The following article is republished with the permission of Spirit AeroSystems. Orginally published in Momentum - The Spirit AeroSystem's Magazine.

As just about anyone working at Spirit AeroSystems knows, there is a vital step that must be taken every time a new aircraft product is being prepared for the marketplace. It’s a step that is laborious, expensive and time-consuming. And, on occasion, it’s a step that sends engineers back to the proverbial drawing board.

That “step” is actually a sophisticated, multi-layered series of tests that are conducted on aircraft parts. As both a team partner and supplier to its various customers, Spirit is required by its own guidelines, the customer and government regulations to conduct
rigorous tests ultimately leading the FAA to certify an aircraft for flightworthiness.

Wichita State University’s National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR) provides testing, research and certification services for the aviation industry. Spirit and other Kansas-based aviation companies have taken advantage of the institute’s capabilities to further their testing programs.

Spirit is testing the wing flap two business jet programs it has won contracts for at NIAR’s Aircraft Structural Test and Evaluation Center.

Larry Braden, (right) manager of NIAR’s Full-scale Structural Test Lab, said the wing flap proof tests have been completed. Static certification soon will begin, followed by a long series of fatigue tests.

“Having NIAR nearby is a more than a convenient benefit, said Gary Michaels, Spirit engineering test lead at NIAR. “Probably the most beneficial part is without companies like NIAR, Spirit might not have been able to take the project in the beginning.

Spirit has a full test lab but it’s full of other programs. Having NIAR in our backyard is extremely beneficial.”

NIAR is responsible for performing four distinct tests for the flap and also for tabulating the data and providing it to Spirit.

Michaels said the tests break out into several different parts: a static test where the flap with loaded with simulated aerodynamic forces; actuator tests that simulate defective or faulty actuators; and long-term durability fatigue tests. In all, the test projects into a three- to four-year cycle.

The lengthy cycle is necessary because the FAA requires the wing to simulate the number of flights or cycles of flight times of the airplane – eight years or 30,000 flight hours.

“We’re actually testing way beyond what the aircraft is expected to see in service,” Michaels said.

Collaboration with NIAR is cost-effective for aircraft companies, Braden agreed.

“It’s expensive for an individual company to maintain expertise in a large number of areas throughout the company’s life,” he said. “Product development is very cyclic. When a new product develops, you need a certain group of individuals initially and you may not need them again for five to 10 years when you develop the next one. But the company needs to maintain that somehow.”

Considering the tremendous costs involved in developing new technologies, protection of intellectual property has taken on a crucial role for Spirit. One might believe that mixing scientific experts allied to varied interests on a common project might create some legal entanglements. But Farhad Tadayon, (right) Spirit’s NIAR liaison, said the company takes seriously its responsibility to protect company intellectual rights.

“We have legal agreements that each individual signs which protects our property rights,” Tadayon said. “The same is true for corporate and entity rights.”

Spirit is taking test results, Braden said, and using the data to verify model analysis for eventual presentation to the FAA.

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