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APRIL 2015
AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COMz Interview – Peter Chandler
layout of the displays, and because of
the ‘Trapdoor’ system [for test aircraft]
that we have as an interface, all of that
we were involved in,” comments
Chandler. “I was involved in this
personally, right from the start.
“Our involvement starts way, way
before the flight test program starts.
When it gets to the flight test phase,
we have flight test engineers here who
specialize much more than the pilots do.
So there will be flight test engineers who
are specialists in, for example, engines
and fuel systems, in performance, in
handling qualities, in various systems, in
flight management and avionics. They
tend to manage the tests much more than
the pilots do, and for us, it’s good because
they’re the ones that generally write the
reports. Of course, it includes any
comments from the pilots.
“So we do have a very close
interaction with the design office
engineers right from early on in the
program in the subjects with which the
pilots are concerned, which is mostly
cockpit functions and cockpit displays.
Then when it gets into the flight
testing, the pilot is the main arbiter,
for example in handling qualities and
tuning the flight controls. It is here
that the pilots have a very strong voice.
Other things relating mostly to
performance, we can’t do anything
much apart from just fly the aircraft
and then let the boffins work out
what’s either right or wrong with it.”
THE A350
The A350-900 is now certified – it got
the type certificate in September 2014.
The first aircraft was delivered to
Qatar in December and is now in
service, flying from Doha to Frankfurt.
Chandler was flying the second:
“The second one is also going to Qatar- I actually did the first flight on it in
February 2015, so that’s in the delivery
process. Meanwhile, there is still some
work to do [on the aircraft program] –
software upgrades for various systems,
which we will obviously need to test,
but the bulk of the testing is all done
now,” By the March 4, 2015 the second
aircraft had been delivered to Qatar
“But next we’re starting on the 350-
1000, which is the stretch version.
That starts in 2016, so will get busier
toward the end of this year.” What will
the next generation A350 test entail? “It
will go through a test program similar
to the 350-900, but a lot of the tests
we won’t have to repeat. For some
things, like checking the handling
because it’s a longer fuselage, there
will be quite a lot of handling to do. A
lot of the systems are common, so
there will be less systems testing,”
comments Chandler.
And looking around the corner?
“I’ve never met an engineer who has
enough data. As it’s possible to get
more data, of course people want it,
whether it’s useful or not. I think what
we will have to do in terms of testing is
just start looking at what is really
necessary to do and what isn’t because
otherwise test programs are just going
to get longer and longer.” zA GOOD DAY
YOU’VE FLOWN SO MANY AIRPLANES. WHICH IS
YOUR FAVORITE?
“There have been some fantastic airplanes. For a
fighter aircraft just to go and have fun in, the single-
seat Hunter was always one of my favorites. The
Buccaneer I enjoyed a lot – that was my first
squadron aircraft and you always like that. It could
be a bit of a pig to fly sometimes, but it gave you a
real sense of satisfaction when you could fly it well.
“So the Buccaneer and the Hunter really stand
out, but then when you come to commercial aircraft,
I think the A380 takes a lot of beating – it just doesn’t
feel as big as it is.
“For several years, I’ve done flying displays in the
A380 and it’s just such a nice airplane to display
because, although it’s so big, it’s so maneuverable;
the speeds are nice and slow and it has got a very
big efficient wing. I remember the first flight and
thinking ‘wow that’s quiet and looks rather graceful’.
It was a good day.”DEVELOPMENTAL AIRCRAFT
DO YOU THINK THERE IS A FUTURE FOR
UNMANNED OR GLASSLESS COCKPITS IN
CIVIL AIRLINERS?
“I think unmanned civil aircraft is a long,
long way away simply because of the public
acceptance of it. Airline pilots spend 99% of
their time actually managing the flight rather
than hand-flying the aircraft; whether it’s
more efficient to manage a flight sitting in
the airplane or sitting in a box on the ground
is a difficult question. Sure, the technology
exists and unmanned air vehicles have
almost taken over military roles in some
areas, so you can’t say that the technology
doesn’t exist, but I think it’s a long way away
before it will replace pilots.“Assisting pilots is a different thing. The
idea of maybe having an extra co-pilot on
the ground who you could talk to or who can
help out with problems because you’ve got
a permanent data link connection with them- that’s a concept that might be worth
considering. But in the short term, I don’t
think anything is going to change.
“The other thing to remember is that even
if things do start changing for future designs,
we’ve got around 8,000 fly-by-wire aircraft
flying at the moment, from the 320 up to the
350, which are going to be in service for the
next 40 years. So even if something new
comes along, it isn’t going to change the
way that those airplanes are being flown.”
Peter Chandler with
Patrick Du Che,
flight test engineer
and head of
the A350 flight
test program