Aurora Flight Sciences to build DARPA's X-65 utilizing Active Flow Control

Aurora Flight Sciences to build DARPA's X-65 utilizing Active Flow Control
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 09, 2024

Aurora Flight Sciences has been chosen by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to construct a groundbreaking full-scale X-plane. This aircraft, named the X-65, will serve as a technology demonstrator within the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program. This initiative marks a significant shift in the realm of aircraft design, moving away from traditional flight control methods towards the innovative use of Active Flow Control (AFC) actuators.

Since the Wright brothers' historic flight in 1903, aircraft have predominantly relied on movable, external control surfaces for maneuvering. The X-65 disrupts this long-standing design approach by employing jets of air from a pressurized source to manipulate the flow of air over the aircraft's surfaces. This technique, utilizing AFC effectors on various parts of the aircraft, will control the plane's roll, pitch, and yaw. The expected benefits of this shift are substantial, including reductions in weight and complexity and enhancements in performance.

Dr. Richard Wlezien, DARPA's program manager for CRANE, emphasizes the unique aspects of the X-65, particularly its diamond-like wing shape. This design is intended to optimize the learning potential about AFC in real-world, full-scale tests. The aircraft will incorporate both traditional flaps and rudders and AFC effectors across its lifting surfaces. This dual-setup aims to provide a reliable baseline using conventional control surfaces and gradually transition to a focus on AFC effectiveness.

Wlezien likens the X-65's conventional surfaces to "training wheels," offering an initial understanding of AFC's potential as a replacement for traditional flight controls. The aircraft will be equipped with sensors to monitor and compare the performance of AFC effectors with that of traditional control mechanisms. This data will be instrumental in exploring how AFC technology could revolutionize both military and commercial aviation.

The unmanned X-65, weighing over 7,000 pounds and boasting a 30-foot wingspan, is designed to reach speeds up to Mach 0.7. Its size and speed parameters, akin to those of a military trainer aircraft, ensure that the flight-test results will be immediately relevant to current aircraft design.

Notably, the X-65 is being developed as a modular platform. This design choice allows for easy interchangeability of wing sections and AFC effectors, ensuring the aircraft's longevity as a test asset for DARPA and other agencies even after the completion of the CRANE program.

Fabrication of the X-plane has already commenced at Aurora Flight Sciences, with an anticipated rollout in early 2025 and the first flight scheduled for that summer. Wlezien, who joined DARPA in 1999 to work on the Micro Adaptive Flow Control program, which laid the groundwork for CRANE, expressed his excitement about the project. His return to DARPA to oversee this full-scale implementation of early research into a physical aircraft underscores the significance and potential impact of the X-65 project.