The simulator also can be used to duplicate an existing aircraft's flying qualities and to present dangerous flight situations in a safe environment for crew training. It can refine an airplane design before final production drawings are released. It also helps to study the effects of minor or major changes in the aircraft's components, powerplant or other systems. It is the final, essential step in the development process. Experimental Research Aircraft Flight research involves doing precision maneuvers in either a specially built experimental aircraft or an existing production airplane that has been modified.
Research aircraft are the tools for exploration and discovery.
Each is instrumented to acquire data about the aircraft, its systems and even the surrounding environment during research flights. The X-15 program collected data that contributed to more than 750 research papers and reports. The program also illuminated discoveries about hypersonic aerodynamic heating that were not predicted by other methods. Production Aircraft as Research Vehicles Production Aircraft as Research Vehicles Modified production aircraft have been used for flight research at Dryden since the 1950s. In the early 1970s they became the primary tools for research as it became focused on more specific concepts within the envelopes of existing aircraft.