Sukhoi Su-57 / T-50 / PAK FA - flight testing and development Part I [2010-2012]

[flateric]

T50-1 was slicing the skies today in preparation for demo at MAKS 2011
T50-2 didn't fly today


photo (c) Ivan Kirillov

 

[flanker]

Lots of new pics on RP.

Reposting Flateric here, because it is cool piece of information:

last demo flights have proven the theory that LEVCONs can be differintialy operated while maneuvering
apart of aerobatics, needless to say how useful it will be in low-altitude terrain following mode penetration (last being clearly mentioned in T-50 FBW specifications)

Was wondering about, totally awesome to get it confirmed.

 

[mithril]

T50-1 was slicing the skies today in preparation for demo at MAKS 2011
T50-2 didn't fly today


photo (c) Ivan Kirillov

thats a veiw i'd not seen before. really shows how thin the plane is.
since "flounder" is taken by the JH-7, i think the PAK-FA should be dubbed 'Flatfish" for it's reporting name.

 

[flanker]

So, according to Groomi:

А ведь скоро-скоро их будет 3
ну и немного погодя 4

"But soon-soon there will be three
and a bit later 4"

That is a lot sooner than i imagined. If we are uber lucky, T-50-3 take-off in September, and T-50-4 in end of the year. ;D I didn't expect T-50-4 until like middle of next year.

 

[Ogami musashi]

Yes but will 3 and 4 spot new engine and the nozzles?

 

[flanker]

Yes but will 3 and 4 spot new engine and the nozzles?

If you mean rectangular, F-22 style, i doubt. That is phase 2 project, which is under development as of now.

Plenty more pics here:

http://www.sukhoi.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=47701&page=31&p=1672342&viewfull=1#post1672342

 

[Avimimus]

Lots of new pics on RP.

Reposting Flateric here, because it is cool piece of information:

last demo flights have proven the theory that LEVCONs can be differintialy operated while maneuvering
apart of aerobatics, needless to say how useful it will be in low-altitude terrain following mode penetration (last being clearly mentioned in T-50 FBW specifications)

Was wondering about, totally awesome to get it confirmed.

That is interesting - seemingly implied by some of the photos - but resting postures are often quite different from when the actuators are powered up. This potentially could allow much more roll control at high angles of attack.

The other thing which is very interesting (and often overlooked - not even mentioned in most articles) is the new G-suit. Combined with the small, all moving vertical stabs... well we might finally see a degree of supermaneuvrability in yaw.

 

[InvisibleDefender]

· RIA Novosti
·
· Russian commander says MiG-35 equal to U.S. F-35 fighter

ZHUKOVSKY (Moscow Region), August 16 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian army will use new MiG-35D multirole fighters as an equal to the U.S. F-35 fighters, the Air Force chief said on Tuesday.

"We have not given up on the MiG-35D light aircraft project, but we will transfer to the T-50 [heavy fighter] in the future," Gen. Alexander Zelin, the Russian Air Force commander, said during his visit to the six-day air show MAKS-2011 that opened near Moscow on Tuesday.

The U.S. Air Force began using the F-22 fifth generation fighter in the 2000s. America is now developing a lighter and less expensive version, the F-35.

The MiG-35 is an advanced derivative of the MiG-29, which uses air-to-air and air-to-surface guided missiles and the Zhuk A radar (Zhuk AE in exports).

 

[flateric]

K-36-D5 ejection seat, new Zh-10 helmet, KM-36M oxygen mask, PPK-7 G-suit - an elements of SOZhe-50 pilot environmental/survival kit for T-50

 

[flateric]

http://rt.com/files/news/maks-2011-t-50/t-90-flight.mp4

 

[Anderman]

Thx flateric

 

[Avimimus]

http://rt.com/files/news/maks-2011-t-50/t-90-flight.mp4

It looks surprisingly effortless - that is what is impressive.

Is the aircraft at sufficiently high angles of attack that the upward pitching moment is being maintained by the instability? With the levcons and leading edge devices keeping the aircraft at the threshold (so it doesn't pitch up so much as to stall out)? This would explain the relative inactivity of the horizontal stabilizers during the turns.

Do you think this is a correct interpretation? If so it is - elegant.

 

[saintkatanalegacy]

yip, with the differing pressures created by the levcons, you can actually steer the thing synergistically with a smaller tail.


With that in mind, perhaps we can assume that trim drag is minimized.

 

[Deino]

Ohhhhh ..... :-*

http://fotkidepo.ru/photo/401381/37506HDeU53OSsB/mipbWkyIa7/675991.jpg

 

[flanker]

Ohhhhh ..... :-*

http://fotkidepo.ru/photo/401381/37506HDeU53OSsB/mipbWkyIa7/675991.jpg

I linked to that photo and plenty of others 4 days ago.

 

[Wil]

[font=arial, sans-serif]Hello...

From MAKS 2011, the image I was expecting!
Almost no error of perspective.
The information we have is the length of Flanker: ~ 21.90 m
Given this, and counting pixels, is that the PAK FA has a length of ~19.30 m.
This confirms the estimates of Paralay!

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2783/pakfalongitudreal.jpg

Best wishes.[/font]

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Ahem...

Having done some very preliminary scaling from the photos and assuming the engine is roughly AL-31F sized, it looks to me more like 19m in length.

My latest estimate of sizes:

Length 19.20m (without pitot)

 

[Avimimus]

10cm off... ;D

 

[Avimimus]

yip, with the differing pressures created by the levcons, you can actually steer the thing synergistically with a smaller tail.


With that in mind, perhaps we can assume that trim drag is minimized.

If so it is pretty impressive ...utilizing static instability like that... (of course, it had to come in a production aircraft sometime).

 

[saintkatanalegacy]

think of it as 2.5D variable instability - pitch, roll and maybe even yaw <.<

 

[flanker]

"Bad news everyone!" (c)

T-50-2 had compressor stall during take off run today:

Here is a vid:

http://www.ria.ru/vi.../421116715.html

Official says something went wrong with automatics in right engine. FADEC is to blame i suppose. Bogdan reacted quick and made the right decision.

T-50-1 also had some technical issue, and has been sitting since wednesday. Apparently it will for some time... :-\

 

[Deino]

Not sure if already posted !?

http://www.sukhoi.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=47701&page=34

 

[Deino]

Via Key-Forum (c/o Lesnik @ AviaForum)


Deino

 

[Grey Havoc]

Somehow, I think they need a new engine.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Via Key-Forum (c/o Lesnik @ AviaForum)

Hmmm. No so "IR Stealthy."

 

[Machdiamond]

The don't necessarily need a new engine, a compressor stall is normally harmless.

 

[LowObservable]

Tornado used to do that all through its Farnborough display in the early test stages.

 

[sferrin]

Tornado used to do that all through its Farnborough display in the early test stages.

The engines were continually stalling throughout the displays?

 

[LowObservable]

Pop-stalls. A little flame out the back end and an audible pop. Saw one do it all around a horizontal circle.

Didn't look too impressive next to teen-series jets.

 

[sferrin]

Pop-stalls. A little flame out the back end and an audible pop. Saw one do it all around a horizontal circle.

Didn't look too impressive next to teen-series jets.

Got ya. Similar to what you'd see out of a Blackbird sometimes?

 

[saintkatanalegacy]

canted serration

 

[flanker]

You could see that 6 months ago almost. On a normal picture.

 

[saintkatanalegacy]

^while I was aware that it was serrated, I never thought it was canted :S


it seemed like the serration was lined along with the nose cone joint 6 months ago.


But, I guess it's logical since the radar itself is canted

 

[Avimimus]

An idiot's question, but:
Any thoughts on how much this plane weighs?

- We know that the original requirements had it as a medium fighter.
- On the other hand, we know that it has a considerably higher combined dry thrust versus the F-35...
- We also know that the original requirements gave it interceptor like speeds (which were downrated to increase payload!)
- But, it also appears to be built around an interceptor's missile systems and there are rumours of implausibly high range...

So, what to make of all this?

 

[flateric]

empty weight is 'slightly less than 20 tons'
we also know that it carries more internal fuel than Su-27...
official figures, like exact a/c dimensions, are closely guarded secret (not a guess)

 

[flanker]

Well, we know the wingspan for certain, doesn't we? 13.95 m. Now if only we knew the correct length as well.

 

[BDF]

empty weight is 'slightly less than 20 tons'

Is that metric or short tons? If it's metric that places the empty weight right about what the F-22.

 

[stealthflanker]

official figures, like exact a/c dimensions, are closely guarded secret (not a guess)

ouch... and i just think Paralay's sketch are accurate..

 

[utahbob]

More information on the Indian variant: http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/22202519/Indian-Air-Force-to-seek-engin.html

 

[flateric]

“Perhaps what he is referring to is the 117S engine, which is an advanced version of the AL-31F engine,” said Deba R. Mohanty, senior fellow in security studies at Observer Research Foundation."