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As the world entered the supersonic age, the US Air Force had to assume that the Soviet Union was designing jet bombers. The subsonic interceptors then in service, such as the F-89 Scorpion, would not be adequate. Accordingly, the USAF issued a requirement in 1949 for what was simply called the “1954 Interceptor,” as that was the expected in-service date. Unlike earlier aircraft, however, the new aircraft would be designed around the fire control computer (the Hughes MX-1179) and would incorporate all-missile armament.
Of 18 proposals sent to the USAF, the service chose Convair’s Project MX-1554 in late 1951. This proposal incorporated then radical delta wings, a powerful Wright J67 turbojet, and an internal missile bay that was also equipped with rockets, along with the MX-1179 fire control system. Problems arose with both the engine and fire control system, however, and the USAF decided to go ahead with production of what was now the F-102A Delta Dagger, the third aircraft of the Century Series of fighters in the 1950s. The F-102A was considered as interim until the more advanced F-102B could come online later; emphasis was getting a supersonic interceptor into service as soon as possible, even if it used a less powerful Pratt and Whitney J57 and a simpler M-9 fire control computer. The first YF-102 flew in October 1953.
It was a failure. The YF-102 could not even reach supersonic speeds, its ceiling was below that of even the F-89, and the prototype crashed only a week after its first flight. Convair went back to the drawing board, this time using the recently discovered area rule principle, changing the fuselage from a conventional round shape to a more streamlined “coke bottle,” lengthening and narrowing the nose, and adding shock blisters around the engine. The redesigned YF-102A flew in December 1954, and was able to meet the USAF’s requirements, though it was still slower and had a lower ceiling than the USAF would have liked. Since the F-102A was again only supposed to serve as an interim for the F-102B, which would later become the F-106 Delta Dart, the USAF was willing to overlook the shortfall in performance. The first F-102 entered service in 1956.
In service, the “Deuce,” as it became known, got mixed reviews. The fire control system was improved with an infrared turret forward of the cockpit, and it had comparatively heavy armament in the form of four AIM-4 Falcons and 24 rockets carried in the weapons bay doors. The aircraft were also re-winged with a more efficient design in 1957. Later F-102s had the rockets removed to allow carriage of two AIM-24 Nuclear Falcons.
All this aside, the delta winged design proved to be tricky to get used to, and the F-102 suffered a high accident rate. TF-102A conversion aircraft were built, which involved a radical redesign of the Delta Dagger from the intakes forward, as the TF-102 had side-by-side seating. This adversely affected performance, giving the TF-102 its moniker of “Pig.” Nonetheless, the F-102 was to perform yeoman service throughout the late 1950s and 1960s as an interceptor, supplementing the earlier F-101 Voodoo and its replacement, the F-106. As the Delta Dart entered service, more and more F-102s were relegated to Air National Guard units, where the Deuce would serve until 1976.
F-102s would see wartime service as well. As North Vietnam had a number of Ilyushin Il-28 Beagles in service, F-102s were deployed in detachments to USAF bases in South Vietnam to guard against a surprise attack. These aircraft were drawn from both active duty units and Air National Guard units under Operation Constant Guard. As the Il-28 threat never materialized, the F-102s were used as escorts for USAF missions in Laos or EB-66 jammer aircraft supporting Rolling Thunder sorties. In this capacity, the F-102 would see at least one air-to-air combat with MiG-21s, but came off second best with the loss of aircraft and pilot. Other F-102s were used as ground support aircraft, a role to which the Deuce was completely unsuited, for a brief time and with poor results—though the F-102’s infrared sensors gave it all-weather capability that at that time was matched only by the F-4D Phantom II.
Truly lacking a role, the F-102 detachments were withdrawn from Southeast Asia in 1968. F-102s were exported to Turkey and Greece in the mid-1960s, and these were used in the 1974 Cyprus Crisis; none were reported lost on either side, though rumors persist of Turkish F-102s either shooting down or being shot down by Greek F-5A Freedom Fighters.
All F-102s, foreign and domestic, were withdrawn from service by 1979. In the US, nearly all were converted to QF-102 drones and expended as targets, ending in 1986. Of approximately 900 Delta Daggers produced, at least 35 remain today in museums.
TF-102A 54-1353 entered service with the USAF in 1958, and doesn't appear to have ever left Edwards AFB, California, serving as a testbed and chase plane for the Air Force Flight Test Center for its entire career. It was retired in 1969 and donated to the Milestones of Flight Museum in nearby Palmdale. The museum did not take care of 54-1353, and it deteriorated badly over the decades. In 2003, it was repossessed by the USAF and returned to Edwards for restoration, and by 2013, it went back on display at the base's Century Circle.
I've seen pictures of 54-1353 at Milestones of Flight, and it was indeed in sad condition, with heavy corrosion. It's looking much better today, in the somewhat understated markings of the AFFTC.
Unusually, in 1963, Leyland Motors bought back one of its vehicles from a customer to use as a demonstrator. SGD669 had been new to Glasgow City Transport as its LA91 in January 1963. It was a Leyland Atlantean PDR1/1 fitted with Walter Alexander & Sons then new, and radically different, body style, in this case to H44/34F layout. More extensive use was made in this design of moulded glass reinforced plastic (grp) than had previously been the case, whilst the double curvature windscreens on both decks transformed the appearance of the vehicle, compared to the boxy bodies previously mounted on Atlantean chassis. These advances were made possible by advancing technology in glass and grp production.
Later in 1963, SGD669 was photographed on demonstration to Nottingham City Transport. NCT put it on Service 49 (Trinity Square to Bestwood Park Estate), which was to become a regular testbed for double deck demonstrators. It is shown on Mansfield Road, Sherwood, opposite The Metropole Cinema, about to turn into Magnus Road on an outward journey to Bestwood Park.
British Airways Engineering Maintenance Base & Offices.
Technical Block A (TBA) 'West Pen'
Cranford Lane
TW6
Sir E. Owen Williams (1890-1969) 1950-55
English Heritage 'Grade II' listed (1268530)
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2012 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
I modified my testbed program such that:
1 The numerals are easier to see with a black background.
2 I added radial animation - in other words the radial gradients grow and shrink in size - this is the shown by the pulsating center radial gradient.
3 The clock numbers can be hidden by touching the screen (shown after the 1:10 mark or so). Touching the screen makes the number animate back into position.
All of the animation here I had to do by hand (by way of a CALinkLayer I encapsulated into an animation class) because iOS doesn't support animation for the properties I wanted to animate.
The entire scene reminds me of a science fictional view of a four-star system with the center start about to go supernova.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
This is actually the first ever factory turbocharged Porsche 911. Originally a mere 911S, the car served as a testbed, receiving numerous performance additions, including a large spoiler and wide wheel arches, among others. The car was later converted to RSR spec by the factory.
Electronically Controlled Pneumatics (ECP) is a fairly new technology in the railroad industry, but has a lot of potential. This is on a testbed coal train, and the difference between conventional air brakes and electric brakes is phenomenal.
The ARM Facility chose the island to set up a Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site because of its location on the eastern edge of the warm pool under La Niña conditions.
Terms of Use: Our images are freely and publicly available for use with the credit line, “Image courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility.”
From my bought collection of images. 3109 - RUP309V - was the testbed for conversion to DAF power. It was later fitted with high backed moquette seats. Seen in Middlesbrough.
Project: Tiny TIM (Threats-In-Motion)
Location: NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed / National Weather Center (Norman, OK)
Date: Feb 28, 2023
Photographer: James Murnan / NOAA NSSL
This experiment brings together NWS forecasters and researchers to evaluate and provide feedback on the concept of allowing warnings to be extended in time and area, a first step towards Threats-In-Motion (TIM) for severe weather warnings for hail, wind, and tornadoes. To facilitate this evaluation, forecasters use Hazard Services Convective to create and manage TIM warnings. The concept and software is tested on several archived cases.
29th November 2012 - The BAE Systems’ Jetstream, known as ‘The Flying Testbed’, is an aerial laboratory. It's a unique aircraft which has been developed to be flown by pilots or as an Uninhabited Air Vehicle (UAV). Racks of computers and control systems in the rear of the aircraft, together with satellite communications, mean it can fly as if it were a UAV without any input from the pilots. This year it is trialing a range of new technologies to be developed under the ASTRAEA programme, including what is believed to be the world’s first autonomous weather avoidance system, in addition to ‘sense and avoid’ technologies and an autonomous
Nathan Hamet, AOSS graduate student and Michigan Balloon Recovery & Satellite Testbed (MBuRST) project leader, checks data on his cell phone before the team leaves for Parma Michigan to launch two high altitude balloons in the first ever Global Space Balloon Challenge (GSBC).
Photo: Ben Logan, Social Media Guru – Communications and Marketing, Michigan Engineering
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
The demonstrator car is used as a testbed for uprated engine components and a different interior etc.
The first version was designed to have a moderately low self-inductance so as to impose maximum dI/dT on the caps. It had a ground strap that passed from the grounded end of the generator on the left, under the FR4 the caps are glued to, and over to the right and brought up through a tall insulator... well, I had the very devil of a time insulating the high voltage end, so I just got rid of all that crap.
The discharge current path on this version is obviously larger. I had to add a sheet of plastic to keep the HV discharge from arcing down to the stage gaps.
I added a couple more stages too, since I had more room after removing the ground return insulator and associated crapola.
The gap between the needle points is exactly 8 inches, which should equate to about 100kV at the local (Denver) atmospheric pressure of around 624 mm Hg. It would be about 125kV if I had 8 inch sparks at sea level.
In the end, I discovered that it can be very difficult to make a Marx bank at low stage voltages erect fast. The gaps just don't break down fast enough.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Arriva London Ltd.:
DW411 was retrofitted with a new driveline, as a testbed for what would become the Wrightbus StreetDeck. The original 6-cyl Cummins ISBe engine was replaced with the Mercedes-Benz (Daimler) OM934. The vehicle caught fire shortly after arrival to the London fleet in 2011, so instead of being written off, she was given a new lease of life, and a slightly different identity!
VDLbus DB300 (Daimler) /
Wrightbus Gemini 2DL (10.5m)
H41/24D - 2011
Rockwood Road, Stamford Hill
Saturday 1st August 2015
57601 stands on the 'blocks at London Paddington after arriving with 1A43, the 09:20 the 15:42 from Plymouth via Bristol.
London Paddington, 2001
57601 was converted from 47825 as a testbed for rebuilding class 47s with a General Motors engine and an Alternator instead of a Generator.
XV208 was known as a C130 Hercules W2 after her conversion to a weather research aircraft. She became an engine testbed for the Airbus A400M until her retirement and almost four years storage at Cambridge.
XV208 was broken up in April 2015, the nose section has survived though (credit P Hardy).
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Heidi Obermeier, meteorologist at KETV-TV in Omaha, Nebraska, issues a tornado warning after utilizing the GOES-R ProbSevere product during the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) 2015 spring experiment.
This spring, NOAA satellite experts and weather forecasters had the opportunity to work together at the HWT in Norman, Oklahoma, to evaluate new science, technology and products that will be available from the GOES-R satellite for improving short-range hazardous weather forecasts and warning decision-making. From May 4 to June 12 (during the height of severe weather season), National Weather Service forecasters, TV broadcast meteorologists, and researchers worked side-by-side to evaluate new products and tools and participated in experimental forecast and warning generation exercises. This approach allows for a two-way path between research and operations and prepares weather forecasters to use the new capabilities that will be available from
NOAA’s next generation of geostationary weather satellites, the GOES-R series.
In conjunction with the HWT spring experiment, NOAA’s GOES-14 spare satellite was brought out of storage in its central orbit and operated in super rapid scan operations mode. This demonstration provided special one-minute imagery of severe storms that simulates the capabilities that will be available with the GOES-R series satellites.
Photo credit: Heidi Obermeier
Feature story: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news_archives/hazardous_weather_testb...
GOES-R HWT blog: goesrhwt.blogspot.com/
GOES-14 SRSOR: cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/srsor2015/GOES-14_SRSOR.html
Original photo source: www.goes-r.gov/multimedia/pg.html
New GE engine testbed. Note the purposely removed winglets and the ex All Nippon Airways Boeing 767-300A (non-ER) in the background. Great vantage points to see the aircraft at VCV.
I created these illustrations for a video that promotes Philadelphia as the perfect testbed for the google high speed fiber initiative. The video will go live on Friday, but I thought I'd get them up ahead of time. To find out more about the public-private partnership in Philly to promote the City of Firsts as a site for this project, please visit gigabitphilly.com And if you have ideas for how Philly could use an ultra high bandwidth data network that connects individuals, industry, and government, please submit your ideas here. You can also show your support by coming to the press conference with Philadelphia Mayor tomorrow (Thursday, March 25) at 2:30 at City Hall on the 2nd floor. A high speed data network in Philly has the potential to accelerate our medical, film production, university, technology, financial services, and community sectors by letting people share massive amounts of data rapidly---that means rich interactivity, problem solving, and communication. Gigabit Philly Videos GigabitPhilly Site GigabitPhilly Facebook Fanpage Follow GigabitPhilly on Twitter Can you imagine Gigabit Philly? ---Jonny Goldstein
British Airways Engineering Maintenance Base & Offices.
Technical Block A (TBA) 'West Pen'
Cranford Lane
TW6
Sir E. Owen Williams (1890-1969) 1950-55
English Heritage 'Grade II' listed (1268530)
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2012 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2012 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Arriva London Ltd.:
DW411 was retrofitted with a new driveline, as a testbed for what would become the Wrightbus StreetDeck. The original 6-cyl Cummins ISBe engine was replaced with the Mercedes-Benz (Daimler) OM934. The vehicle caught fire shortly after arrival to the London fleet in 2011, so instead of being written off, she was given a new lease of life, and a slightly different identity!
VDLbus DB300 (Daimler) /
Wrightbus Gemini 2DL (10.5m)
H41/24D - 2011
Rockwood Road, Stamford Hill
Saturday 1st August 2015
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Reference shot.
Taken with my Nokia N86 8MP mobile.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
The kit and its assembly:
This project was originally earmarked as a submission for the 2021 “Reconnaissance & Surveillance” group build at whatifmodellers.com, in the form of a Heller F-94B with a new nose section. The inspiration behind this build was the real-world EF-94C (s/n 50-963): a solitary conversion with a bulbous camera nose. However, the EF-94C was not a reconnaissance aircraft but rather a chase plane/camera ship for the Air Research and Development Command, hence its unusual designation with the suffix “E”, standing for “Exempt” instead of the more appropriate “R” for a dedicated recce aircraft. There also was another EF-94C, but this was a totally different kind of aircraft: an ejection seat testbed.
I had a surplus Heller F-94B kit in The Stash™ and it was built almost completely OOB and did – except for some sinkholes and standard PSR work – not pose any problem. In fact, the old Heller Starfire model is IMHO a pretty good representation of the aircraft. O.K., its age might show, but almost anything you could ask for at 1:72 scale is there, including a decent, detailed cockpit.
The biggest change was the new camera nose, and it was scratched from an unlikely donor part: it consists of a Matchbox B-17G tail gunner station, slimmed down by the gunner station glazing's width at the seam in the middle, and this "sandwich" was furthermore turned upside down. Getting the transitional sections right took lots of PSR, though, and I added some styrene profiles to integrate the new nose into the rest of the hull. It was unintentional, but the new nose profile reminds a lot of a RF-101 recce Voodoo, and there's, with the straight wings, a very F-89ish look to the aircraft now? There's also something F2H-2ish about the outlines?
The large original wing tip tanks were cut off and replaced with smaller alternatives from a Hasegawa A-37. Because it was easy to realize on this kit I lowered the flaps, together with open ventral air brakes. The cockpit was taken OOB, I just modified the work station on the rear seat and replaced the rubber sight protector for the WSO with two screens for a camera operator. Finally, the one-piece cockpit glazing was cut into two parts to present the model with an open canopy.
Airbus A380-841
MSN 001
F-WWOW '001 GD' [Prototype/Rolls-Royce Trent testbed]
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2014 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
NASA 515: Boeing 737 Flying Laboratory
Since it first entered the NASA inventory in 1974, NASA 515 has been a testbed for research into a multitude of issues affecting aircraft safety, efficiency and capacity. Called an "airborne trailblazer,"it goes beyond the typical research facility in that it demonstrates new concepts in real-world situations. For example, government and industry decision makers could observe - first-hand - research pilots using innovations in computer-generated display formats content while interacting with air traffic control it in a busy terminal area. Other observers experienced flying through potentially hazardous windshells to prove that advance-warning devices really can give pilots precious extra seconds to avoid hazardous weather.
As a result, this flying laboratory and its supporting facilities have been responsible for rapid adoption of new aviation technology by U.S. industry.
NASA 515 is the first B-737 built. First used by Boeing to qualify the 737 for airline service, the prototype 737 has since been heavily modified by NASA. It has two separate cockpits - a conventional B-737 forward cockpit providing operational support and safety backup, and an operational research flight deck positioned behind in what was the aircraft's first-class cabin section.
This national facility is maintained and flown by NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., as part of the center's Terminal Area Productivity (TAP) program.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2012 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Telephonics - Beechcraft Model 200T Super King Air - N170RL (c/n BT-28/ ex- BB-1117)
This is the Telephonics flying radar testbed. Note the black radome on the underside of the aircraft.
SDASM.CATALOG: 01_00093109
SDASM.TITLE: Convair C-131B 53-7793, NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS)
SDASM.CORPORATION NAME: Convair
SDASM.DESIGNATION: C-131
SDASM.OFFICIAL NICKNAME: Samaritan
SDASM.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Convair C-131B 53-7793, NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS)
SDASM.TAGS: Convair C-131B 53-7793, NC-131H Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS)
PUBLIC COMMONS.SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive