Message posted by NotTelling (Member since 07/02/2023) on September 23, 2024 at 19:19:56 PST:
It can...the boom is normally required throughout envelope expansion as airflow over the flush ports can vary significantly throughout the envelope. That said, the boom is canted (as seen on first flight photos when landing at Eddie's) to align with the flight path vector during landing. My guess is at higher AOA there was more uncertainty in the production air data system and the boom was optimized for that regime. It's possible they've validated the ADS and have removed the boom...but I doubt it. The boom looked pretty solid and more like a permanent installation. So long as it's presence is not interfering with test point data collection it will most likely stay in place.
In Reply to: Re: B-21 RCS measurement at Area 51 recorded Tuesday, 09/17/2024 posted by noskcaJ on September 23, 2024 at 18:44:37 PST:
Replies: