bowers,Albion H.

"ParameterEstimationfor the NASA F/A-18 HARV at High Angles of Attack," Atmospheric

Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA-94-3504-CP, Aug. 1994, pp. 388-398.

53Napolitano, Marcello R., Paris, Alfonso C., Seanor, Brad A., and Bowers, Albion H.,

"Estimation of the Lateral-Directional Aerodynamic Parameters from Flight Data for the NASA

F/A-18 HARV," AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA-96-3420-CP, July 1996,

pp. 479-489.

54Napolitano, Marcello R., Paris, Alfonso C., Seanor, Brad A., and Bowers, Albion H.,

"Estimation of the Longitudinal Aerodynamic Parameters from Flight Data for the NASA

F/A-18 HARV," AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, AIAA-96-3419-CP, July 1996,

pp. 469-478.

55Murri, Daniel G., Shah, Gautam H., and DiCarlo, Daniel J., "Preparations for Flight Research

to Evaluate Actuated Forebody Strakes on the F-18 High-Alpha Research Vehicle," Fourth High

Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

56Hoffler, Keith D., Ogbum, Marilyn E., et al, "Utilization and Benefits of Advanced

Aerodynamic and Propulsive Controls: A Simulator Study," High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and

Technology Conference, NASA CP-3149, vol. 2, May 1992, pp. 87-119.

57Meyer, R. R., Jr. and Schneider, E. T., "Real-Time Pilot Guidance for Improved Flight-Test

Maneuvers," AIAA-83-2747, Nov. 1983

58Fisher, David F., Del Frate, John H., and Richwine, David M., In-Flight Flow Visualization

Characteristics of the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle at High Angles of Attack, NASA

TM-4193, May 1991.

59Del Frate, John H., Fisher, David F., and Zuniga, Fanny A., "In-Flight Flow Visualization and

Pressure Measurement at Low Speeds on the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle," Vortex

Flow Aerodynamics, AGARD-CP-494, July 1991.

6°Fisher, David E, Del Frate, John L., and Zuniga, Fanny A., Summary of In-Flight Flow

Visualization Obtained From the NASA High Alpha Research Vehicle, NASA TM-101734,

Jan. 1991.

61Fisher, David F., Banks, Daniel W., and Richwine, David M., F-18 High Alpha Research

Vehicle Surface Pressures: Initial In-Flight Results and Correlation With Flow Visualization and

Wind-Tunnel Data, NASA TM-101724, Aug. 1990.

62Whitmore, Stephen A., Moes, Timothy R., and Larson, Terry J., Preliminary Results From A

Subsonic High Angle-Of-Attack Flush Airdata Sensing (HI-FADS) System: Design, Calibration,

and Flight Test Evaluation, NASA TM-101713, Jan. 1990.

63Moes, Timothy R. and Whitmore, Stephen A., A Preliminary Look at Techniques Used to

Obtain A irdata From Flight at High Angles of Attack, NASA TM-101729, Dec. 1990.

64Whitmore, Stephen A. and Moes, Timothy R., The Effects of Pressure Sensor Acoustics on

Airdata Derived from a High-Angle-of-Attack Flush Airdata Sensing (HI-FADS) System, NASA

TM-101736, Jan. 1991.

35
65Moes, Timothy R. and Whitmore, Stephen A., Preliminary Results From an Airdata

Enhancement Algorithm with Application to High-Angle-of-Attack Flight, NASA TM-101737,

Jan. 1991.

66Whitmore, Stephen A., Development of a Pneumatic High-Angle-of-Attack Flush Airdata

Sensing System" NASA TM-104241, Sept. 1991.

67Fisher, David F. and Meyer, Robert R., Jr., Flow Visualization Techniques for Flight

Research, NASA TM-100455, Oct. 1988.

68Meyn, Larry, James, Kevin D., and Geenen, Robert, "Correlation of F/A-18 Tail Buffet

Results," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

69Lee, B. H. K. and Brown, D., "Wind Tunnel Studies of F/A-18 Tail Buffet," AIAA90-1432, June 1990.

7°Wichman, Keith D., Pahle, Joseph W., et al, "High Alpha Handling Qualities and Agility

Flight Research on the F/A-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle" Fourth High Alpha Conference,

NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

71Pahle, Joseph W., Powers, Bruce, et al, Research Flight-Control System Development for the

F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle, NASA TM- 104232, Apr. 1991.

72Ostroff, Aaron J. "Superagility Application of a Variable-Gain Output Feedback Control

Design Methodology," High-Angle-of-Attack Projects and Technology Conference, NASA

CP-3149, May 1992, pp. 1201-1217.

73Ostroff, Aaron J., "High-Alpha Application of Variable-Gain Output Feedback Control,"

AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, vol. 15, Mar-Apr 1992, pp. 491-497.

74Davidson, John B., Foster, John V., et al, "Development of a Control Law Design Process

Utilizing Advanced Synthesis Methods With Application to the NASA F-18 HARV,' High Angleof-Attack Projects and Technology Conference, NASA CP-3149, May 1992.

75Lallman, F. J., Relative Control Effectiveness Technique With Application to Airplane Control

Coordination, NASA TP-2416, Apr. 1985.

76Bundick, W. T., Pahle, J. W., Yeager, J. C., and Beissner, F. L., Jr., Design of a Mixer for the

Thrust-Vectoring System on the High-Alpha Research Vehicle, NASA TM-110228, June 1996.

77Ogbum, Marilyn E., Ross, Holly M., et al, "Flight Validation of Ground-Based Assessment

for Control Power Requirements at High Angles of Attack," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA

CP-10143, July 1994.

78Steinberg, C. A., Traven, Ricardo, and Lackey, James, "Navy and the HARV: High Angle of

Attack Tactical Utility Issues," Fourth High Alpha Conference, NASA CP-10143, July 1994.

79Cord, Thomas J., Leggett, David B., et al, "Flying Qualities Evaluation Maneuvers,"

Technologies for Highly Manoeuvrable Aircraft, AGARD CP-548, Mar. 1994.

8°Wilson, David J., Riley, David R., Citurs, Kevin D., and Cord, Thomas J., "Development of

Flying Qualities and Agility Evaluation Maneuvers," AIAA-93-3645, Aug. 1993.

36

Form Approved REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE OMBNo.0704-0188

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,

gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington HeaCk:luarters Services, Directorate for Informat_on O _erations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis

Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188). Washington, De 20503,

1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORTTYPE AND DATES COVERED

October 1996 Technical Memorandum

4.TITLE AND SUBTITLE

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

6. AUTHOR(S)

Albion H. Bowers, Joseph W. Pahle, R. Joseph Wilson, Bradley C. Flick,

Richard L. Rood

7.PERFORMINGORGANIZATIONNAME(S)ANDADDRESS(ES)

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

P.O. Box 273

Edwards, California 93523-0273

9.SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCYNAME(S) ANDADDRESS(ES)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546-0001

S, FUNDING NUMBERS

WU 505-68-30

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

REPORT NUMBER

H-2137

10. SPONSORING/MONITORING

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

NASA TM-4772

11. SUPPLEMENTARYNOTES

Presented at the NASA Langley High-Angle-of-Attack Technology Conference, Lan _ley Research Center, Hampton,

Virginia, Sept. 17-19, 1996.

12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Unclassified--Unlimited

Subject Category 05

12b. Di_iHiuUTION CODE

13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

This paper gives an overview of the NASA F-I8 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.

14. SUBJECTTERMS

Aircraft aerodynamics, Control laws, Flight test, High angle-of-attack, Thrust

vectoring,

17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

OF REPORT OFTHIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT

Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified

NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Available from the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, 800 Elkridge Landing Road,

Linthicum Heights, MD 21090; (301)621-0390

15. NUMBER OF PAGES

40

16. PRICE CODE

AO3

120. LIMITATION OF AB_/HACT

Unlimited

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)

Prescribedby ANSI Sld Z39-18

298-102