Don Nolan-Proxmire October 10, 1995

Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-4727)

Keith Henry
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
(Phone: 804/864-6120)

John Childress
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA
(Phone: 805/258-2664)

RELEASE: 95-175

NASA FLIGHT TESTING BEGINS FOR F-18 NOSE STRAKES

NASA is flight testing a new aircraft control device

that promises to give fighter pilots of the future increased
maneuverability and agility in air combat situations.

Two moveable "flipper-like" panels called strakes have

been installed on the nose of an F-18 aircraft at NASA's
Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA. When opened, the
strakes (four feet long, six inches wide, and hinged along
the bottom edge) interact with strong vortices of air
generated by the nose of the aircraft. This interaction
produces side forces which can give a pilot yaw (left or
right) control of the aircraft's nose at high angles of
attack when conventional rudders lose their effectiveness.

"Angle of attack" is a term used to describe the angle

of an aircraft's body and wings in relation to its actual
flight path. During maneuvers, pilots often fly at extreme
angles of attack, with the nose pitched up while the
aircraft continues in its original direction. This can lead
to conditions in which the flow of air over the rudder is
not enough for the pilot to maintain yaw control.

The strake project, called Actuated Nose Strakes for

Enhanced Rolling (ANSER) is managed by the NASA Langley
Research Center, Hampton, VA. The current flight project is
validating extensive wind tunnel and simulation data
generated by Langley and NASA's Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, CA.

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The strake testing is being carried out with the

modified F-18 NASA has been using for high angle of attack
studies at Dryden since the late 1980s.

About 65 flights to study the strakes at various

angles of attack and speeds are planned before the ANSER
project is scheduled to conclude at the end of this year.
- end -

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