F-22 Environmental Control System/Thermal Management System (ECS/TMS) Flight Test Program - Downloadable Constants, an Innovative Approach

The F-22 ECS/TMS is currently well into its flight test program. Flight test anomalies have surfaced during dynamic/transient flight conditions. These are areas where traditional ECS steady state analysis techniques and ground laboratory testing fall short in predictive ability. For many design criteria full verification and validation can only occur on the aircraft during flight test. However when this activity is balanced against the requirement to undergo formal software qualification testing for each release the activity can be cost/schedule prohibitive. The ECS/TMS Integrated Product Team has developed a method by which the ECS software can be modified via downloadable constants. This allows post flight modification of the ECS software without the need to repeat qualification testing. Therefore, based on flight test data analysis, the ECS software functionality may be modified in near real time. This paper discusses the downloadable concept. Some of the types of problems that can be addressed are highlighted. Lessons learned are presented.