The Test team plans for, collects
and evaluates
TEST DATA.
All the hardware
artifacts shown on this page are on display at the Museum. For
purposes of the test scenario shown
here, the artifacts selected are historic in nature and are not intended to
reflect any singular test or aircraft configuration.
The Test Pilot manually records flight event data on a KNEEPAD.
Ground based OPTICS,
mounted in optical tracking stations called Cinetheodolites, as well as lasers and radars precisely track
and record the aircraft's actual in-flight position over the course of the
test flight.
Powerful GROUND BASED RADARS present precise time-based flight position information to confirm what on-board aircraft telemetry data tells Test Engineers.
State signals, called Telemetry, are transmitted from all the various instrumentation devices onboard the aircraft to very fast DATA REDUCTION COMPUTERS on the ground. Here the telemetry and tracking data are reduced in near real time.
The reduced telemetry is presented in near real time and in corrected engineering units to Flight Test Engineers via a GROUND STATION.
Patuxent River FLIGHT TEST ENGINEERS (not on display) interpret or evaluate the data collected from the flight test.
For the fun of it, See if you can locate and identify all of the above pictured
items on your next visit to the
PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR MUSEUM!
