F/A-18C/D LITENING POD LOADS ENVELOPE EXPANSION LESSONS LEARNED

摘要

The LITENING Pod is an advanced airborne targeting system that provides both infrared and optical target acquisition, laser designation and ranging capabilities. It is currently operational on the F/A-18A-D centerline station (station 5) or with a limited flight envelope on the shoulder station (station 4). The purpose of this envelope expansion program was to clear the full loads envelope for carriage of the LITENING Pod on the shoulder station of the F/A-18A-D to allow for a more robust air-to-ground weapons loadout. This program consisted of dynamic, high Mach, maximum g maneuvers near the edge of the aircraft operating limits making this a high risk test. Practice flights for the pilots and simulator events for the entire test team were a few of the measures taken to mitigate test risks. Even with these practices in place, several miscues, obstacles, and mistakes happened along the way. Some of these problems were noticed prior to the first flight, but problems including incorrect real-time and post-flight safety of test parameter calculations, unpredicted aircraft handling qualities and many others were found throughout the flight test program. As these problems were discovered they were accounted for and corrected, but they negatively impacted the test program cost and schedule. Ultimately, this program came to a premature end when a class B mishap occurred due to mechanical failure unrelated to the test. This paper addresses risk mitigation measures, how these problems were identified and solved throughout the flight test program and lessons learned from this test program that can be passed on to other test organizations.