SPACEPHOTOS

The small numbers on the nose of this F-18 aircraft at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, show the locations of 11 tiny holes which are an integral part of a new air data system installed on the aircraft. The Real-Time Flush Air Data Sensing system measures the speed and direction of the airflow past the aircraft and its altitude, similar to standard air data systems. It incorporates flush-mounted pressure taps, miniature transducers and an advanced research computer to give pilots more accurate information than standard systems employing external probes can provide. Developed by Dryden researchers in cooperation with Honeywell’s Research and Technology Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, the system was flight tested on Dryden’s Systems Research Aircraft (SRA) last year, and is now being used as a precise reference for other air data systems currently being evaluated on the modified F-18.