#flight testing

[nocternalrandomness]

A B-1 seen during testing and evaluation - Feb 1981

(U.S. Air Force photo by SSGT Bill Thompson)

[stone-cold-groove]

NASA photo of an F-15A undergoing advanced flight testing - 1981.

[egglybagelface96]

North American XB-70 Valkyrie, wings down, 1967.

[nocternalrandomness]

The C-17 "T-1" pictured on a test flight over Owens Valley, California on 22 March 2017

T-1 was the first Boeing C-17 Globemaster III prototype, delivered in 1991 for developmental flight testing and aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base. T-1 was used to validate the design, set payload records, and later appeared in films like Iron Man and Transformers before retiring to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in 2012. 

(U.S. Air Force photo)

[stone-cold-groove]

Captured in flight - a North American F-107A prototype.

[egglybagelface96]

North American XB-70 Valkyrie takes to the skies, 1967.

[egglybagelface96]

X-15 at rest on the lakebed at Edwards, 1959-60.

[egglybagelface96]

One big, weird, happy family.

Some of the unique aircraft tested at the NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station, Edwards AFB, 4 August 1953.

original