Preliminary Airworthiness Evaluation of the Rutan Aircraft Factory (RAF), Inc. LONG-EZ Airplane with External Sight.
Abstract
The US Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity conducted a Preliminary Airworthiness Evaluation of the LONG-EZ airplane with an external sensor (Combat Surveillance Airborne Test Bed (CSATB) configuration). During the test program 13 flights were conducted for a total of 15.3 hours, of which 11.6 were productive. The objectives of the evaluation were to assess the performance and handling qualities of the LONG-EZ so that the US Army Aviation systems Command could issue an airworthiness release to allow the 9th Infantry Division to conduct a mission evaluation of the CSATB configured aircraft. All tests were performed at an average gross weight of 1335 pounds and nominal mission longitudinal center of gravity (cg). Test results were compared with basic data obtained during previous testing and evaluated against military specification MIL-F-8785C. The performance was degraded considerably by the installation of the external sensor with handling qualities at the mid cg essentially identical to those obtained near the aft cg limit, FS 104.0, for the basic aircraft. The performance capabilities and handling qualities, however, are adequate for the CSATB evaluation including night operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA145381
Entities
People
- D. L. Underwood
- G. M. Yamakawa
- T. L. Reynolds
- W. F. Carmona