[Jet engine starting]
[Sonic boom]
[Airplane flying]
[Music][Futuristic typing]
>> My name is Brian Griffin, I went to school at Iowa State University, and I work at NASA
Armstrong as an operations engineer.
Moving out to the desert from Iowa was a huge shock,
in terms of geographic location and the environment. And seven years later I'm still trying to
get used to brown as opposed to green. But at the same time I just remind myself where
I get to go work every day.
[Hangar door opening]
[Music]
>>At Armstrong, our purpose is to fly airplanes for flight research
and collect data. The operations engineer is responsible for helping to coordinate all
the efforts required to both integrate the research experiment and then flight test that
research experiment to fulfill that mission.
[Jet engine]
[Radio chatter]
>>We interface on a daily basis with the chief
engineers, the project managers, the ground crew, even our center management In order
to integrate whatever that particular research mission is onto the airframe, do it safely,
and then fly it safely, and collect the data required.
[Airplane taking off]
[Control room background noise]
[Oxygen mask breathing]
>>We'll collect all types of data-
pressure data, air data from the aircraft, visible and infrared images of flight test
fixtures that are underneath the aircraft in support of analyzing supersonic airflow
over these fixtures.
[Fighter jet flyover]
>>The project I'm currently working on, the F-15 high speed aircraft, the
research that it's supporting is hopefully at one point and time going to allow supersonic
flight commercially over the U.S. and throughout the world, and I think the ability to have
at least some type of impact in that is a very rewarding experience.
[Music]
>>A typical flight
test mission starts much earlier than the day of the mission. For example, all the coordination
and scheduling required to get the airspaces, and the aircraft in our system, so everyone's
on the same page and aware that the flight test is going to be performed.
>>Good morning, the is the crew brief for SBLT-2 flight #2.
>>On the flight day we typically have crew briefs, where we brief what the mission is
for that day, we discuss the flight cards, what the flight cards and the test points
are going to be on that mission.
>>The objectives are to determine the stability of the boundary layer and the extent of laminar
flow for the test article surface. This chart here shows that flight envelope that we have
cleared for this series of flights. Failure of any of our safety of flight parameters
is an immediate cancellation and RTB.
>>All right- we'll see you out there in a little bit.
>>After the brief, we'll staff the control room, get the control room screens all up
and running. We'll do day of flight checks on the ground, which is ensuring that the
aircraft is ready to go before we take off. And then the flight mission itself, we'll
take off, perform the flight cards as briefed.
>>NASA 836, NASA 1...
>>Go ahead.
>>Yeah, we're ready for card 5, the wing rock, and turning the camera to standby when able.
>>There's your wing rock.
[Airplane flying]
>>Copy.
>>My role in the control room as ops engineer on the F-15 project is to serve as the mission
controller, so we are the interface between the control room personnel and the pilot flying
the airplane.
[Radio chatter]
>>A typical communication that goes back and forth between the controller
and the pilot is just verifying what flight card we're on, what test point we're on, what
the next maneuver might be, if there's information that the principal investigators are looking
for, or any information from anyone else in the control room that needs to be relayed
to the pilot, we'll be letting them know about that. We'll let the pilot know about how
much fuel he still has on board, airspace checks, if he's getting close to boundaries
and he needs to make turns. Just any information that can increase the situational awareness
for the pilot, and also help the pilot perform the mission, complete the test cards, and
then come back and land.
>>Mission Controller, this is Flight on Data 1,
we're ready for the supersonic run.
>>Copy. NASA 836, NASA 1 is ready for the
run, and I have you right now at 48.5 for reference.
1.83...4...
...5...hold!
>>There is a lot of pressure associated with being the mission controller, the only person
talking to the pilot. That pressure seems to decrease with experience, the more flights
you perform.
>>Support, NASA 836 flight like to RTB straight in.
>>NASA 836, roger straight in runway 4 right approved, wind 3-2-0 at niner,
altimeter 3-0-0-niner
>>3-0-0-niner and we'll start our descent.
>>Being the guy on the ground, talking to the pilot, and doing that communication with
the rest of the control room is a rewarding experience, when you come back and capture
the data that you wanted to capture and everyone is happy with the flight. You're going to
have a lot of success, but sometimes you're going to have failures, and the important
aspect is to not just learn from this success, but also learn from the failures.
[Airplane landing]
Being able to have the chance to fly in these high-performance
aircraft in the backseat, and perform mission
duties is also a rewarding experience in itself. Let alone you'd be able to just fly in a fighter jet.
[Music]
The flight test engineer sits in the backseat, responsible for flipping switches,
monitoring data, and communicating to the pilot, and also to the ground during the research
flight, to make sure that the mission is being accomplished.
[Music][Canopy closing]
[Airplane taking off]
[Airplane flying]
>>Flying past Mach 1 is definitely
an excitement, but you don't necessarily feel that you're going past Mach 1, until you start
to slow back down. When you slow back down you can definitely feel the deceleration,
it's very pronounced.
[Music][Airplane flying]
>>Getting used to the motion sickness is definitely always a challenge,
but I think the benefits of being able to fly outweigh those challenges.
[Music][Airplane landing]
Every day in OE is typically different than the day before, and the day upcoming.
As an Ops Engineer, the overall picture is to ensure the mission success,
while also ensuring that the integrity
of the air frame is safe, and the airplane itself is air worthy. The chance to come to
work every day and work on these things, and be involved in this flight research, to help
put those pieces together to fulfill the mission is a very valuable experience.
[Music]