ECN-12451
NASA’s F-14 (tail number 991, Navy serial number 157991) in 1980, soon after its arrival at the Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft has its landing gear down and its wings swept forward. At the nose, the hydraulically actuated canards are extended. Other modifications for high angle of attack and spin tests were an auxiliary power unit, a nose boom, and an emergency spin chute.
Langley Research Center engineers, in partnership with Grumman and Honeywell, developed new control laws involving an aileron/rudder interconnect (ARI) that succeeded in limiting departures and providing recoveries from spins, following the loss of several F-14s in spins due to their automatic flight-control system’s control law architecture. The F-14 with the new control laws proved to be “very responsive and maneuverable above 30 degrees angle-of-attack, with no abrupt departure or spin tendencies.”
September 5, 1980NASA Photo / NASA photo› F-14 Project Description