Experimental flights | System Experimental Flight

the cockpit of experimental plane - LifeAir

LIFEAIR possesses an entire array in the field of experimental flights, which includes a highly-skilled air team, land teams and operators, and of course – test planes with various haulage capabilities. Customers of the company who wish to perform an experimental flight will be met with an immediate professional response in order to determine the performance method relevant to them.In the initial characterization stage, the customer will be invited to examine the company’s aircraft fleet and meet the people behind the work in order to get a full solution for their needs. Later on, the client will receive a work plan to be carried out which will be the most suitable to their requirements, timetables and the budget they can invest to achieve their goals.

The company’s experimental aircraft are suitable for the installment of various systems:

Piper Aztec – The company holds three Piper Aztec experimental planes with a certified underbelly hatch for installing mapping and remote sensor systems which are set up in the cabin of the plane. These planes control flight operations to the height of 15,000 feet, and can stay airborne for more than six hours.
Piper Cheyenne 3: The company possesses a Piper Cheyenne 3 experimental airplane for flight at the height of up to 27,000 feet. This particular experimental plane has three hard points at the front of the underbelly on which different systems can be quickly installed. These points are directly connected to the plane’s beams, which allows for extra-heavy loads to be installed, as the client requires. At the same time, it is possible to set up equipment racks in the plane’s cabin, which is extra spacious and large.
Other aircraft: The company can characterize, coordinate and operate many other types of aircrafts according to customer needs, including helicopters such as Bell 206 Jet Ranger and Long Ranger, Augusta, Robinson and Sikorsky, jet planes Citation3 and Hawker 800 and one-engine planes such as Cessna 172, 182 and 208.

A little bit about experimental flights

Experimental flying is an established field in aeronautics engineering which deals with the collection of operating data and analyzing characteristics of aircrafts and airborne systems.

The purpose of an experimental flight usually comes from the need to examine and certify performance capabilities of the tested system in the flight configuration as part of a commercial licensing process or research and development efforts.

A large variety of experimental flights are performed by different sectors of the flight and technology industry, as well as by developers of remote sensor and observation systems, radars, arrays of transmitting and receiving antennae and more.

The technical division in the field of experimental flights is as follows:

Installation of systems which do not protrude from the plane’s faring (the outer faring of the plane as it was originally manufactured).
Installations which protrude from the faring of the plane (systems which are installed anywhere on the plane and deviate from its original faring).

Many flight experiments involve different levels of risk, which are usually higher than exist in other aerial operation frameworks, and therefore special measures and method need to be enacted. LIFEAIR possesses an entire array in the field of experimental flights, which includes a highly-skilled air team, land teams and operators, and of course – test planes with various haulage capabilities. Customers of the company who wish to perform an experimental flight will be met with an immediate professional response in order to determine the performance method relevant to them.

In the initial characterization stage, the customer will be invited to examine the company’s aircraft fleet and meet the people behind the work in order to get a full solution for their needs. Later on, the client will receive a work plan to be carried out which will be the most suited to their requirements, timetables and the budget they can invest to achieve their goals.

Remote sensing systems and radar systems for aircraft flying

External installations for remote sensing systems and radar systems

Many Israeli and global companies that develop remote sensing systems are required to perform a flying of the systems upon manned aircraft to prove capabilities and complete the procedures of commercial licensing. Remote sensor systems come in two major types – systems with a passive sensor, and systems with an active sensor. An active sensor emits radiation in the direction of the studied target. Later on, the sensor detects and measures the radiation reflected back from the target. Passive sensors, in contrast, detect natural energy (radiation) which is emitted or reflected by the object or visible scene. Reflected sunlight is the most common source of radiation measured by passive sensors.

Many of the desired installation configurations protrude from the plane’s faring, and so require a proper procedure of planning, manufacturing, installing and licensing to get to the stage of operational flight.

LIFEAIR has long experience in managing and leading such procedures, and provides its clients with all of the tools needed to start and finish the different flying stages of system development.

Airborne platforms for R&D and commercial systems

Needs and Customers in the Field of Airborne System

The field of flying remote sensor systems mostly has two types of users:

Geographic mapping consumers: Geographic maps serve as a basis for decision-making in many life fields, including mapping and construction, land management, management of natural resources, maintenance of natural resources, maintenance of physical infrastructure, geopolitics and more. Consumers in this market are those who operate within these fields, such as engineers and architects, project managers, land owners and managers, state and local government offices, state authorities and others.

Defense industry consumers: Remote sensor systems in their research and development stage which are designated for security and defense have to be flown on a manned aircraft in order to be granted commercial approval for the systems’ quality. Many consumers and clients are required to use an aircraft on a perpetual basis in order to operate their sensor system, but prefer not to invest in acquiring airborne platforms, which concur high expenses and require highly-skilled professional manpower.

Experimental flight types - LIFEAIR