“ After I finished school, I started work at small firm in Arlington, where we did flight test support, wind tunnel, airplane modification and certification. A lot of small airplane flight testing. All the collaboration and joint work with another local firm transitioned me to higher-speed aerodynamics and eventually a new job.”
There was a steady drumbeat – loads, dynamics, flutter – from simple output to integrated systems tests. Robert’ s work had him joining forces with other companies, collaborating on an array of projects. He remembered one project where they added weight capability to a small cargo aircraft, loading and unloading over 8,000 pounds of flight test ballast every week over one summer.
“ It was easier to do that kind of a project when I was younger.”
Back then, to offer the kinds of capabilities needed by the burgeoning small jet industry, Robert remembers independent companies needed to concentrate on projects that were within their( and their partner’ s) capabilities. Many of the complicated safety and performance analysis needed to develop and certify major structural or aerodynamic changes were not available outside of the Original Equipment Manufacturing( OEM) environment. There were no independent companies able to perform them.
BACK THEN...
MANY OF THE COMPLICATED SAFETY AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS NEEDED TO DEVELOP AND CERTIFY
MAJOR STRUCTURAL
OR AERODYNAMIC CHANGES WERE NOT AVAILABLE
OUTSIDE OF THE OEM ENVIRONMENT
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER ISSUE NO. 52 53