| Rockwell HiMAT | |
|---|---|
 HiMAT in flight | |
| General information | |
| Type | Experimentalremotely piloted aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Rockwell International |
| Status | On display |
| Primary user | NASA |
| Number built | 2 |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1975-1979 |
| First flight | July 27, 1979 (1979-07-27) |
| Retired | January 1983 (1983-02) |
TheRockwell RPRV-870 HiMAT (Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology) is an experimentalremotely piloted aircraft that was produced for aNASA program to develop technologies for futurefighter aircraft. Among the technologies explored were close-coupledcanards, fullydigital flight control (including propulsion),composite materials (graphite andfiberglass), remote piloting,synthetic vision systems,winglets, and others.
Two aircraft were produced byRockwell International. Their first flights took place in 1979, and testing was completed in 1983.
The HiMATs were remotely piloted, as the design team decided that it would be cheaper and safer to not risk a pilot's life during the experiments. This also meant that noejection 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] The aircraft were launched from aB-52 Stratofortress at altitude. There was also aTF-104G Starfighter chase plane with a set of backup controls which could take control of the HiMAT in the event that the remote pilot on the ground lost control.[2]
Advances in digital flight control gained during the project contributed to theGrumman X-29 experimental aircraft, and composite construction are used widely on both commercial and military aircraft.[2]
The aircraft's initial concept included a wedge-shaped exhaust nozzle with 2Dthrust vectoring.[3]
The two HiMAT aircraft are now on display, one at theNational Air and Space Museum and the other at theArmstrong Flight Research Center.[4]
General characteristics
Performance
