777-200LR Flight Test Journal: Archives

16 June 2005

Pulling it together

Steve Morton

777 functional test manager

I want to share a little bit about what we call "functional testing." This can be a very interesting adventure in the flight testing of an airplane.

Flight Test always seems like a long journey, and sometimes you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. With a plane like WD002, it's an even bigger test because there are so many more things involved.

But it helped a lot that just about everyone on the team has been doing this for a long time. It's great when you're surrounded by people you can count on. And the communication regarding this plane was outstanding.

We were pleasantly pleased that there were no issues when we did the initial "power on." When we turned on the hydraulics, there were a few leaks, but nothing of major significance.

One of the memorable times for us was working with Flight Test on an Engineering Work Authorization (EWA). The test required an increase of 400 lbs. to the normal hydraulic system pressure. This special test condition allowed engineering to check clearances so as to ensure that their design would prevent contact with structure, even at extreme vibration levels.

It took quite a few people to orchestrate the event, but we pulled it off. I think we only found one issue that we ended up having to tag and work out. It was a big success for us.

Still, it takes a lot of resilience on a lot of people's parts to be successful. It takes a lot of patience when you're dealing with an issue and you want to get something done, but you can't, because you have to wait for someone else to do what they need to do.

Even so, it seemed like we were always able to pull all the right people together, to find the information we needed and figure out the root cause of whatever might be holding us up.

I made a special point to call the manager out on the flightline to see how the first flight went because I knew everyone on our team would be interested. There were only 15 flight squawks and nothing major.

One of the pilots even told me the plane wanted to fly faster than they would let it! That's the kind of thing that makes it all worthwhile.