Data acquisition
AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM // JUNE 67
structure. The Hornet was then handed back to the
operational squadron and flew an operational sortie the
same day.
“We installed sensors on various external surfaces on
the Hornet including the wingtip weapons stations,
where traditional flight test wiring would have to pass
through the wing-fold mechanism,” Canning says. “The
air force estimated that to wire the aircraft for the same
test would have taken two months.”
POTENTIAL MARKET
Although the initial customer is the military, Canning
says NIFTI has equal application in civil aviation, ranging
from the large aircraft manufacturers down to business
jet makers, general aviation companies and even
consultant engineering services.
Although the system will not replace the traditional
means of gathering flight test information during major
type certification campaigns, such as those recently
undertaken by Airbus with its A350 or Boeing with the
787, it can provide an agile, cost-effective solution should
data be required about an area not initially instrumented.
“We have designed one of
the data acquisition gateway
modules to interface with
existing flight test instrumentation capability. So, if you
perhaps need another 20 channels of data in an area – to
characterize something you may have seen in an area
you weren’t expecting to see it – you can add NIFTI into
the system in a few hours, do the flight test and then
decommission the system in an hour or so,” Canning
explains.
“That’s the sort of agility it will bring to flight test –
even for traditional wired flight test.”
Although the initial focus has been the aerospace
sector, given the RAAF launch customer, NIFTI has
applications wherever instrumentation and sensors have
data to transmit. Other potential future markets include
ships, submarines or even motor vehicles.
Defence Innovations’ plan is to both supply NIFTI as
a ready-to-use kit and lease the system alongside the
expertise to operate it for smaller organizations who may
not wish to purchase the capability.
“It’s not just military flight test, but the
manufacturers of light sport aircraft, general aviation
aircraft, business jets, agricultural aircraft and the like. It
will bring the ability to perform advanced flight test in a
very agile and cost-effective way to a large market
segment beyond military flight test organizations,”
Canning says.
VERIFICATION & VALIDATION TESTING
The final hurdle before NIFTI enters service with the
RAAF is the successful conclusion of V&V testing, which
has already begun in Defence Innovations’ laboratory
in Melbourne. “V&V testing is all about ensuring the
system is reliable, because the last thing you want to do
4 // Warren Canning receiving the
2019 National Innovation Award for
the development of the NIFTI system
at the 2019 Australian International
Airshow at Avalon
“It will bring the ability to
perform advanced flight test in
a very agile and cost-effective
way to a large market segment
beyond military flight test”
3 // The NIFTI system
was developed and
tested in close
partnership with Royal
Australian Air Force
3
4
/AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM