View allAll Photos Tagged Testbed
Shannon, July 1986. This aircraft later became a testbed with Lockheed Martin as N30LX and designated Airborne Multi-Intelligence Laboratory (AML).
98+98 / Bell UH-1D Iroquois / German Army
This one of a kind testbed was one of the last two operational german Hueys to retire in summer of 2022
WTD 61
First test bed prototype of the A330neo 251 Tons version (Takeoff weight increased)
Will go to AirAsia
CYHU 12/02/23 Pictured outside the Technical school at Montreal Hubert Airport.
1943 Constructed as an Expeditor 3T.
Circa 1943 Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Army Air Force with s/n 43-35478.
5 January 1944
Taken on Strength/Charge with the Royal Canadian Air Force with s/n HB109.
19 July 1960
To Pratt and Whitney Canada, Montreal QUE: with new c/r CF-ZWY.
1961 Nose engine position installed at Downswview ONTfor PT6 turboprop air tests, test flown after mods.
June 1980 Retired as an engine testbed.
From July 1980 to 1998
To Ecole Nationale of Aeronautique, Saint Hubert QUE. As an instructional airframe.
1998 To Fondation Aerovision Quebec (Quebec Air and Space Museum), Saint Hubert, Montreal, QC.
Amtrak F69PHAC Nos. 450 and 451 were the first all-new A.C. traction locomotives in North America. They were experimentals that were built at La Grange in 1989, and were outfitted with Siemens A.C. traction equipment along with a 12-710G prime mover. After testing at Pueblo, they put on thousands of miles in passenger service providing EMD with plenty of test data and real road experience using A.C. traction. The slant windows and lack of a front nose gave the locomotives an unique look, and they acquired the nickname “Winnebagos” in some circles. Having served their purpose as testbeds, the pair returned to EMD (and briefly later toured with Amtrak’s ICE train) and finally succumbed to languishing unused at NRE after 1999. In this view, the pair kicks up some dust leading Amtrak’s Empire Builder through Pewaukee, Wisconsin, on the afternoon of May 31, 1992.
On final for Runway 18L at Memphis International is FedEx A310 N401FE. This airframe was a testbed aircraft for Airbus Industrie from 1982 to 1984 as F-WZLJ. It was then delivered to Lufthansa as D-AICA and later came to FedEx in 1995. The -200 was retired and removed from service to Victorville, California, in September 2009. It was broken up in April 2013.
Farnborough 06 September 1957. Scanned from my father's print. Copyright Jim Cain.
WF909 was used by de Havilland as a flying testbed for the Gyron Junior engine. It was scrapped at Hatfield in early 1963.
North American Rockwell T-2C Buckeye, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona, November 1978. Scanned for Kodachrome transparency. Nikon Nikkormat, 50mm f/1.4 non-AI lens.
Off in the distance at the left in the photo you can see the Garrett AiResearch hangar. To the right of the dirt pile you can see their Douglas B-26 engine testbed that was used to develop the TPE331 and T76 turboprops used on the Turbo Commander, MU-2 etc and the related T76 used on the OV-10. In front of the hanger is their Dassault Falcon 20. It was used in the development of the AFT3 turbofan used on the HU-25 Guardian and the TFE1042 used on the AIDC F-CK-1A.
Boeing B.707-700C (c/n 21956/941)
The Boeing Company
Seattle-Boeing Field (BFI/KBFI)
June 1980
N707QT was the last commercial Boeing 707 built, and first flew in November 1979 as a 707-700. Fitted with four CFM56 engines, it became Boeing's testbed for a re-engining programme that would make the 707 viable again for commercial service. The CFMs offered lower fuel consumption, reduced noise footprint and a better thrust-to-weight ratio.
Despite all this, N707QT remained a one-off modification, as Boeing terminated the project in the early eighties when it feared that retrofitted 707s would conquer its latest models, the 757 and 767, which were just entering the market. The CFM56 test, however, became the foundation for the KC-135R military tanker upgrade programme, which became a massive success. Ironically enough, the 707s main competitor in the market, the Douglas DC-8, was successfully retrofitted with CFM engines, creating the DC-8-70 series and giving the type many extra years of service.
The unique N707QT was captured during a test at Boeing Field, bearing an elegant house livery with large CFM56 Test inscriptions. Note the special engine pylons to reach the necessary ground clearance for the much larger CFM56 nacelles.
After the end of the test programme, N707QT was converted back to a standard 707-320C and delivered to the Moroccon Government in March 1982. In 1999 the 707 was sold via the USA to Israel and was converted to a KC-707 Re'em tanker, which is still in service with the Israeli Air Force today, now serialled 290.
(from my collection - credit due to photographer)
Seen During Removal From The Tug as 'BRO25' After Respray Into It's New Scheme. To Become the New Testbed For The Tempest Project...
PR-ZIQ, an Embraer E195-E2 testbed being operated by the manufacturer Embraer, taxiing along Taxiway Alpha at Shannon Airport, preparing to depart on a demonstration flight. This aircraft spent the last 6 days in Ireland operating demonstration flights out of both Dublin and Shannon airports to prospective airline and leasing customers.
Airbus A350F first flight - 29/09/2026
F-WXLD, Airbus first A350F is taxiing to the runway 14R for its first flight, followed by the helicopter for audiovisual content, and also acclaimed by Airbus employees and press.
Airbus A350-1041F. Airbus Industries. F-WXLD. MSN: 700
A beautiful dusk at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), with McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30 N311EV. This airplane was originally delivered to UNI Air of Taiwan as s/n B-17919. It was acquired by Delta Air Lines in 2016 as s/n N311EV, and has been used as an engine testbed.
Photographed September 21, 2019.
Little known fact: the Echo base on Hoth wasn't terribly big. When the Millennium Falcon was there, all the fighters wouldn't fit inside, a few had to be parked outside.
The rugged Y-wings were the only ones that could withstand the punishing cold Hoth nights. It would have been fine if they coud have been left running on nominal power to prevent them from going cold, but that would have made them easy to detect from orbit. They had to be shut down completely.
Once cold, even the Y-wings were very difficult to get up and running again. You had to bolt the rear panel open, install a heater and wait until the temperatures on the inertial dampers were on an acceptable level. If not, igniting the engines could throw the inertial dampers out of whack and the ship could read its own sensors wrong thinking it was on a free fall. As an emergency measure, the ship could then spontaneously shoot up several hundred kilometers to fix the fall – which didn't exist. This could happen with or without the pilot.
It was a theory suggested by one of the engineers of the Echo base, the heating procedure was merely a precaution based on this theory.
But, you know, sometimes theories are verified empirically by testing. That particular Y-wing testbed was recovered much later. No pilot was on board the escaped Y-wing and the guy responsible for the heating was fired... only to be rehired. The rebels were a little short on personnel on Hoth.
Outboard engine and tail of the Pima Air and Space Museum's 747, which had been used as an engine testbed by General Electric for several years.
G-BYAW was withdrawn from use by TUI Airways a month after this photograph, on 04 November 2019. The aircraft will be used by the Royal Air Force as a testbed aircraft to test systems and sensors destined for the future Tempest fighter, as well as supporting capability enhancements for the current Eurfighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning.
www.planespotters.net/airframe/boeing-757-200-g-byaw-tui-...
✈🇯🇵 #JA23MJ #MitsubishiAircraftCoorporation #MAJ #MRJ90STD #Prototype #Paris #LeBourget #LBG #LFPB #France #PAS17 #ParisAirShow #SpaceJet #Testbed © #AWP #CHR-2017
MITSUBISHI AIRCRAFT COORPORATION [ MAJ • ME TACK ]
• Country : JA | Japan 🇯🇵
• Founded : 1 Apr 2008
• Ceased operations : 15 Apr 2023
• Base / Main Hub : Nagoya Komaki (NKM / RJNA)
Official Site : www.mhi.com
MITSUBISHI | MRJ90STD “SPACEJET“ - SN 10003 # JA23MJ
• Production Site : Nagoya (NKM) 🇯🇵
• First flight date : 22/11/2016
• Test registration : JA23MJ
• Seat configuration : Prototype Test
• Engines : 2 x PW PW1217G
Status : Scrapped | 5.3 Years at the end of its life
AIRCRAFT HISTORY
• 22.NOV.2016 : Del > MAJ > JA23MJ
• JUN.2017 : Painted in "All Nippon Airways" cs until Jun 2019
• 20.JUN.2017 : Display apron to Paris AirShow 2017
• 16.MAR.2020 : wfu and std at MWH
Broken up Mar 2022 at MWH
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet 2+1⁄2 times its size, to reduce its seat cost by 30%. In 1965, Joe Sutter left the 737 development program to design the 747. In April 1966, Pan Am ordered 25 Boeing 747-100 aircraft, and in late 1966, Pratt & Whitney agreed to develop the JT9D engine, a high-bypass turbofan. On September 30, 1968, the first 747 was rolled out of the custom-built Everett Plant, the world's largest building by volume. The first flight took place on February 9, 1969, and the 747 was certified in December of that year. It entered service with Pan Am on January 22, 1970. The 747 was the first airplane called a "Jumbo Jet" as the first wide-body airliner.
The 747 is a four-engined jet aircraft, initially powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofan engines, then General Electric CF6 and Rolls-Royce RB211 engines for the original variants. With a ten-abreast economy seating, it typically accommodates 366 passengers in three travel classes. It has a pronounced 37.5° wing sweep, allowing a Mach 0.85 (490 kn; 900 km/h) cruise speed, and its heavy weight is supported by four main landing gear legs, each with a four-wheel bogie. The partial double-deck aircraft was designed with a raised cockpit so it could be converted to a freighter airplane by installing a front cargo door, as it was initially thought that it would eventually be superseded by supersonic transports.
The heavier 747-400 with improved RB211 and CF6 engines or the new PW4000 engine (the JT9D successor), and a two-crew glass cockpit, was introduced in 1989 and is the most common variant. After several studies, the stretched 747-8 was launched on November 14, 2005, with new General Electric GEnx engines, and was first delivered in October 2011. The 747 is the basis for several government and military variants, such as the VC-25 (Air Force One), E-4 Emergency Airborne Command Post, Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and some experimental testbeds such as the YAL-1 and SOFIA airborne observatory.
A testbed using the frame of a VIA LRC (VIA 6908) and a GE testbed are at CAD and have been there going back quite a number of years.
BOE57A Departing on a test flight. This is the first 757 Prototype now used as a testbed by Boeing with an F-22 Nosecone and avionics. Nicknamed the "Catfish." This is the first time it has come to PMD in the recently repainted retro scheme.
GMTX SD90 No. 9000, one of SD60's coming off lease, sits on the Service Track at CPKC's Knoche Yard. They all arrived in Kansas City two days ago on NS train 224, and they were interchanged to the CPKC yesterday via YKK12-24, "Run 12". Five are all former Oakway's wearing New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway paint, but this one is a former SD60 demonstrator built as EMD No. 3 with HTC-R trucks, which were being tested in their early days.
This engine started life 39 years ago in June of 1984. In 2009, it along all of the Oakway's were shed from BNSF's roster, and this one became GMTX No. 9041, replacing the other 9041 which EMD kept as a testbed unit. It later became GMTX No. 9000 as part of joint lease between the Providence & Worcester/Vermont Railway, which began in 2014. Today, it still wears a unique version of GATX paint reflecting the P&W/VTR joint lease. More recently, this engine could be found on the NYSW and RJ Corman before winding up out here. 6/25/23.
Inbound from Anchorage, Alaska, FedEx MD-11F N578FE taxis onto the company ramp at Memphis in February 2023.
It was the third MD11 built and was testbed aircraft N311MD for McDonnell Douglas.
The tri-jet was first delivered to GATX Leasing in March 1991 as N489GX and later flew for China Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and World Airways before coming to FedEx in April 2001.
It was removed from service and stored at VCV in May 2023.
Following on from Miro Dudas' benchmark work on his 90° crossover, I was inspired to attempt a brick-built 45° crossover, by way of an experiment. It worked out a little better than I feared it might, though I offer absolutely NO guarantee as to its smooth operation! (Subtext - it probably won't work too well.) As such, the LXF file is linked below for others to edit or improve if wished. Not for re-sale or profit please. Kindly post any improvements, I'd be most grateful.
LXF: www.dropbox.com/s/yvgm8ibk9b0e14j/Crossover_45-deg_v01-03...
PLEASE NOTE: This file may well be deleted after 1 Feb 2017. If you wish to use it, please download before that date. Many thanks.
N757HW - Boeing B-757-225 - Honeywell International Inc.
"Connected Aircraft"-titles and various other stickers
at Hamilton International Airport (YHM)
c/n 22.194 - built in 1982 for Eastern Airlines -
operated by Honeywell since 2005 as a flying testbed
LBG 10.1984 - on display at the museum at Le Bourget. Used as a testbed by the Centre d'Essais en Vol (CEV) for Turbomeca/Snecma Larzac 01 jet engine (scan from my collection - not my shot).
History
1945: PA474 was built by Vickers-Armstrongs in Broughton, Cheshire, and was completed just after the end of World War II in Europe. It was intended for the "Tiger Force" for strategic bombing in the Far East but was not needed after the war with Japan ended.
Post-war service: The bomber was converted for photographic reconnaissance duties and served with 82 Squadron in Africa for three years. It was later used for trials by the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield. During its time at Cranfield, it was used as a testbed for laminar flow wings, with test wings mounted vertically above the fuselage.
1964–1973: After being marked for static display, the bomber was rescued by the Air Historical Branch and later restored to flying condition by 44 Squadron personnel at RAF Waddington. During its restoration, PA474 appeared in the films Operation Crossbow and The Guns of Navarone.
1973–present: PA474 was officially transferred to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in 1973 and moved to RAF Coningsby in 1976. It continues to be a main attraction at airshows and commemorative events, serving as a flying tribute to all members of RAF Bomber Command.
Significant events and details
Mid-upper turret: An original mid-upper gun turret was recovered from Argentina and fitted to PA474 in 1975.
Major overhauls: The aircraft has undergone extensive maintenance to remain airworthy. A new main spar was fitted in 1995 to extend its flying life, with expectations for it to fly until at least 2065.
Engine fire: On May 7, 2015, the aircraft suffered an engine fire but landed safely at RAF Coningsby. It was repaired and flying again by October of that same year.
Repainting: PA474 wears different liveries on its port and starboard sides, which are changed during major overhauls.
Port side: For its 80th anniversary in 2025, the port side was painted to represent Lancaster B.I LM220 of No. IX Squadron, which flew with 12,000lb "Tallboy" bombs.
Starboard side: Previously, the starboard side represented Lancaster LL922 of No. 50 Squadron.
Photo taken at the Imperial War Museum Duxford Cambridgeshire 6th Sept 2025 Battle Of Britain Air Show
And yes, when I’m not staring at the clouds, I’m surviving Orville’s rants over on YouTube 😂 [www.youtube.com/@AngryOrville]
C-FETB : Pratt & Whitney B-720 flying testbed for engines returning to it's home base at St-Hubert Airport (CYHU) in the vicinity of Montréal, Canada
Boeing 720-025
cn: 18158 / ln: 234
ff: 05-09-1961 at Renton
19-09-1961 N8704E Eastern Air Lines, config F22Y107, fleet no 704, (leased from Prudential until 10-1966)
25-09-1969 N8704E Boeing (returned)
01-06-1970 LN-TUW Trans Polar, "Richard Evelyn Byrd", (leased from Boeing)
18-06-1971 Impounded at Kastrup (EKCH / CPH) due to an NOK 15 million debt to Boeing
23-06-1971 Boeing (returned)
01-09-1971 N3183B Boeing rr, testbed; Boeing Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) flight test aircraft
16-08-1975 N40102 Boeing testbed, fleet no 8504, Boeing flight test aircraft
08-1977 WFU and stored at Kimgman (KIGM / IGM)
07-1988 broken up there
I recall seeing this one together with my father at FBU in June 1970, My first view of Trens Polar, and I was very impressed.
Wonderful photo shot by Lars Söderström on final apporach to Arlanda in June 1970.
LN-TUW was the only on of three B720s whith grey underside
(Part of my collection)
BOE57A Returning from a test flight. This is the first 757 Prototype now used as a testbed by Boeing with an F-22 Nosecone and avionics. Nicknamed the "Catfish." This is the first time it has come to PMD in the recently repainted retro scheme.
RFA Proteus, berthed at Gibraltar's HM Naval Base, is a ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary within His Majesty's Naval Service of the United Kingdom. Its role is surveillance, acting as a platform for Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles and as a testbed for new specialist capabilities, required for monitoring waters important to UK interests.
One of a kind, B747/YAL-1A Airborne Laser Testbed at AMARG before being scrapped a couple years later.
N757HW - Boeing B-757-225 - Honeywell International Inc.
"Connected Aircraft"-titles
at Hamilton International Airport (YHM)
c/n 22.194 - built in 1982 for Eastern Airlines -
operated by Honeywell since 2005 as a flying testbed
Industrial automation is always interesting, because nothing ever stays the same. On the right is an Opto 22 R1 Programmable Automation Controller, (PAC); the original version was released over 20 years ago, but due to an increasing shortage of its aging processor, a complete redesign using a modern processor was required. The important thing for us is to try to make the new version a drop-in replacement for the original so the customers can continue to use all of their existing programming without any modifications. I've been privileged to work with a talented team of co-workers who have worked for at least a year to make this happen. We're finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Photo taken by Klaus Mohr, slide kindly provided by Klaus Held for scanning and inclusion on this page.
München-Riem
1984-04-14 (14 April 1984)
HP-IPE Basel-Land
Airbus A310-221
162
Swissair
HP-IPE is lined up for take-off on Riem’s runway 07. Brand new at the time, the A310 had only been delivered to Swissair less than a month previously on 21 March 1984.
Information from airhistory.net - thanks to Richard Vandervord (slightly adapted):
The first A310 prototype (first flight 3 April 1982). Used as a testbed by Airbus as F-WZLH from 1982 (Lufthansa colours on port side, Swissair colours on starboard side), delivered to Swissair in March 1984, to Air Liberté as F-GPDJ in June 1995, converted to freighter at Bremen-XLW in 1997 for FedEx as N450FE, stored at Victorville from May 2015, broken up in 2023.
Registration details for this airframe:
rzjets.net/aircraft/?reg=26720
This airframe as F-WZLH with Airbus on demo tour at DUS in April 1982 (Lufthansa c/s on port side, Swissair c/s on starboard side):
www.airhistory.net/photo/562140/F-WZLH
F-WZLH with Airbus at TLS in April 1982 (port side in Lufthansa colours):
image.stern.de/31746002/t/x2/v4/w1440/r1.7778/-/lh-a310.jpg
This airframe as F-GPDJ with Air Liberté at ORY in March 1996:
www.flickr.com/photos/jordi757/5390265239
This airframe as N450FE with FedEx at MEM in February 2007:
www.flickr.com/photos/mjscanlonphotography/39404779385
N450FE stored at VCV in January 2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/aero_icarus/43029426091
Scan from Kodachrome slide.
TPE331-14 Turboprop mounted on Honeywell's 757 testbed in preparation for data gathering test flight.
These twin briefcase-sized nanosatellites will manoeuvre around each other, before performing an automated docking in orbit.
The RACE, Rendezvous Autonomous CubeSats Experiment, is ESA’s latest in-orbit demonstration CubeSat mission, presented at this week’s CubeSat Industry Days, taking place at ESA’s technical heart.
CubeSats are low-cost satellites built up from standardised 10-cm boxes, increasingly used to demonstrate promising new technologies and approaches in space, as well as for educational, scientific and commercial applications.
The RACE mission concept involves two ‘6-unit’ CubeSats that will fly together in close formation, proving the capability of nanosatellites to perform close-proximity operations. These will include rendezvous and docking on a cooperative basis, and the ability to perform a close flyby around uncooperative targets, such as derelict satellites.
RACE is being developed by a European consortium led by the GomSpace company, with GMV working on guidance, navigation and control systems, Almatech contributing the docking mechanism and Micos the CubeSats’ visual navigation camera. The mission is being funded through ESA’s Fly element of the General Support Technology Programme, readying new concepts for space and the market.
“RACE will act as an in-orbit testbed for advanced guidance, navigation and control software and autonomous system behaviour,” explains Roger Walker, overseeing ESA’s technology CubeSats programme. “And by making it possible to assemble larger structures in space in this way, these ambitious CubeSats could open up many novel types of missions in future.”
ESA’s fourth CubeSat Industry Days take place this week at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, with more than 260 participants from 25 European countries, representing some 152 companies.
“This event is focused on the current European state-of-the-art in this fast-expanding space sector and discussing key issues for future missions,” adds Roger. By popular demand these Industry Days have been expanded with an extra final day exploring CubeSat propulsion systems.
Credits: GomSpace
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas.
Continuously produced from 1937 to November 1969 (over 32 years, a world record at the time), over 9,000 were built, making it one of the world's most widely used light aircraft. Sold worldwide as a civilian executive, utility, cargo aircraft, and passenger airliner on tailwheels, nosewheels, skis, or floats, it was also used as a military aircraft.
During and after World War II, over 4,500 Beech 18s were used in military service—as light transport, light bomber (for China), aircrew trainer (for bombing, navigation, and gunnery), photo-reconnaissance, and "mother ship" for target drones—including United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) C-45 Expeditor, AT-7 Navigator, and AT-11 Kansan; and United States Navy (USN) UC-45J Navigator, SNB-1 Kansan, and others. In World War II, over 90% of USAAF bombardiers and navigators trained in these aircraft.
In the early postwar era, the Beech 18 was the pre-eminent "business aircraft" and "feeder airliner". Besides carrying passengers, its civilian uses have included aerial spraying, sterile insect release, fish seeding, dry-ice cloud seeding, aerial firefighting, air-mail delivery, ambulance service, numerous movie productions, skydiving, freight, weapon- and drug-smuggling, engine testbed, skywriting, banner towing, and stunt aircraft. Many are now privately owned, around the world, with 240 in the U.S. still on the FAA Aircraft Registry in August 2017.