5
is conduct an expensive flight test and come back
without any data. Also, that it meets requirements in
terms of things like bandwidth, sampling rate, standby
duration and actual recording duration,” Canning
explains. “When we’re confident we have the system
100% functional and reliable, we will progress to flight
test before we hand it to Air Force for acceptance testing.”
Defence Innovations was awarded the Avalon 2019
National Defence Innovation Award for NIFTI at the
Australian International Air Show in Victoria
during February this year.
“The NIFTI system represents a breakthrough
and quantum leap in flight test instrumentation,
because it is lighter, cheaper and quicker to
install and remove than a conventional flight
test instrumentation package,” the award
citation reads.
“Ordered by the RAAF and proven in
supersonic flight testing, NIFTI uses sensors that
communicate with an on-board data acquisition
5 // One of the Aircraft
Research and
Development Unit’s
three PC-9/As used in
45 minutes
time taken to remove system
after testing evaluation
2.5 months
estimated time a wired
installation would have taken
68 JUNE \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
gateway using wi-fi. It is possible to instrument a supersonic aircraft
with a NIFTI package in a matter of hours – instead of weeks – and then
remove the installation in less than an hour to return the aircraft
to frontline service. Its domestic and export market potential are
both significant.”
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Development of NIFTI beyond its original concept includes
consideration of additional sensor capabilities, including those for
control column position and force and integration of Time, Space and
Position (TSPI) information.
The inclusion of TSPI will provide critical information during trials
such as air combat maneuvering sorties, air-to-air refueling trials and
stores releases testing.
“We’re also starting to look at a range of other sensors, such as a
universal analogue input sensor, so you can literally plug in whichever
analogue node you have and it will be converted to digital information
and transmitted to the gateway for recording,” Canning says.
NIFTI has also attracted interest from manufacturers of unmanned
platforms and Canning says this market is under consideration for
future development of the system. While the work is still in the
conceptual stage, Canning says the need for such a system is evident,
particularly in the High-Altitude Long-Endurance drone sector, where
platforms are required to operate for many hours in relatively thin air
and close to the flutter margin.
The future export potential of NIFTI is significant, but for now
Canning says the focus is to complete V&V testing and deliver the
product to the RAAF, before engaging in any serious discussions with
other parties.
“However, I am very confident that, later this year, we will be
demonstrating the system to the many potential customers who have
made enquiries,” he says. \\
data acquisition
NIFTI testing
“It is possible to
instrument an aircraft
with a NIFTI package in
hours – instead of weeks”
/AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM