The X-36 Program: A Test Pilot's Perspective on UAV Development Testing

  • Magazine Article
  • TBMG-29937
Published June 01, 1999 by Tech Briefs Media Group in United States
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  • English

The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) has been a partner in many uninhabited-aerial-vehicle (UAV) test programs. Our participation has largely been in the areas of technical oversight and range safety, but the X-36 program provided an opportunity to get some "stick and throttle" experience in this very unique type of flying. It was also an excellent opportunity to evaluate first hand the elements which make a successful UAV test program. I participated in the program as part of an independent review team, a chase pilot, and as a project pilot. In November 1997, I piloted two parameter-identification and flight-envelope-expansion sorties - they proved to be some of the most intense flight testing of my career.