At Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research, we regularly
perform exciting and groundbreaking tests, but most of them cannot be shared due to
nondisclosure agreements with the client. Sometimes we’re able to share more details
at a later time, but usually the data, photos and videos never reach the public eye.
In October, we conducted a unique test as part of an ongoing 15-year FAA-sponsored
research program titled, “Crashworthiness Certification of Composite and Metallic
Aircraft Structures.” It involved dropping an aircraft fuselage equipped with three
post-mortem human passengers (PMHS) to validate virtual engineering models of the
same test set-up.
With help from Wichita State’s Media Resources Center and the Shock Starter applied
learning agency, we captured some test shots and an interview with FAA Chief Scientific
and Technical Advisor Joseph Pellettiere. You can read more about the test in the
original article published in October at https://www.wichita.edu/about/wsunews-releases/2021/11-nov/drop_test_3.php.
About NIAR
Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research provides research, testing, certification and training for aviation and manufacturing technologies. Established in 1985, NIAR has a +$190 million annual budget; 1,100 employees and nearly 1.6 million square feet of laboratory and office space in six locations across the city of Wichita, the Air Capital of the World. NIAR laboratories include Additive Manufacturing, Advanced Coatings, Advanced Manufacturing, Ballistics/Impact Dynamics, Composites/Advanced Materials, Crash Dynamics, Digital Twin, Engineering Design/Modification, Environmental/ Electromagnetic Test, Full-Scale Structural Test, Nondestructive Test, Reverse Engineering, Robotics/Automation, Virtual Engineering, eXtended Reality and the Walter H. Beech Wind Tunnel.