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Aviation History
1972
1972 - 0095.PDF
..••.•:•••:•.•••.•..•••••••• ..•7--"-/.':-.".:v--j.';' Bright star from Burbank #y Cap? i?. £. Gillman Number 259 of the series THE INEVITABLE Los Angeles smog blurred the outlines of the city and softened the shoulder of the moun tains as the Beech Queen Air climbed out of Burbank and carried me over the hills to Palmdale, the Lockheed establishment on the edge of the Mojave desert. This was the business end of the trip, and the prospect of flying the shiny new TriStar made the long trip out worthwhile. The test flight which I had been invited to join was scheduled to take off at six o'clock, just before dawn, for the temperatures which develop later in the day are very high—around the ninety mark. This, coupled with the fact that the airfield is 2,500ft above sea level, results in conditions which are not too representative of normal airline flying. The aircraft to be flown was the second off the line, resplendent in TWA livery, and the test schedule was comprehensive, covering lateral and directional stability, longitudinal dynamics, lateral control power, high-speed night and stalling. For this last item, a cone was to be trailed to provide a true static source. At such an early stage in a test programme it is inevitable that few things can be stabilised and, although ostensibly this was a TWA lyout, there were a number of non-standard instruments installed solely for test purposes. The engines also were not to the final build standard. Atv,thn Power required to move off chocks the noise level °n « ?lght deck was low- The nosewheel steering which is ntted on the captain's side only, while positive, was extremely heavy. The manufacturers appreciate this and production aircraft will be fitted with a lightened version. For the take-off, the weight was 353,0001b, which included 15 flight-test crew, just over 100,0001b of fuel and 4,9001b of water ballast. This weight gave a e.g. of 25 per cent SMC, a Vi/Vfi speed of 140kt with a 10° flap setting, and a V3 of 150kt, in the prevailing temperature of 15°C with no wind. Just prior to take-off, the Go around/take-off switch was depressed momentarily, and Take-off appeared on the AFCS mode-annunciating indicators. This results, when loads are on the undercarriage microswitches, in a demand which is modified by flap setting, rate of rotation and acceleration so that, if it is followed, the aircraft will achieve a minimum speed of 1 • 25 Vs and a maximum body angle of 15° during climb-out. The basic reference for the EPR was extracted from a table using airfield height and temperature and the resulting figure of 1-48 was set on the tape-type instruments. As the throttles were opened up for take-off the Ni gauges settled at 90-5 per cent and the fuel flow was 11,0001b per engine per hour. The noise level on the flight deck was not unduly high, and, as is customary in a large aircraft where one is sitting far from the ground, the acceleration appeared somewhat slow. There was no in herent swing, and the rudder control, which is connected to the nosewheel steering, was good and positive. VR speed was reached in 6,000ft and the aircraft rotated readily with a pull force that was extremely- light for an aircraft of this size, around 201b I estimate. The pitch demand of the attitude director moved down the face of the instrument and further rotation was needed to keep it zeroed until a nose-up attitude of 15° was achieved. Be-
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