NASA’s X-66 aircraft, centerpiece of the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, exemplifies “sustainability” by reusing an old MD-90 cockpit as the basis for its new X-66 simulator.
Generally, scrapped aircraft end up in “graveyards,” which are storage fields where they spend years being dismantled for parts by manufacturers, researchers, engineers and designers. It was in one of these fields that the team found the cockpit for their new simulator, before transporting it to the NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
Simulators: The key to aviation safety
The project involves cataloging, cleaning and disassembling the cockpit of the old crumbled aircraft for use in the simulator. This is where NASA Armstrong’s Simulation Engineering Division comes in. This team develops high-fidelity engineering simulators that allow pilots and engineers to run real-life scenarios in a safe environment.
Simulators are crucial to any X-plane, as they allow researchers to test unknown elements without compromising pilot safety or the structural integrity of the aircraft. In addition, simulators provide the opportunity to solve design challenges during the construction of the aircraft, ensuring that the final product is as efficient as possible.
NASA transforms an old cockpit into the X-66
To build the X-66, the project team will use the structure of another MD-90, shortening it, installing new engines and replacing the wing assemblies with a reinforced wing design.
The project Sustainable Flight Demonstrator is NASA’s effort to develop more efficient airframes as the nation moves toward sustainable aviation. In addition to the revolutionary wing design of the X-66, the project team will work with industry, academia and other government organizations to identify, select and develop sustainable airframe technologies.
The goal of the project is to shape the next generation of single-aisle aircraft, the workhorses of commercial aviation fleets worldwide. Boeing and NASA have partnered to develop the experimental demonstrator aircraft.
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Source and photo: NASA
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