HALO is 31 metres long - 1.6 metres account for the nose probe. It has a height of 7.9 metres and a wingspan of 28.5 metres.
Credit: Aero-Art Frank Herzog..
The Airbus A320-232 D-ATRA, DLR's largest fleet member, has been in operation since the end of 2008.
Credit: DLR (CC-BY 3.0).
The smallest aircraft of DLR's Oberpfaffenhofen flight facility is a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, registration D-FDLR. The single-engine turboprop aircraft is mainly used by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for remote sensing. It is especially well suited for camera flights, such as those with the HRSC (High Resolution Stereo Camera), operated by DLR and also used in space missions.
The application portfolio of ATTAS is very wide-ranging. With its measurement and test equipment, ATTAS is used for numerous test duties, such as testing future air traffic control procedures and low-noise approaches, for example. Research into wake vortices is also carried out with ATTAS; these are air turbulences that occur as a result of the lift produced on the wings.
The Falcon 20E in flight. The DLR research aircraft can carry up to 1100 kilograms of scientific instrumentation payload. The instruments are installed inside and below the cabin, as well as under the wings. They include a flow measuring device, the nose boom, air intakes and under-wing pods. Among other things, they include a flow measuring device, the so-called nose boom and antennas which can be mounted on the exterior of the aircraft.
ATRA (Advanced Technology Research Aircraft) is a modern and flexible flight test platform which sets a new benchmark for flying test beds in European aerospace research - and not just because of its size.
The HALO project was made possible by the Max Planck Society, members of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren) and a number of other scientific institutes from the field of atmospheric research. In total, 31 research institutes are participating in the project.
DLR's Airbus A320 aircraft "D-ATRA" (Advanced Technology Research Aircraft). The latest and largest member of the fleet, deployed in October 2008, serves as the VFW 614 ATTAS (Advanced Technologies Testing Aircraft System).
The image shows containers, the so-called meteopods, which have been mounted under the wing of the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. They contain instruments for measuring meteorological data.
The DLR research aircraft has a length of 16.56 metres (18.7 feet with nose boom), is 4.86 metres in height and has a wingspan of 16.97 metres.
The ATTAS research aircraft (Advanced Technologies Testing Aircraft System) has been flying for the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for 20 years. "It may be an old aircraft, but it has state-of-the-art technology. It enables us to try things that a modern Airbus 380 simply would not be able to," says DLR staff member Hayung Becker. By using computer simulations, ATTAS can simulate the flight performance of other, larger, aircraft.
Wake vortices are air swirls generated by an aircraft's wings, especially when flying at low speeds during take-off and landing.The aim of the experiments is to make smaller separation distances possible between aircraft approaching or taking off in succession, through a more precise calculation of the evolution and decay of the wake vortices.
The DLR research aircraft started operations in 1976 and has been used in numerous scientific research missions.
The twin-engine turboprop Dornier Do 228-212 (registration D-CFFU) is primarily used for remote-sensing missions by the German Aerospace Center's (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Oberpfaffenhofen flight facility
Cockpit of the ATTAS research platform (Advanced Technologies Testing Aircraft System). The image shows the mechanical control column and instruments (on the right-hand side) as well as the sidestick and the programmable displays (on the left-hand side).
Its optical and electronic control system enables the FHS to simulate the flight performance of other helicopters, using fly-by-light and fly-by-wire control.
The ACT/FHS 'Flying Helicopter Simulator' of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) at a flight in 2009.
Credit: DLR/Marek Kruszewski.
Ian Phillis from the Empire Test Pilot School (left) and Waldemar Krebs from DLR, ready for flight.
The cockpit has been modified to provide crew stations for a safety pilot (on the left) and an evaluation pilot (on the right). The mechanical steering system has been replaced by an electrical and optical (fly-by-wire/fly-by-light) primary control system, which meets the strictest safety standards. In addition to that, a mechanical emergency control system is also available.
The ACT/FHS 'Flying Helicopter Simulator' of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is based on a standard Eurocopter EC 135 type helicopter, which has been extensively modified for use as a research and test aircraft.
The 'chameleon aircraft' ATTAS celebrated its 25th birthday in October 2010.
Credit: WTD.
The tasks for which the BO 105 helicopter is deployed include testing and measuring avionics systems and analysing helicopter properties.
The modified IFR cockpit (Instrument Flight Rules) of the BO 105 makes it easier to fly under difficult weather conditions, the so-called Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC).
DLR's DR 400 D-EDVE aeroplane is primarily used by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) as a towplane for gliders and as a pilot training and transport aircraft.
The Cessna C208B Grand Caravan (registration D-FDLR) was converted into a flying auditorium by the German Aerospace Center's (DLR) Oberpfaffenhofen flight facility.
The DO 228-212 is primarily used for remote sensing, but also for marine and atmospheric research.
The Dornier Do 228-101 research aircraft (registration D-CODE) is used by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) for a range of experiments. These include flow investigations and experiments involving radar and infrared sensors.
The German Aerospace Center's (DLR) DG 300-17 measures the speed polar of other gliders. The results of these measurements make it possible to increase the cruise speed of non-powered aircraft.
Show Title
Ten aircraft and two helicopters are used by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Here, information about modifications, technical data and applications of the research aircraft and helicopters is presented clearly.
The primary objective of DLR aerospace research activities is to enhance the competitiveness of Germany and Europe's aerospace and air transport industries and to achieve governmental and societal objectives. In addition to fundamental research work, DLR is primarily concerned with applied aerospace research and development.