Supports The Aerospace Industry By Combining Research Experience, Certification Testing

The National Research Council Canada Institute for Aerospace Research has launched its developmental and certification flight testing program, designed to be responsive to the flight test needs of smaller Canadian and international aerospace companies. NRC Aerospace calls this move a natural progression for its Flight Research Laboratory, which conducts research along the continuum from basic research to product development and certification for market.

A key feature of these services is the designation of the NRC chief test pilot, Rob Erdos, as a Transport Canada Design Approval Representative (DAR). This allows him to act as the organization's surrogate in examining the airworthiness of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft designs, and to determine their compliance with air regulations. As part of the delegation, he is empowered to assess the level of pilot skill required to operate an aircraft, the ease of operation of the aircraft, and the crew workload, among other parameters. Other parts of the lab, including their instrumentation, structural analysis capabilities and flight test expertise, make the organization a credible partner when working to meet the requirements of a regulator.

This emerging NRC Aerospace capability has been more than 10 years in the making, beginning with the flight testing of the Ultravia Pelican in 1999, when the Canadian kit plane manufacturer sought to certify the two-place single-engine high-wing trainer. Since then, NRC Aerospace has assisted high-technology defense company Davis Engineering with certification testing of an infrared engine exhaust signature suppression system, as well as general aviation company Diamond Aircraft with the developmental testing of the D-Jet, spin testing of the DA-40F, and demonstration of their DA-20 design to the US Air Force for use as a trainer. Currently, NRC Aerospace is assisting Seawind with the certification testing of the Seawind 300C.

NRC Chief Test Pilot Rob Erdos

 "We developed this capability because we wanted to support the needs of smaller Canadian and international aerospace companies, which may not be large enough to have test pilots and the associated support people on staff," said Stewart Baillie, director of the NRC Aerospace Flight Research Laboratory. "We find this is a good use of our experience as a research organization, because of the inherent links between basic aeronautical research and the requirements of flight certification testing."

The NRC Aerospace Flight Research Laboratory maintains and operates a small fleet of dedicated research aircraft, including a Falcon 20, a Convair 580, a Harvard Mark IV, a T-33, a Twin Otter, a Bell 412, a Bell 205A, a Bell 206 and an Extra 300. Researchers use these aircraft to support projects in the lab's main program areas: flight mechanics, avionics, aircraft recorder technology and airborne research.

FMI: www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca