The team was contractually required to prove that the Super Hornet would be safe from flutter throughout its flight envelope and 15 percent above its design limit airspeed. Flutter is a destructive aeroelastic phenomenon that can best be described as a vibration that continuously builds in intensity. All flutter tests were flown by E1, a single-seat version of the U.S. Navy's newest strike fighter. ITT test pilot Jim Sandberg of Northrop Grumman was at the controls during the Oct. 23 milestone flight. We've eliminated one more headache for pilots and the mission planning staff because the Super Hornet can carry any combination of stores at its design speed limit.
Limit dives are one of the many test maneuvers performed during flutter testing.
We have to climb as high as we can, go as fast as we can, and then dive, but only to the speed limit and no farther. The team will now use E1 for flying qualities tests.