TWO STARSHIP airframes donated by Raytheon Aircraft to NASA's Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) programme will be used for nondestructive testing and crash-simulation tests (Flight International, 17-23 May).
Raytheon has donated two of the three Starship certification prototypes, having first removed the engines, avionics and systems. Initial tests will determine the noise-transmission characteristics of composite structures. Additional nondestructive tests being considered cover long-term environmental exposure and damage propagation under extreme loads.
Early in 1996, NASA will equip a Starship airframe with various seats and restraint systems and conduct a full-scale crash simulation to determine the impact characteristics of composite structures.
Interior elements developed under the AGATE programme to increase occupant protection will be installed in the second Starship airframe and tested in 1999.
Source: Flight International
