NASA TO TEST SMART JET NEW FLIGHT SOFTWARE COULD HELP FUTURE AIRCRAFT LAND DESPITE DAMAGE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - NASA researchers are gearing up for tests into smart flight control software hoped someday to allow safe landings by battle-damaged military jets and commercial jetliners with mechanical problems.

The ``neural network'' software would sense damage and automatically adjust the usable control surfaces, such as flaps or ailerons, to compensate.

The Intelligent Flight Control System program has a series of flight tests scheduled for this summer at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base.

``If you lose control power it will adjust to use the available control power in the most intelligent way,'' said John Carter, Dryden's IFCS program manager. ``It will reduce the workload for the pilot and add to the robustnesses (of) the aircraft.''

Neural network software is distinguished by its ability to observe patterns in the data it receives and processes, then perform different tasks in response to new patterns.

Simple neural network software has been in use since the 1960s with computer modems to enable them to receive error-free data over often noisy telephone lines. It has never before been demonstrated in such a complex, safety-dependent environment as an aircraft, NASA officials said.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to conduct 25 to 30 flight tests of the software, fitted into a modified F-15 fighter jet. During the tests, a control surface will be locked up to simulate damage or a malfunctioning part, Carter said.

The software is also targeted for flight tests with a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport aircraft in 2005. The C-17 was chosen because its flight controls most closely resemble those of jet airliners, program officials said.

Boeing is also interested in applying the technology to future unmanned combat aircraft.

NASA estimates it will spend about $10 million over three years on the program. In their version of NASA's 2004 budget bill, the House of Representatives added $1.5 million to continue the program.

The system is very early in its development. Military applications of the system are at least five years away, with likely candidates for its first use being unmanned aircraft.

Civilian applications are at least 10 years away.

Partners on the program include Boeing's Phantom Works division, which works on advanced concept programs; NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif.; and the Institute for Software Research in West Virginia.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com