NASA F-15 835 was a unique one-of-a-kind aircraft called the F-15 Flight Research Facility. It was highly instrumented and equipped with an integrated digital electronic flight control system. It could be flown over a broad flight envelope to carry out complex and sophisticated research projects.
NASA’s highly modified F-15A (Serial #71-0287) used for digital electronic flight and engine control systems research, at sunrise on the ramp at the Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. The F-15 was called the HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) flight facility
Research programs flown on the testbed vehicle have demonstrated improved rates of climb, fuel savings, and engine thrust by optimizing systems performance. The aircraft also tested and evaluated a computerized self-repairing flight control system for the Air Force that detects damaged or failed flight control surfaces. The system then reconfigures undamaged control surfaces so the mission can continue or the aircraft is landed safely.
