OXCART PROGRAM

Created: 5/7/1962

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Cental OXCART Program

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i. The official (Irit flight of25 englnee with afterburner,altha morning of Tha

iloted by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation teat pilot fcir. Lou la Chalk, waa taken offnota per hour,roee weightnd climbedeat. peed of M0 knota waa Indicated on climb-out. but dueiner problem,airing banding, the aircraft spaed for the flight was baldimitnots. During flight, instrumentation calibration aad prellmlaaty stability and control checks were made. Tha aircraft stability and augmentation system was turned off daring flight, aad yaw-rail (lateral directional coupling) was checked. The aircraft handled exceptionally well ln these maneuvers down to vary lew speeds. The teat was concluded afterinutes of flight with aircraft touchdown en tha runway occurringpaednots per hour. Tha pilot, ear. Chalk, reports that tha aircraft foals good la all regimes tested, has good response to controls and la extremely stable with or without stability augmentora In the speed regimes tasted. Minor squawks concerning the aircraft, requiring corrective action, Included: ent fairing (corrected either by spring-loading or beefing up theb) two allghtly dragging wheal brakes requiring adjustment; and (c) ndjoatmentudder trim actuator. Mr. C. L. Johnson, designer of tha OXCARTreports thia to ha tba smoothest official first flight of any aircraft he has designed and tasted. Photographs of OXCART aircrafta flight are attached to this report.

2. The second teat flight of2ay, with Mr. Louisockheed test pilot, at tha controls waa

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satisfactorilyotalaaa hour aaa twelve minute* ln tba air. Take-off occurredroaa weightaa.apid climb-outchedwled altitudeeatcheduled maximum apaednots par hoar Indicated. Actual tap spaed for tha flight wnseat. Th* aircraft waa checked throughout the transonic raaga and perform ad exceptionally wall, la low sub*ante ranges. th* aircraft performance was excellent. Cross evaluation waa mad* af singlefsranaaee and asaefllag characteristics at alt itudea fromat. No aircraft problems wore encountered during tho flightinorproblem relatinguel tank venting ay stem. According to

Mr. C. L. Johnson tha aircraft performed wall throughout th* flight range covered thus far la testa.

S. Three test fllghta of Aircraftr*ay. Within three wa*k* teat flights ax* scheduled la th* machnd upeat regimes. OXCABTh* AR (anti-radar) configured aire raft, la scheduled for delivery In Intensive pal* tasting at* thia aircrafth* anti-radar teat raaga will b* followed byv* flight tests.

4. Th*hitneyXCART configuration) engine development program la now In th* phase of intensive ground endurance testing preparatory te flight qualification. Four apeclalh*ur endurance aaglna testa have bean completed. Of tha nine anginas ln tha development program, five nam aret with tha ether four being overhauled preparatory to further testing. Teat time accumulation now stands aa followsi

Total Engine Time8 configurations) 3 hours

Time

onfiguration Tina* Machemperature Tim* Machemperature Time Machemperature Time

Maximum Turbine Temperature Time Engine Time with Automatic Controls

ours6 hourshours

Original document.

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