“You really get to go on a roller coaster ride because we go up in the air, come down, and pull up again,” describes Boeing engineer Arlene Saiz, of the air framer’s flight loads survey testing of the 747-8 Freighter.
Video courtesy of Boeing
Test pilots and engineers measure the new jet’s structural capacity by performing a number of extreme aerial maneuvers, such as pitching the airplane down and then pulling up and other challenges that put extreme loads on the wings, fuselage and control surfaces.
Gravitational pull on plane’s contents during these tests can go from 0g to -2.5g within a few seconds, requiring the engineers to make sure not only that they are strapped in, but their computers, notebooks and testing equipment, as well.
