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NASA Meatball NASA Dryden F-15 ACTIVE Aircraft banner
F-15B ACTIVE with thrust vectoring nozzles in flight F-15B ACTIVE with thrust vectoring nozzles in flight

Photo Number: EC96-43456-2
Photo Date: March 1996

Formats: 362x480 JPEG Image (81 KBytes)
773x1024 JPEG Image (527 KBytes)
1600x2120 JPEG Image (885 KBytes)

Description:

NASA Pilot, Jim Smolka and McDonnell Douglas Pilot, Larry Walker fly the F-15 ACTIVE (Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles) program at NASA Dryden's Flight Research Center, Edwards, California.

The twin-engine F-15 is equipped with new Pratt & Whitney nozzles that can turn up to 20 degrees in any direction, giving the aircraft thrust control in the pitch (up and down) and yaw (left and right) directions.

On March 27, 1996, NASA began flight testing a new thrust-vectoring concept on the F-15 research aircraft to improve performance and aircraft control. The new concept should lead to signifigant increases in performance of both civil and military aircraft flying at subsonic and supersonic speeds.


Keywords: F-15; F-15B; ACTIVE; Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles; pitch; yaw; thrust vectoring; nozzles; Jim Smolka; Larry Walker


Last Modified: February 6, 2002
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