Dassault Aviation Evaluates Laminar Designs in Flight As Part of Europe's Clean Sky Research Program

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SAINT-CLOUD, France, January 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Dassault Aviation recently performed a successful flight test to evaluate potential applications of a laminar wing for large business jets. The flight was performed with a Falcon 7X at Dassault's Flight Test Center in Istres, France. The tests are part of the "Smart Fixed Wing Aircraft", one of the Integrated Technology Demonstrators of the European Clean Sky initiative. Clean Sky, one of Europe's largest research initiatives ever, aims to develop technologies for cleaner and quieter next-generation aircraft which will enter service beyond 2020.

The flight evaluated a new infrared (IR) camera technology, developed by FLIR, which is capable of measuring temperature gradients in high altitude/low temperature and pressure environment. The camera measured differences in surface temperatures between laminar and turbulent areas of the horizontal tail plane on the Falcon 7X. While the Falcon 7X is not based on a laminar design, at high altitudes a laminarity of up to 40% was predicted on the upper surface of the horizontal tail. Measurements from the IR camera placed at the top of the vertical tail were performed to provide experimental validation.

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Dassault Aviation Evaluates Laminar Designs in Flight As Part of Europe's Clean Sky Research Program

"The results, which are still under analysis by Dassault Aviation and ONERA, (the French national aerospace research center) do show laminar extensions as expected," said Philippe Rostand,...

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