F-16 VISTA (X-62)

The Vista aircraft was a variable-stability in-flight simulator test aircraft.[1] It removed the center stick as well as the variable stability computers. [1] It tested thrust vectoring at high AOA and altitudes above 20000ft.[1] The F-16 VISTA has been used to test AI pilots in supersonic jet aircraft. The Vista was originally designed as an in-flight simulator based on the F-16D.[2] It was used for the Multi-Axis thrust vectoring program, developing the F-35 flight control laws, landing tests for the QF-16, the auto ACAS program, HAVE Raider programs. It has a smaller g profile than the original F-16 with faster horizontal tail actuation. The original VSS software was written in ADA. At any time, the in-flight simulation can be turned off, and the jet returns to the baseline F-16 flight control system. It can be used as a risk-reduction platform for emerging technologies. It can also introduce sensor errors and transport delays. It can also test UAS systems by bypassing the safety and regulatory problems of operating an unmanned aircraft. The VISTA was used to simulate the F-22 flight control system.[3]

[[Calspan]] – helped work on the simulation system and maintenance installation
[[NC-133]] – predecessor
[[X-62 VSS]]
[[VISTA configuration]]
[[F-16 VISTA Flight Envelope]]
[[VISTA Datalinks]]
[[VISTA flight modes]]
[[Vista Simulator Buildup]]
[[VISTA SACS]]
[[VISTA hardware Upgrades]]

Heading

  • [1] yumpucomFlightControlLaw
  • [2] M. C. Cotting, S. S. Stephens, J. Cole, J. Barricklow, and W. Gray, “X-62 VISTA Capabilities and Architecture,” in AIAA SCITECH 2023 Forum, in AIAA SciTech Forum. , American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2023. doi: 10.2514/6.2023-1744.
  • [3] J. Harris and G. Black, “F-22 control law development and flying qualities,” in 21st Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference, San Diego,CA,U.S.A.: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jul. 1996. doi: 10.2514/6.1996-3379.

Backlinks

[[Ada]]
[[BO-105]]
[[Digital Engineering]]
Dynamic Inversion Control Law Structure
[[F-16]]
F-22 Flight Control System
[[F-35 Lightning 2]]
[[Model-Based Engineering Workflow]]
[[Modeling Errors]]
Pilot-Induced Oscillations
[[Thrust Vectoring]]
[[Time Delay Robustness Analysis]]
[[Unmanned Aerial Systems]]