View allAll Photos Tagged Testbed
Honeywell testbed 757 stayed overnight in Ottawa. Here she is departing for Birmingham, UK at 7:00am in beautiful sunrise light.
XV Patrick Blackett (X01) is an experimental ship used by the Royal Navy as a testbed for new technologies, including unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles.
She is named after Patrick Blackett, a Royal Navy veteran and Nobel Prize-winning British physicist
Pictured here departing Portsmouth Harbour on trials work.
The long, slender wing of the Perseus B remotely piloted research aircraft can be clearly seen in this photo, taken on the ramp of NASA's Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in September 1999. Perseus B is a remotely piloted aircraft developed as a design- performance testbed under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. Perseus was one of several flight vehicles involved in the ERAST project. A piston engine, propeller- powered aircraft, Perseus was designed and built by Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, Manassas, Virginia. Perseus is a high-wing monoplane with a conventional tail design. Its narrow, straight, high-aspect-ratio wing is mounted atop the fuselage. The aircraft is a pusher, designed with the propeller mounted in the rear. This design allows for interchangeable scientific-instrument payloads to be placed in the forward fuselage. The design also allows for unobstructed airflow to the sensors and other devices mounted in the payload compartment.
Credit: NASA/Tom Tschida
Image Number: EC99-45152-4
Date: September 1999
Arrival at Toulouse Blagnac airport of the first A321XLR prototype, from Hamburg XFW Airbus plant.
Beautiful low pass over Airbus facilities : Welcome at Toulouse XLR !
Motorola testbed aircraft (N703G) for their Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR). Grumman Gulfstream I, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, October 1978 during a rainstorm. Scanned from Kodachrome transparency. Nikon Nikkormat, Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 non-AI.
03/03/19 Blackbird Air Park.
61-7973 Constructed as a SR-71A.
22 December 1964 First flight Flown from Lockheed Plant 42.
Circa 1964 Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Air Force with s/n 61-7973.
Transferred to Edwards AFB, CA. Extensive flight testing.
January 1966 Transferred to Strategic Air Command (SAC), Beale AFB, CA.
Transferred to Kadena AB, Japan.
Transferred to RAF Mildenhall, England.
21 July 1987 Damaged during a demonstration flight at RAF Mildenhall.
21 July 1987 Last flight.
Flown from Mildenhall to Plant 42 at Palmdale, CA. Landed with a total of 1,729.9 total flying hours.
6 March 1990 Set a transcontinental coast to coast record, flying 2,404 statue miles in 68 minutes and 17 seconds.
Restored. The work was carried out by the Lockheed Advanced Development Company.
To National Museum of the United States Air Force Loan Program, Wright Field, Dayton, OH.
Circa 2003 Placed on display with Blackbird Airpark, Palmdale, CA.
60-6924 Constructed as an A-12. Two J75 engines originally installed.
Circa 1960 Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Air Force with s/n 60-6924.
27 February 1962
Transported by ground.
Trucked to the test site. This airframe had been designated the primary testbed for airworthiness and handling qualities, envelope expansion, airframe/powerplant integration, subsystems and propulsion.
25 April 1962 First flight.
During a high-speed taxi run, Lockheed test pilot Louis W. Schalk took it airborne for the first time, flying for about a mile and a half at an altitude of around 20 feet.
26 April 1962 First flight.
Lockheeds first planned flight took place on this day.
30 April 1962 First flight.
Shalk flew again for the customers official first flight, attaining a top speed of 340 knots and a peak altitude of 30,000 feet.
4 May 1962
Flew supersonic for the first time, Mach 1.1 at 40,000 feet.
5 October 1962
Made its first flight with one J58 and one J75 engine.
9 March 1963
First flight with two J58 engines.
January 1964
Lockheed test pilot James Eastham took Article 121 to Mach 3.3 with 15 minutes cruise time above Mach 3.2.
Completed 322 flights for a total of 418.2 hours.
6 June 1968
On behalf of the owner stored with/at Lockheed Plant 42, Palmdale, CA.
To National Museum of the United States Air Force Loan Program, Wright Field, Dayton, OH.
Loaned to 95 ABW/MU, Edwards AFB, CA.
September 1991
Loaned to Blackbird Airpark, Palmdale, CA.
17 February 2000
Transferred to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposal Center (MASDC) with inventory number AF0001.
The first prototype A350 F-WXWB (MSN 001), testbed for A350 product improvements. A comparison of two close-up images, taken from the same location, several months apart, showing the new, larger winglets (sharklets if you prefer) being tested (above) compared to the old winglets (below). Toulouse Blagnac TLS/LFBO.
Categories:
Airbus - A350 - A350-900 - Airbus Industrie - Factory Testflight - TLS/LFBO
Collections:
EMD's 5740 with the test train over Raton Pass, with an F unit, and an SDP40F and an Oakway SD60. May 1987.
HM008ar
The BAE Systems’ owned Jetstream (G-BWWW) is a unique aircraft. Known as ‘The Flying Testbed’, is an aerial laboratory which has been developed to be flown by pilots or as an Uninhabited Air Vehicle (UAV).
KLAX (Los Angeles International Airport) - 29 DEC 2016
"Nippon Cargo 139 Heavy" from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (KORD) on short final to RWY 25L.
Production Site: Everett (PAE)
Rollout: 27 JAN 2010
First flight: 14 MAR 2010
Test registration: N50217
Hex Code: A643F9
Configuration: Testbed
Engines: 4x GEnx-2B67
Delivery to Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA): 10 JAN 2013 as JA12KZ
Ferried PAE-NRT on 10-11 JAN 2013 on delivery
Hex Code: 846333
Configuration: Cargo
Engines: 4x GEnx-2B67
Boeing 737-55S
cn: 26541 / ln: 2319
ff 19-06-1992
10-07-1992 OK-XGC CSA - Czech Airlines, config CY108
02-2012 repainted to "Retro" CSA special colours
13-01-2013 wfu
29-01-2015 ZS-TFJ Africa Aircraft Mantenance
02-07-2015 std FAOR/JNB
16-07-2021 ZS-TFJ Paramount Aerospace Systems, as a Testbed, conducting research / test flights
Seen on final approach to rwy 01L as OK446 from Prague this saturday 21 years ago
Scanned from original Fuji HR200 negative film
LY-LTF, an Embraer ERJ-175LR of Air Lituanica, lining up on RWY28 at Dublin Airport, operating seasonal charter flight LTU956 to Palanga in North Western Lithuania.
This airframe first took flight in August 2003. It was the 2nd prototype of the ERJ-175, and was operated by Embraer as a testbed aircraft for the first 3 years of its life carrying registration PP-XJG. In December 2006, it began is passenger carrying days, operating for Air Caraïbes as F-OFLY. It then joined German airline Cirrus Airlines as D-ALIB in 2008, before a year later heading back home to Brazil, operating for Brazilian regional airline TRIP Linhas Aéreas as PP-PJD. It stayed with them for 4 years, until TRIP was merged with Azul when they offloaded the aircraft to the lessor. Air Lituanica took over the lease in September 2013 who operated it until the airline ceased trading in May 2015. The aircraft was scrapped in 2015 in Kemble
Honeywell Test Bed, N757HW at Dublin Airport, 24th August 2018 operating a High Speed Wifi connectivity demonstration flight to and from Brno in Czech Republic.
N789ZB Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Boeing Testbed 2x GEnx-1B 23. Apr 2013
JA861J Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Japan Airlines C44W35Y116 2x GEnx-1B 09. Jun 2015 Ferried PAE-NRT 10 - 06/11/2015 on delivery
PT-SIH - Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia -
DLT (leased from Embraer)
at Cologne-Bonn Airport (CGN) in 1986
c/n 120004 - built in 1984 and used as testbed by Embraer-
leased to DLT between 01/1986 and 07/1987 -
final user was RICO Linhas Aereas as PT-WGE from 1997 - damaged 8/13/2002 Manaus - veered off pavement after brake failure - dbr -scrapped
scanned from Kodachrome-slide
Another view of Hawker Beechcraft 350 Super King Air N6147U caught on short finals to RAF Brize Norton
Owned by Boeing and festooned with all sorts of sensors and aerials, it is presumably used as some sort of test and evaluation platform?
Either way it was certainly the star item seen there that day
276A1668
In some ways, star clusters are like giant families with thousands of stellar siblings. These stars come from the same origins – a common cloud of gas and dust – and are bound to one another by gravity. Astronomers think that our Sun was born in a star cluster about 4.6 billion years ago that quickly dispersed.
By studying young star clusters, astronomers hope to learn more about how stars – including our Sun – are born. NGC 6231, located about 5,200 light years from Earth, is an ideal testbed for studying a stellar cluster at a critical stage of its evolution: not long after star formation has stopped.
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has been used to identify the young Sun-like stars in NGC 6231, which have, until recently, been hiding in plain sight. Young star clusters like NGC 6231 are found in the band of the Milky Way on the sky. As a result, interloping stars lying in front of or behind NGC 6231 greatly outnumber the stars in the cluster. These stars will generally be much older than those in NGC 6231, so members of the cluster can be identified by selecting signs of stellar youth.
Young stars stand out to Chandra because they have strong magnetic activity that heats their outer atmosphere to tens of millions of degrees Celsius and causes them to emit X-rays. Infrared measurements assist in verifying that an X-ray source is a young star and in inferring the star's properties.
This Chandra X-ray image of NGC 6231 shows a close-up of the inner region of the cluster. Chandra can detect a range of X-ray light, which has been split into three bands to create this image. Red, green, and blue represents the lower, medium, and high-energy X-rays. The brightest X-ray emission is white.
The Chandra data, combined with infrared data from the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Variables in the Vía Lactéa survey has provided the best census of young stars in NGC 6231 available. An infrared image from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey explorer is shown on the left.
Image credit: NASA/CXC/University of Valparaiso/M. Kuhn et. al WISE:NASA/JPL/WISE
At the height of the recent heatwave (climbing beyond 30°C in the Clydebank area), the testbed for First Glasgow's Eclipse Gemini-bodied Volvo B9TL refurbishment programme (WLT 408/37195; ex-SF07 FEJ) turns into the 2's Faifley terminus, completing a run from Baillieston.
This registration would have likely been a regular visitor to this area in the late 1980s/early 1990s, as Kelvin Central's Routemaster 1912 (ex-LT RM408) was a regular on the 5A; the 2 being it's modern-day equivalent.
Photo Date: 28th June 2018
One of the best movements in my entire collection!! N747GE is an ex-Pan Am 747-100 testbed aircraft for General Electric although it is powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A engines.
It’s one of the oldest 747s still in service with its first flight in 1970.
It’s departing via 25L for Victorville via Guam and Honolulu after a month-long stay in HKG where it underwent maintenance at HAECO. The testbed 741 is due to be replaced with a 744 in the future.
Photo from the Stephan Barth collection, scan kindly provided by him for inclusion on this page.
München-Riem
January 1984
PH-FSR
Fokker F27-400M Sentinel
10655
Fokker
Information from airhistory.net - thanks to Stephan Barth:
Fokker used this 1983-built airframe for three years, initially as an engine testbed, thereafter as a demonstrator for maritime surveillance duties. In 1986, the Friendship was sold to Scibe/Zaire as 9Q-CBE. After being hit by rebel gunfire during flight in September 1991, it made a successful emergency landing at Goma; there were no casualties, but the aircraft was dbr.
Registration details for this airframe:
rzjets.net/aircraft/?reg=143062
PH-FSR with Fokker at FAB in September 1984 (Fokker Sentinel demonstrator colours):
www.flickr.com/photos/158949556@N05/48871798883
PH-FSR with Fokker at AMS in November 1984 (all white again with Fokker logo on nose):
www.flickr.com/photos/130658785@N08/53136168316
This airframe as 9Q-CBE with Scibe Zaire at AMS in June 1986:
www.flickr.com/photos/130658785@N08/38687959870
Scan from Kodachrome slide.
Interesting history after its time with Uni Air ended in 2016. The MD-90 went on to become a non-airworthy engine testbed aircraft for Delta Air Lines between 2016 and 2020.
A Boeing C-135C Stratolifter serial 61-2669 built by Boeing in Renton, Washington, in 1962. It entered service as a conventional C-135B cargo transport assigned to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). In 1965 it was converted to a WC-135B by Hayes Industries and used by the 56th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan. After brief storage during 1972 to 1973 at Davis Monthan it was converted back into a standard C-135B. In 1974 to 1975 it was redesignated as a C-135C, the primary platform for Project Speckled Trout. From 1975 until 2006 it was used as an overseas VIP transportation for the Secretary and Chiefs of Staff of the Air Force, and occasionally the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Simultaneously it operated as a dual-purpose testbed for validating future command, control, and communications architectures managed by the 412th Flight Test Squadron (412 FLTS) of the Air Force Materiel Command, located at Edwards AFB, California. The aircraft completed its last flight in January 2006 and was given to the Air Force Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force Base, California, where it remains protected in museum storage/display.
Testing navigation sofware and acting as engine testbed. Taxiing past the spotting pavilion for a 10:15 departure to Milan-Linate. Returned back to Stockholm-Arlanda at 15:07.
See more car pics on my facebook page!
- - -
The XK120 was launched in roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. It caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production.
The "120" in its name referred to its 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed (faster with the windscreen removed), which made the XK120 the world's fastest standard production car at the time of its launch.
It was available in two open versions, first as the roadster (designated OTS, for open two-seater, in America), then also as a drophead coupé (DHC) from 1953 – and also as a closed, or "fixed-head" coupé (FHC) from 1951. The DHC was a more deluxe open model, with wind-up windows, and wood-veneer dashboard and interior door caps, as on the FHC.
The roadster was successful in racing.
(Wikipedia)
The E was the first widescale production variant of the now-widespread Lyftsmiþþan 112, with a relatively average speed for its date of introduction into the Lyftéored in 1938. Its wingspan continually shortened over its development leading to an almost comical appearance from above and below. In 1939 a Naval version was requested from Lyftsmiþþan by the Sjælland Sæmindighed (naval authority), prompting the production of the folding-wing version made in collaboration with Sæweorc, a seaplane manufacturer and passenger airline. Hardened landing gear, arrestor hooks, and the iconic rear-folding wings were all added to the typical Ls. 112 design.
The E-series were the first to be naval-ised in full production, with the D-series of land fighters primarily being a testbed for the technology to be placed on the E. The F-series would feature higher performance, and the G sporting a heavier armament.
Overall a very capable, if small and stout, plane.
Yes, the wings do fold, and the landing gear are functional as well. The wings might seem very short and wide but trust me, they're accurate to an He. 112 B. Terrifying.
Prestwick 12 October 1965. Scanned from my father's original slide. Copyright Jim Cain.
Seen in the colours of VX-1 Operational Test and Evaluation Force when used as a testbed for the NADC Deltic programme.
Now preserved at NAS Moffat Field
Reading Buses
Alexander Dennis Enviro400
201 - MRD1
Seen on service 462 at the 2021 Brooklands Summer Gathering.
One of the latest ex-hybrid ADLs to return to Reading, 201 has become a testbed for new technologies including the high-resolution Hanover destination screen.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO' ['#A380' 'iflyA380.com' decals]
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2016 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
BADGR33. MF. USAF.
This is a one-of-a-kind testbed. As a result, I had to get the “insurance” shot. Unfortunately, it didn't fly today. Hoping to catch it on departure.
__________
Key.Aero
By Luca Chadwick
18th February 2023
News
On February 14, a USAF-operated Boeing TC-135W (serial 62-4133) departed Offutt Air Force Base (AFB), Nebraska, for Greenville-Majors Airport, Texas, where it will be reassigned to the air arm’s Big Safari Program and redesignated as an NC-135 platform.
The aircraft was flown to Texas by members of the 238th Combat Training Squadron under the callsign ‘Windsor 01’ and will ultimately become responsible for the testing of surveillance equipment modifications which, if successful, will be added to the USAF’s core fleet of RC-135S/U/V/W reconnaissance aircraft. This is not the first time that 62-4133 has been operated in the test role since it completed its maiden flight in July 1962. In 1967, the aircraft was redesignated as an EC-135B when it received a 10ft nose extension and was fitted with equipment from the EC-135N Apollo Range Instrument Aircraft (ARIA).
It was then converted into a TC-135S in 1985 and served as a training aircraft for the RC-135S Cobra Ball fleet. At the time, these aircraft did not have the ‘chipmunk cheeks’ fitted to the forward fuselage that is a synonymous feature of the RC-135 fleet today. Until now, the aircraft had served as part of the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron in this same role.
Having been delivered for its new assignment, 62-4133 will now take over the Big Safari test role from NC-135W (serial 61-2666), which has been responsible for testing equipment for the core RC-135 fleet since the mid-1990s. This aircraft – which is the sole remaining C-135 in the USAF inventory that is equipped with Pratt & Whitney TF-33 turbofan engines – will be retired from use once 62-4133 becomes fully available.
Its retirement follows a series of divestments of a similar nature, including the two OC-135B Open Skies aircraft and the WC-135C/W Constant Phoenix fleet, which was used for atmospheric testing and collection purposes. As these aircraft have aged, parts have become less available and the airframes have grown more difficult to maintain. The introduction of 62-4133 as the new NC-135 test aircraft will bring the Big Safari Program in line with the remainder of the fleet.
Two training-configured TC-135Ws (serials 62-4127 and 62-4129) still remain assigned to the 55th Wing at Offutt. In 2019, 62-4127 became the first aircraft to have ‘Baseline Charlie’ installed, which was the fleet-wide glass cockpit modification. This was the first real sign of alternatives to 61-2666 being used to test RC-135 fleet modifications
12-7-2016 - Airbus Industrie, Airbus A350-941.
Powering into the air at Farnborough ready to start its display at FIA 2016.
Info:
The aircraft was built in 2013 and is part of the Airbus test bed fleet of A350 aircraft.
C/n - 2
Four Lockheed R7V-1 Super Constellation transports ordered by the U.S. Navy (Bureau Numbers 131630/131631 and 131660/131661) were modified during assembly as experimental turboprop-powered R7V 2s with four 5,550 shaft horsepower Pratt & Whitney YT34-P-12A engines turning three-bladed propellers with squared off tips. Design of the R7V-2 began in 1951 and the aircraft was first flown in September 1954. Lockheed leased one of the R7V-2s back from the Navy to serve as a testbed for the Allison 501 turboprop engines used to power the L 188 Electra airliner. Nicknamed Elation (derived from combing Electra and Constellation), that aircraft was later delivered to the US Air Force as a YC-121F.
Photo taken by Norbert Kröpfl. Kindly provided from the NK slide collection by Stephan Barth.
München-Riem
September 1969
F-BRIM
Sud SE-210 Caravelle III
193
Panair
Trans-Union Caravelle flying for German charter airline Panair which later had to change its name to Paninternational. F-BRIM was also noted at Riem on 18 May 1969 and 5 June 1969, as well as at Neubiberg Air Base on 15 August 1969.
This Caravelle was delivered to SAS as SE-DAH in March 1965. It went back to Sud Aviation and was leased to Trans Union SA as F-BRIM from April 1969 and then sub-leased to Panair during 1969. In 1971, SOGERMA (Sud Aviation) took over the airframe and leased it to engine manufacturer SNECMA who used it as a testbed for the M53 and CFM56 engines. In October 1978 it went to the Armée de l'Air. Reportedly scrapped at TLS in 1997. (Sources: rzjets.net, bsl-mlh-planes.net)
Information on Panair/Paninternational:
www.airlines-airliners.de/airlines/paninternational.htm
Registration details for this airframe:
www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/F-ZACF/751843
This airframe as SE-DAH with SAS at PIK late 1960s:
www.flickr.com/photos/intairphoto/16597579366
F-BRIM with Trans-Union/Panair at DUS in 1969 (no titles):
F-BRIM with Trans-Union at LGW in September 1969:
www.airhistory.net/photo/9265/F-BRIM
This airframe as F-ZACF with SNECMA equipped with M53 engine ca. 1973:
i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/68/66/c76866c965e41e9c8cbf03559...
This airframe as F-ZACF with SNECMA equipped with CFM56 engine ca. 1977:
www.letletlet-warplanes.com/wp-content/gallery/caravelle/...
Scan from Kodachrome slide.
Photo from the Florian Weiß collection, kindly provided by him for inclusion on this page.
München-Riem
ca. October 1980
OY-APZ
Boeing 720-051B
18384 / 237
Maersk Air
OY-APZ has just landed on runway 25 and is leaving the runway via the end. Lufthansa B747 and DC-10 in the background, and the Dove is very likely Riem resident D-IKUR.
Information from flickr - thanks to Paul:
c/n 18384/237. New to TWA as N795TW in 1961. To Northwest Orient as N733US in 1962 then to Maersk Air as OY-APZ in 1972. Leased to Trans European Airways as OO-TYA from 1979 to 1980 and returned as OY-APZ. To Conair of Scandinavia in 1981, then Allied-Signal as N720GT in 1987. To Honeywell as N720H in 2000. Retired in December 2007 as the last airworthy B720 in the USA, and scrapped at Phoenix in June 2008.
Information and many photos on this airframe’s later use as an engine testbed:
www.air-and-space.com/Boeing 720 engine testbed.htm
Registration details for this airframe:
www.planelogger.com/Aircraft/Registration/OY-APZ/490561
This airframe as N733US at JFK in July 1970 (also see here for a detailed history of the airframe:
www.flickr.com/photos/kenfielding/6054317398
OY-APZ with Conair at SZG ca. early 1980s (hybrid Maersk/Conair colours):
www.flickr.com/photos/steelhead2010/17131926811
OY-APZ with Conair in September 1984:
www.flickr.com/photos/steelhead2010/18644875028
This airframe as N720GT with Allied-Signal Aerospace at PHX in April 1991 (still with Conair cheatline):
www.flickr.com/photos/pslg05896/32834925395
www.flickr.com/photos/pslg05896/32834925665
This airframe as N720H with Honeywell Aviation Services at PHX in October 2007:
imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/8/0/5/1591508.jpg
Scan from Kodachrome slide.
CN SD40-2W 5261- a former LNG testbed unit- approaches North Milwaukee Yard with L507 from DBR Junction in Germantown. Upon entering the yard, it will drop these cars and move to the Saukville Sub, running north to serve industries there.
The spur to the right enters what looks to be a steel plant of some sort- I am unsure if it still receives rail service (though judging by the rusty rails, weed growth and cockeyed gate, I'm guessing not) but the same building complex is at least currently home to a rail-related industry in the form of Trackside Services, Inc, manufacturer of rail-yard retarders and related equipment.
Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version 11-Mar-15, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 14-Mar-26.
Test Bed for the Bristol Siddeley Viper engine.