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ATS will be exhibiting at the NAAA (National Agricultural Aviation Association) Annual Convention and Exposition held from December 7th-10th in Reno, Nevada. We will be in booth #128. Come and learn about our newest product offerings.

ATS will be attending and exhibiting at the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) Convention in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center. We will be displaying one of our wind tunnel models and be available to discuss our capabilities. Please stop by and visit.

As part of NASA's development for a space shuttle replacement, the Constellation program was created and is well underway. In support of that program multiple engineering solutions for the launch system are being designed, validated and tested. In 2008 ATS was selected to build a wind tunnel model of the Max Launch Abort System (MLAS) that was tested in the Univeristy of Washington's Kirsten Wind Tunnel. The data from that test was used to validate the system concept, and provide the necessary foundation for concept refinement. The MLAS was succesfully flight tested on July 8th. More information can be found at http://www.nasa.gov.

Orion alternate launch abort configuration test at UWAL. Image Credit: NASA

ATS delivered a 1/10th scale model of the Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat to the Naval Academy. The model will be used for instruction and research. It has powered ailerons, elevators, flaps, and rudder enabling very rapid configuration changes.

Aeronautical Testing Service will be presenting at this years AeroTest America, held in the Fort Worth Convention Center. We will be in booth 515. Stop by and view one of our wind tunnel models, and discuss our other capabilities.

For the second consecutive year, ATS presented at the 2008 NBAA convention, held this year in Orlando. Also presenting with ATS, were Industry and Academic partners Analytical Methods and University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory (UWAL). The wind tunnel model of the Spectrum Freedom, model S-40 was shown. This model had a powered elevator, stabilizer, and rudder as well as load cells for recording hinge moments on the ailerons, rudder, elevator, and stabilizer.

ATS engineers co-authored a paper that was presented during the technical sessions of the conference. The paper titled, Methods for Increasing Wind Tunnel Testing Effectiveness (AIAA paper 2008-1655), discusses the process used by ATS to improve wind tunnel testing programs. Model design issues, timing of wind tunnel testing in the development cycle, CFD vs. wind tunnel testing, and the roll of wind tunnel testing are discussed in the paper.

This is the first convention that ATS has displayed a model with powered control surfaces. The 1/5th scale wind tunnel model of the Spectrum Freedom, model S-40, was shown with a powered stabilizer, elevator, and rudder. The remotely actuated surfaces also included provisions for measuring hinge moments for use in control system design.

Remotely actuated stabilizer, elevators, ailerons, and rudders will greatly increase the productivity and efficiency of testing. Model configuration change times are now a matter of seconds vs. minutes. The results from a recent test detail the potential productivity gains.

The powered controls not only increase efficiency, but they also allow the customer to gather data that normally would be very time consuming to test. Horizontal tail lift curves can be easily generated, and there is the potential for running trimmed polars.

For the first time ever, ATS exhibited at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The centerpiece of the display was the 1/5th scale wind tunnel model of the Spectrum Independence, model S-33. This show was a unique opportunity to showcase advances in wind tunnel model design and manufacturing developed by ATS.