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In June 1981, the first SENIOR TREND test aircraft (YF-117 79-10780) was delivered for testing. On 18 June 1981 the first successful flight was made by a Lockheed test pilot. During mid-1981 and early 1982, 10781, 10782, 10783 and 10784 were delivered to the Baja Scorpions for testing. There were usually four to six test flights (about half contractor and half USAF) for acceptance. They included systems checks, handling qualities evaluations, and low observable verifications.<ref name="BStesting">[http://www.f-117a.com/Baja.html F-117 Testing]</ref>
In June 1981, the first SENIOR TREND test aircraft (YF-117 79-10780) was delivered for testing. On 18 June 1981 the first successful flight was made by a Lockheed test pilot. During mid-1981 and early 1982, 10781, 10782, 10783 and 10784 were delivered to the Baja Scorpions for testing. There were usually four to six test flights (about half contractor and half USAF) for acceptance. They included systems checks, handling qualities evaluations, and low observable verifications.<ref name="BStesting">[http://www.f-117a.com/Baja.html F-117 Testing]</ref>


80-10785 was ready for its first flight on 20 April. However, unbeknownst to anyone, the fly-by-wire system had been hooked up incorrectly (pitch was yaw and vice versa). Upon liftoff, the plane immediately went out of control. Instead of the nose pitching up, it went horizontal. The aircraft went inverted and ended up traveling backwards through the air. The pilot had no time to eject, and the aircraft flew into the ground. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but some of its parts could be salvaged.<ref name="JB117"/> Additional production F-117s were delivered during 1982. With operational testing completed, the aircraft were delivered to the Tactical Air Command 4450th Tactical Group (4450th TG) at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada. <ref name="JB117"/><ref name="SNF117"/>
80-10785 was ready for its first flight on 20 April. However, unbeknownst to anyone, the fly-by-wire system had been hooked up incorrectly (pitch was yaw and vice versa). Upon liftoff, the plane immediately went out of control. Instead of the nose pitching up, it went horizontal. The aircraft went inverted and ended up traveling backwards through the air. The pilot had no time to eject, and the aircraft flew into the ground. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but some of its parts could be salvaged.<ref name="JB117"/> Additional production F-117s were delivered during 1982. With operational testing completed, the aircraft were delivered to the Tactical Air Command 4450th Tactical Group (4450th TG) at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada. <ref name="JB117"/><ref name="SNF117"/>

In 1990 the last F-117A (88-0843) was delivered. and the flight test squadron no longer had to perform acceptance flights at Groom Lake of new F-117A aircraft. However, the flight test duties still included flights for refurbished aircraft received from Lockheed.<ref name="BStesting"/>

====Palmdale====


===Lineage===
===Lineage===

Revision as of 02:19, 6 February 2013

410th Flight Test Squadron
Rockwell B-1B Lancer 85-0075



410th Flight Test Squadron - F-117 Formation, 2007
Active10 March 1989-1 August 2008
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeSquadron
RoleFlight Testing
Garrison/HQEdwards Air Force Base, California
Nickname(s)"Baja Scorpions"
Tail Code"ED"
Insignia
410th Flight Test Squadron emblem
Aircraft flown
BomberB-1B Lancer
FighterF-117 Nighthawk

The 410th Flight Test Squadron (410 FTS) is an inactive United States Air Force squadron. It was last assigned to the 412th Operations Group, stationed at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale Regional Airport, California. It was inactivated on 1 August 2008.

Overview

The squadron's primary mission throughout its lifetime was flight and acceptance testing of the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter and the B-1B Lancer bomber. Officially activated in March 1989 for B-1B flight testing, the mission of the unit was changed in 1993 when the B-1 testing was transferred to the 419th Flight Test Squadron and the squadron became the F-117A test squadron, assuming the mission of an inactivated classified unit formed in 1980 at Groom Lake, Nevada (Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center)

History

B-1B Lancer testing

On 2 October 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced a Strategic Modernization Program (SMP), a key feature of which would be the procurement of 100 Long-Range Combat Aircraft (LRCA). The LRCA would later be designated as the B-1B Lancer.[1]

The first B-1B (82-0001) was assembled largely by hand and incorporated several sub-assemblies of the No 5 B-1A, which has been under construction when the B-1A program was cancelled in 1979 by President Carter. It was rolled out from the Rockwell assembly plant at Palmdale, California on 4 September 1984. It flew for the first time on 31 October 1984, crewed by Rockwell test pilots. It was a 3 hour 20 minute flight which ended with a landing at Edwards AFB, California. The second aircraft was delivered on 7 July 1985. The B-1B was declared ready for delivery to the Strategic Air Command barely eight months after its first flight.[1]

The initial B-1B assignment was to the 4018th Combat Crew Training Squadron at Dyess AFB, Texas, which was activated on March 15, 1985. The first operational squadron was the the 337th Bombardment Squadron. The 100th and last production aircraft was delivered to the Air Force on 2 May 1988. At Edwards AFB, Air Force Systems Command formed and activated the 6510th Test Squadron on 10 March 1989 to provide operational testing of the B-1B weapons systems, software and components.[1]

When the aircraft reached operational squadrons, many shortcomings were discovered. Testing of modifications by the 6510th TS included modifications of the low-altitude range of the aircraft, which it was discovered to be well short of it's 7,455 maximum unrefueled range of 7455 miles. The modificaions incrased the range of the aircraft from 1,300 nautical miles to over 3,000. Other modifications tested were problems with the terrain-following radar system, defensive avionics systems, fuel leaks, Central Integrated Test System, and F101 engine turbofan blade failures, which caused the grounding of the aircraft in December 1990.[1]

F-117A testing

Groom Lake/Area 51

In 1978, the preliminary testing of the Have Blue stealth aircraft was successfully completed, and William Perry, Under-Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the Carter Administration, urged that the Air Force apply this technology to an operational aircraft. During November 1978, Lockheed was awarded a go-ahead contract to begin full-scale development of the project. This was a "Special Access", i.e. black, program, and the code name "SENIOR TREND" was applied to the project. In 1980, the SENIOR TREND Joint (later Combined) Test Force. (Detachment 2, R unit, 4450th Tactical Group) was established at Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center consisting of a combination of Lockheed and USAF personnel as an acceptance test squadron for the aircraft and was adopted as the unofficial name of the testing unit. The Baja Scorpion was quickly adopted as the symbol of the Lockheed-USAF development effort. The scorpion symbol is the symbol of all F-117A testing. [2][3][4]

In June 1981, the first SENIOR TREND test aircraft (YF-117 79-10780) was delivered for testing. On 18 June 1981 the first successful flight was made by a Lockheed test pilot. During mid-1981 and early 1982, 10781, 10782, 10783 and 10784 were delivered to the Baja Scorpions for testing. There were usually four to six test flights (about half contractor and half USAF) for acceptance. They included systems checks, handling qualities evaluations, and low observable verifications.[5]

80-10785 was ready for its first flight on 20 April. However, unbeknownst to anyone, the fly-by-wire system had been hooked up incorrectly (pitch was yaw and vice versa). Upon liftoff, the plane immediately went out of control. Instead of the nose pitching up, it went horizontal. The aircraft went inverted and ended up traveling backwards through the air. The pilot had no time to eject, and the aircraft flew into the ground. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, but some of its parts could be salvaged.[3] Additional production F-117s were delivered during 1982. With operational testing completed, the aircraft were delivered to the Tactical Air Command 4450th Tactical Group (4450th TG) at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada. [3][4]

In 1990 the last F-117A (88-0843) was delivered. and the flight test squadron no longer had to perform acceptance flights at Groom Lake of new F-117A aircraft. However, the flight test duties still included flights for refurbished aircraft received from Lockheed.[5]

Palmdale

Lineage

"Baja Scorpions" unofficial emblem
Unofficial
  • "Baja Scorpions", 1980-1 March 1993
Personnel and equipment merged into 410th Test Squadron, 1 March 1993-
Official
  • Designated 6510th Test Squadron, and activated, on 10 March 1989
Re-designated: 410th Test Squadron on 2 October 1992
Re-designated: 410th Flight Test Squadron on 1 March 1994
Inactivated 1 October 2008

Assignments

Unofficial
  • SENIOR TREND Joint (later Combined) Test Force. (Detachment 2, R unit, 4450th Tactical Group), 1980
  • Detachment 5, 2874th Test Squadron, February 1992
  • Detachment 5, 337th Test Squadron, 1992-1 March 1993
Official

Stations

Unofficial
Official
  • Edwards Air Force Base, California, 10 March 1989
  • Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale Regional Airport, California, 1 March 1993-1 October 2008

Aircraft

F-117 aircraft not officially assigned to unit until 1 March 1993

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^ a b c d Rockwell B-1B Lancer
  2. ^ 410th Flight Test Squadron
  3. ^ a b c Developmental and Operational History of the F-117 Nighthawk
  4. ^ a b F-117 Serial Number Search
  5. ^ a b F-117 Testing

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=410th_Test_and_Evaluation_Squadron&oldid=536800128"