The Flight Research Laboratory (FRL), located in Hangar 1091 at Easterwood Airport, is a 6000 sq. ft facility. The hangar is divided into three main areas; 3600 sq. ft. are dedicated to aircraft storage, maintenance, and stores installation, 1200 sq. ft is used for offices, the remaining 1200 sq. ft. is used for instrumentation development and laboratory work. In addition, lofts above the office and lab spaces provide 2400 sq. ft of space of composite and sheet metal workshops, as well as general storage. Capabilities offered in each of these facility areas are described below:
Office Area
- Pre- and Post-flight conference room
- Ground base station radio
- Student work area with three desktop workstations and three laptop connections
Laboratory Area
- Electrical workstation including equipment for hardware modification and signal analysis
- Environmental control for safe storage of instrumentation
- In-depth library of stability and transition papers
- Three desktop workstations and several laptop connections
Hangar Space
- In-house A&P Mechanic that oversees all aircraft modifications and repairs
- Compressed air system for pneumatic tools
- Extensive toolset
- Mill and lathe with digital readouts
- Project workbenches
Workshops
- Machine shop specializing in sheet metal construction and repair:
- Two band saws
- Chop saw
- Bench grinder, belt sander
- Drill press
- Sheet metal brake and shear
- Wide variety of pneumatic tools: drills, shears, rivet guns, etc.
- Sand-blasting station
- Full composite workstation, equipped for both new part construction and structural repair
- Carbon fiber
- Fiberglass
- Microballoons
- Foam molds
- Various epoxies
- Surface finishing
Personnel experience
- Flight Profile Planning: Includes selection of flight test area, in-flight maneuvers, altitude and speed
- Safety analysis and test procedures
- Design of mounting configurations for instrumentation located on the wing external stores
- Data acquisition in-flight and post-flight processing
