15 - Guest lectures
X-59 EXTERNAL VISION SYSTEM FLIGHT TESTING
R.E. Bailey¹, S.P. Williams¹, J.J. (Trey) Arthur¹, K.S. Kibler¹; ¹NASA, United States
rnrnAs part of its Quiet SuperSonic Technologies (QueSST) mission, NASA has developed the X-59 Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) aircraft, designed specifically to create a low boom noise signature during supersonic cruise flight. The forward fuselage/nose shaping of the X-59 design is one of the critical elements of this design, but, as a result, forward-facing windows are impractical. rnrnNASA designed and delivered an eXternal Visibility System (XVS) as government-furnished equipment for installation on the Lockheed-Martin-built X-59 that, with other aircraft systems and subsystems, may ensure safe and efficient operations in all phases of flight by providing an electronic means of forward visibility .rnrnXVS technologies have been researched but the X-59 represents the first operational vehicle reliant on an electronic means of vision in all phases of flight. The X-59 XVS design goal is to create an electronic means of vision with equivalent or better levels of safety and performance to windows.rnrnThis presentation and paper will discuss the design of the X-59 XVS and the findings, to date, including the operational and airworthiness performance of the X-59 XVS and the challenges of flight without forward-facing windows. rn
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