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ALFLEX

Summary

ALFLEX (Automatic Landing Flight EXperiment) was an experimental unmanned aircraft created by NASDA and NAL, the predecessors of JAXA, in 1996. It was built as a successor to HYFLEX as part of the HOPE program.[1]

An exhibit of ALFLEX at the Kakuda Space Center

ALFLEX was built to establish the basic technology of automatic landing. The design featured a streamlined metal hull, delta planiform wings, and large winglets. Despite being a project of Japanese aerospace agencies, ALFLEX never left the atmosphere. Instead, it was carried up to a high altitude by a helicopter, then released to automatically glide down to the designated landing site, navigating by means of onboard computers.[2] ALFLEX completed thirteen drop tests from July to August 1996, all of which were successful.[3]

Specifications (ALFLEX) edit

  • Length (without pitot boom): 6.10 m[4]
  • Wingspan: 3.78 m[4]
  • Height (without gear): 1.35 m[4]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "About Automatic Landing Flight Experiment "ALFLEX"". JAXA. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  2. ^ Taro Tsukamoto; Masaaki Yanagihara; Masahiko Nagayasu; Masakazu Sagisaka (1997). "ALFLEX five degrees of freedom hanging flight test". 22nd Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "NASDA History". NASDA. Retrieved July 4, 2023. Automatic Landing Flight Exepriment (ALFLEX) was conducted 13 times.
  4. ^ a b c "ALFLEX". astronautix.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016.

External links edit

  • ALFLEX page on JAXA (global)
  • ALFLEX page on JAXA (Japanese)