Air Force test flights are experimental flights to test aircraft design and systems. The US Air Force Flight Test Center and NASA work together to develop aircraft. The UK’s Defense Research Agency and Russia also conduct test flights. The X-15 set speed and altitude records, and many pilots were chosen for initial astronaut selection. Conducting test flights is dangerous, but successful technology has reduced the need for large numbers of pilots and vehicles in combat.
An air force test flight is a process by which a military organization conducts experimental flights to ensure the operation of an aircraft’s design and systems. Basically, an Air Force test flight is designed to understand the limitations and possibilities of a piece of equipment. Since the onset of the Cold War, the prominence of Air Force flight testing has enabled an increase in aviation technology as well as the breaking of many world speed records.
In the United States, the Air Force Flight Test Center is the base operation that conducts the organization’s military flight test operations. It is based at Edwards Air Force Base and is divided into two segments: the 95th Air Base Wing and the 412th Test Wing. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also maintains a strong presence involved with the Air Force Flight Test Center, which operates the Dryden Flight Research Center. Together, the US Air Force and NASA work to develop a variety of aircraft.
Many other nations also sponsor test flights for military squadrons. In the UK, the Defense Research Agency conducts the majority of test flights at its headquarters in Farnborough. Russia operates a variety of aircraft testing bases, most notably its center near Moscow, the MM Gromov Flight Research Institute.
Some of the first full-scale Air Force test flight operations began at Muroc Army Air Base during the height of World War II. A series of top-secret experiments known as the “X planes” began. Over the next two decades, the center would develop many of the modern systems still used in military aircraft today.
Most notably in US flight test results was the X-15, a vehicle that set early records for both speed and altitude. According to the accepted US definition of space, Major Bob White became the first person to fly an aircraft in space. On July 17, 1962, he reached an altitude of 314,750 feet (about 95,936 m). He was beaten on October 3, 1967 by Pete Knight, who also set the speed record with Mach 6.72 (4.520 mph). Many of the X-15 pilots were chosen for initial astronaut selection when NASA was created.
Conducting an Air Force test flight is highly dangerous work. Since at least World War II, hundreds of pilots have died while conducting tests of experimental vehicles. Despite these losses, however, the technology used in fighters and bombers today may point to their sacrifices as the reason so few crashes occur in modern history. Additionally, successes in creating superior military aircraft have reduced the need for large numbers of pilots and vehicles that can be placed in dangerous environments such as combat.
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