Rockwell HiMAT

HiMAT
Role	Experimental Remotely Piloted Aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Rockwell
First flight	1979
Retired	1983
Status	On display
Primary user	NASA
Number built	2

The Rockwell RPRV-870 HiMAT (Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology) was a NASA program to develop technologies for future fighter aircraft. Among the technologies explored were close-coupled canards, fully digital flight control (including propulsion), composite materials (graphite and fiberglass), Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Synthetic vision, winglet etc.

The winning design was produced by Rockwell International.

Design and development

The HiMAT were remotely piloted, as the design team decided that it would be cheaper and safer to not have a pilot on board who could be killed in a crash. This also meant that no ejection seat would have to be fitted. The aircraft was flown by a pilot in a remote cockpit, and control signals up-linked from the flight controls in the remote cockpit on the ground to the aircraft, and aircraft telemetry downlinked to the remote cockpit displays. The remote cockpit could be configured with either nose camera video or with a 3D synthetic vision display called a "visual display".^[1]

First flight was in 1979 and testing was completed in 1983.

Operators

 United States

• NASA

Aircraft on display

The two HiMAT aircraft are now on display, one at the National Air and Space Museum and the other at the Armstrong Flight Research Center.^[2]

Specifications

Data from Boeing.com^[3][4]

General characteristics

• Crew: none
• Length: 22.5 ft (6.86 m)
• Wingspan: 15.6 ft (4.75 m)
• Height: 4.3 ft (1.31 m)
• Max. takeoff weight: 3,400 lb (1,542 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × General Electric J85-21 turbojet

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 1.6 (1,960 km/h)

Gallery

• 

  HiMAT aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum

• 

  HiMAT Remote Cockpit with Synthetic Vision Display

See also

• List of experimental aircraft
• X-29
• X-31
• X-36
• X-38

References

1. Sarrafian, Shahan K (August 1984). Simulator Evaluation of a Remotely Piloted Vehicle Lateral Landing Task Using a Visual Display. NASA. OCLC 11977763. Technical memorandum 85903; Accession number N84-29885.
2. Smith, Yvette (April 1, 2009). "April Fool! Look What's in Kevin Petersen's Parking Space!". NASA.gov. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
3. Boeing: HiMAT Research Vehicles. Boeing. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
4. Simonsen, Erik (May, 2007). HiMAT’s flight marked the dawn of unmanned highly maneuverable aircraft technology. Boeing. Retrieved May 21, 2014.

Further reading

• Kempel, Robert W; Earls, Michael R (1988). Flight Control Systems Development and Flight Test Experience with the HiMAT Research Vehicles. NASA. OCLC 22037291. Technical paper 2822; Accession number N89-15929.
• Duke, Eugene L; Jones, Frank P; Roncoli, Ralph B (1986). Development and Flight Test of an Experimental Maneuver Autopilot for a Highly Maneuverable Aircraft. NASA. OCLC 21916352. Technical report 2618; Accession number N88-21153.

External links

• HiMAT Research Vehicle at Boeing.com