Week 20 and 21 - May 23 to June 3

Two weeks ago was memorial day, hence a very welcome 4 day WE. the week before that has been extremely busy. We suddenly found out that we really had to get all the pieces of our oral presentation  for the performance phase together (remember, some months ago, I told you that we were divided in three data groups to collect test data on our aircraft performances). But at the same time, we had to prepare the first of our TMP meeting. And we also realized that, while we had neglected it for almost a month, the first of the flying quality data rides were upon us. Imagine having to manage meetings with three different groups (perf, FQ, TMP) for almost simultaneous deadlines, in a 4 days week, with still flights, classes, reports like the HU16 checkride written report....to do.
I know, we should have know better and get better organized, and maybe do some of that in advance.
Well, by some sort of miracle, everything got done in time and we were able to enjoy the memorial WE.
Last week, we had our oral presentations, at least for the T-38 and F-16 groups (the C12 group has been postponed to next friday). We also finished the "preparation for FQ testing" class, which began the week before. Thisnew class was a medley of many very short classes. Among them : parameters estimation, ground vibration testing, taxi testing, ASE testing, first flight, enveloppe expension, filters and anti-aliasing, simulation use in flight test, aerodynamic model validation, and so on. On the flying side, almost everybody is now done with the C12 long-stat demo and the propulsion demo. T-38 dynamic FQ demo is half way through, and we had our first long-stat data rides in the T-38. Some of the FTE had the opportunity to do the departure demo in the F-16 : put some ballast in the back of the F-16, climb away from the ground, pull hard on the stick to override the AOA (angle of attack) limiter, and here you are, tumbling out of the sky in a very uncontrolled fashion.
Next week will be week 48 for the seniors, meaning : graduation ! After that, we'll be seniors
On the academic side, we will begin the flight control system (FCS) project with Mr Twisdale, and keep flying as much as we can (C12 lat-dir demo, T-38 dynamic demo, T-38 HQ demo, T-38 stall demo, F-16 departure demo, T-38 FQ data rides, F-16 LCO -limit cycle oscillations- demo with the control room, and so on).
By the way, quick quizz : what is the difference between FQ (flying qualities) and HQ (handling qualities) ?
Answer next week.