Flight Testing of a HLF Wing with Suction, Ice-Protection and Anti-Contamination Systems

Summary

Much effort has been put into the development of laminar flow technology, leading to improved understanding and prediction of the aerodynamic phenomena involved, but relatively little flight experience has been gained with the hardware and systems that will be required on a laminar aircraft. The joint European program HYLTEC plays a significant role in adding to the knowledge and experience of materials and systems for HLFC by conducting two complementary flight tests. One test, using a SAAB 2000 aircraft will gain airline service experience of a range of porous surfaces both with and without insect contamination protection, whilst the other test on a Do 228 will explore the operating performance of various combinations of suction, ice protection and insect contamination protection systems. This paper reviews the concept, design and construction of the Leading Edge for the HYLTEC Do228 systems flight test experiment.