Testing
The sole FD1 to be completed was built at Fairey's Heaton Chapel Stockport factory and taken to their test facility at Manchester's Ringway Airport for assembly. Starting on 12 May 1950 it made several high-speed taxi runs there before being dismantled and transported by road to the A&AEE at RAF Boscombe Down. After further taxi tests, the aircraft (serial number VX350) made its maiden flight on 10 March 1951, flown by Fairey test pilot Group Captain R. Gordon Slade. The FD1 acquired a small horizontal delta wing on the top of the tail-fin which was intended to stop the "serious pitching as it gathered speed." Continued testing pointed to serious stability problems that were characterized as "dangerous." The additional tail surface limited the top speed to a pedestrian 345 mph (555 km/h).
After a landing accident in September 1951, the FD1 was modified with the removal of the leading edge slats as well as the removal of the streamlined housings for the anti-spin parachutes that were mounted at the wingtips. The large control surfaces made the FD 1 difficult to control or even fly with precision although a rapid roll rate was achieved. With limited flying after the test program was re-launched in May 1953, and no sign of the resolution of considerable design deficiencies, the FD1 was soon relegated to non-flying status. Only one FD1 was built, with the second (VX357) and third (VX364) airframes being cancelled before they entered production.
Read more about this topic: Fairey Delta 1
Famous quotes containing the word testing:
“No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”
—Bible: New Testament, 1 Corinthians 10:13.
“Is this testing whether I’m a replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Rachel, Blade Runner, being tested to determine if she is human or machine (1982)
“Bourbon’s the only drink. You can take all that champagne stuff and pour it down the English Channel. Well, why wait 80 years before you can drink the stuff? Great vineyards, huge barrels aging forever, poor little old monks running around testing it, just so some woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma can say it tickles her nose.”
—John Michael Hayes (b.1919)