Hypersonic CTF

X-15 number 61-0034 sits on Rogers Dry Lake here as the B52 flies overhead in September, 1961. The 412th Test Wing’s Hypersonic CTF was involved in the testing of this aircraft, and has been operating at Edwards Air Force Base since the 1950s. The command of the Hypersonic CTF was shifted to Arnold Air Engineering and Development Center in Tennessee Thursday. The change is intended to streamline the functions involved in hypersonic research and flight test, from modeling to wind tunnels and ultimately flight test. (NASA courtesy photo)

Hypersonic Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB

Published Jan. 24, 2017
By Deidre Ortiz
AEDC/PA

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. -- Since the 1950s, the Hypersonic Combined Test Force has operated at Edwards Air Force Base, testing the boundaries of speed.

The AEDC unit has been involved in the testing of cutting-edge, high-speed aircraft, including the renowned X-15 program during the 1960s and, most recently, the X-51 WaveRider.

The X-51 unmanned scramjet aircraft’s maiden flight was completed on May 26, 2010. The aircraft remained under powered flight for over 200 seconds at a top speed of Mach 5.

The CTF also supports space-oriented projects, such as the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle, or CRV, in the early 2000s. The X-38 project was a series of five prototype research vehicles developing technology to build and operate a space station CRV. The wingless CRV, when operational, would have been the first reusable human spacecraft to be built in more than two decades.

Some of the unit’s projects are research and development oriented, and teams may spend five to seven years working on a project for one or two test flights.

Maj. Dick Wong, director of the Hypersonic CTF, said “Because of the research and development mission of the Hypersonic CTF, the collection and analysis of flight test data – and feeding them back into our models and simulations – is paramount.”

CTF partners closely with entities such as NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Information for this news release was taken from a story written by Christopher Ball, 412th Test Wing Public Affairs.

-AEDC-