USC: PFT Program

[diogom]

The PFT (Powered Flight Tests) Program has now concluded with the safe landing of Cruise Test #2.

The following are the flight reports of all PFT flights.

Take-off and Landing Test #1
The purpose of this flight was to see if the Delta Glider would be able to take-off, fly and land under its own power.

Monitor began takeoff roll at 16:30 ET on July 3. Flew runway heading 330 to altitude of 1500 Meters and speed of 250 M/s. Changed course at OMN to 090. Changed to heading 180 at 25 Radial from KSCX. Maintained heading 180 and intercepted 270 radial of VRB. Flew 270 to VRB and turned to 345 radial of OMN. Flew to OMN and changed heading to 090. Changed to heading 180 at 25 Radial from KSCX. Maintained heading 180 and intercepted 270 radial of VRB. Flew heading 270 to VRB and turned to intercept 360 radial of KSCX. 20 KM from KSCX, began descent to 500 M and reduced velocity to 180 M/s. At KSCX turned to intercept localizer fro KSC runway 33. Touched down at 17:40 ET.

Aircraft responded well to all inputs. Atmospheric autopilot works well. Approach autopilot works well. If this were an atmospheric craft I would suggest better terrestrial navigation and enhanced automated landing capabilities .

Take off and landing in this craft is very easy. This mission was successful.

-jzarvey

Take-off and Landing Test #2
The purpose of this test was similar to the previous one, but to test it in a longer period of time.

Monitor began takeoff roll at 18:30 ET on July 5 with 9600 Kg of fuel. Flew runway heading 330 to altitude of 5000 Meters and speed of 250 M/s. Changed course at OMN to 090. Changed to heading 180 at 025 Radial from KSCX. Maintained heading 180 and intercepted 270 radial of VRB. Flew 270 to VRB and turned to 345 radial of OMN. Flew the OMN - KSCX intercept- 180 to VRB intercept - VRB - OMN route two times. For the final circuit flew from OMN heading 090 to intercept the 025 radial of KSCX. At intercept, turned to heading 180 to intercept 270 radial of VRB and turned to heading 270. Intercepted 360 radial of KSCX and turned to heading 360. 50 Km from KSCX began descent to 500 M and reduced velocity to 180 M/s. At KSCX turned to intercept localizer fro KSC runway 33. Touched down at 20:52 ET with 7180 Kg of fuel on board.

Total flight time was 2 hours and 22 minutes. 2420 Kg fuel was consumed. 2130 Km was traveled. Fuel consumption was .28 Kg per second.

Take-off and Landing Test #2 is a success. We are a go for Take-off and Landing Test #3.

-jzarvey

Take-off and Landing #3
Once again, this test had similar goals, but was tested for supersonic flight.

Monitor began takeoff roll at 18:30 ET on July 7 with 9600 Kg of fuel on board. Flew runway heading 330 to altitude of 9000 Meters and speed of 350 M/s. Changed course at OMN to 090. Decision made in consultation with flight control to make only one circuit due to higher than expected fuel consumption rate of 4.30 Kg/s. Changed to heading 180 at 025 Radial from KSCX. Maintained heading 180 and intercepted 270 radial of VRB. Started descent to 1000 Meters and velocity reduction to 250 Meters/s to attain approach configuration. Flew 270 to VRB and turned to 360 radial of KSCX. 50 Km from KSCX began descent to 500 M and reduced velocity to 180 M/s. At KSCX turned to intercept localizer from KSC runway 33. Touched down at 17:04 ET with 2487 Kg of fuel on board.

Total flight time was 34 minutes. 7113 Kg fuel was consumed. Total average fuel consumption rate was 3.49 Kg per second.

Take-off and Landing Test #3 is a success. We are a go for Cruise Test #1.

-jzarvey

Cruise Test #1
This test was meant to see how well the Delta Glider would perform under prolonged atmospheric flight.

Monitor took off from KSC runway 33 at 12:00 Noon on 9 July with 9600 Kg of fuel. Climbed to altitude of 5000 Meters and a velocity of 250 M/s. Flew heading 025 on course for Wallops Island facility. 100 Km from Wallops began descent to 500 Meters and deceleration to 180 m/s for approach configuration. Guided Monitor to intercept localizer for Wallops RWY 03. Landed at 1320 with 8259 Kg of fuel.

Consumed 1341 Kg of fuel. Fuel was consumed at a rate of 0.28 Kg/s.

Once again, the Monitor was a dream to fly. Handling was excellent. We are a go for Cruise Test #2.

-jzarvey

Cruise Test #2
This was a re-test of Cruise Test #1, and also, it was meant to return it to its home hangar at Kennedy Space Center.

Monitor departed Wallops Island RWY 27 at Noon on 11 Jul with 3072 Kg of fuel on board. Flew runway heading then turned to heading 205 at 250 M/s. 100 Km from KSC turned to heading 180 until intercepted 330 radial of KSC VOR. At intercept began approach descent to 500 M and decelerated to 180 M/s. Flew heading until intercepted localizer for KSC RWY 330. Monitor rolled to a stop at 13:28 with 1852 Kg of fuel on board.

Monitor used 1220 Kg of fuel at a rate of .23 Kg/s. Distance covered was 1320 Km.

This series of tests were successful. We are a go for the VTOL tests.

-jzarvey

We will be moving on to the VTOL tests meant to test out the Vertical Take Off and Landing properties of the Delta Glider. If successful, this will make it one of the most versatile Spacecraft in history. Ky will be flying them except for VTOL test #2 (due to personal reasons) and Diogo will be flying that one.

We'd like to give a big thanks to jzarvey for flying these tests.

Remember to check for updates often on our site at http://unionspacecommand.webs.com

And to check for updates on our ISS Expedition, Expedition-56 at http://www.orbiter-forum.com/blog.php?b=808

Pictures can be made available upon request. (Some mission pictures have been removed from the site in order to make way for new mission photos) PM Eli13 for more details.

 

[Scruce]

Absolutely excellent :thumbup:, this VSA has excelled against all other open VSA's. Keep up the good work!

 

[diogom]

Thanks!

 

[Eli13]

Thanks we will definitely try to improve-always! We always love to hear it when someone likes our VSA.