British trainee test pilots in the United Kingdom are using a BAE Systems Hawk jet equipped with special software to mimic the characteristics of a particular aircraft or simulate an adverse flight condition.
The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA, soon to be called QinetiQ) is featuring the Advanced Stability Training and Research Aircraft (ASTRA) on its stand. Available to the students of the Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) and owned by DERA, the ASTRA Hawk T1 is a unique aircraft.
ASTRA can demonstrate different aerodynamic parameters to students and allow them to put the theory they are taught at ETPS into practice. Instructors programme characteristics into the ASTRA flight control system so that they can be experienced in during flight. A record of the student's responses can be kept and replayed afterwards for performance assessment purposes.
Source: Flight Daily News
