Message posted by Vahe Demirjian (Member since 04/28/2022) on July 10, 2024 at 8:47:22 PST:
> Does that mean the problems addressed in the 2020 message were for a production "180"? Is it common for problems that didn't exist on test articles to present themselves in production articles? Not exactly. Former US Air Force civilian employee Paul Freeman stated in his tweets to Trimble posted on Twitter (now X) in 2020 that when the first "RQ-180" vehicle underwent ground tests, it slammed on its brakes while taxiing in 2010 due to flight software issues (which means the flight software may have been fixed or resynchronized prior to the first flight of the "RQ-180" on August 3, 2010). Freeman also wrote to Trimble on Twitter in 2020 that the second "RQ-180" EMD vehicle had a difficult time reaching the minimum operational/survivable altitude envisioned for the "RQ-180" due to the size of the air inlets for turbofan engines being too small. This comment raises the possibility that subsequent "RQ-180" EMD vehicles were fitted with slightly enlarged air inlets to allow them to achieve the minimum design for the production "RQ-180".
In Reply to: Re: Probable issues during ground tests and early flight tests of "RQ-180" posted by noskcaJ on July 09, 2024 at 21:48:40 PST:
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