By John C. Milliman, PMA-276 Public Affairs Officer

NAVAIR PATUXENT RIVER, MD - The first Z-model Super Cobra, complete with the integrated all-digital cockpit featuring LCD display panels and new target sighting system, made its first flight Aug. 26 here - a one and a half-hour functional check.

The flight followed several days of rotor track and balance work after the aircraft, the third of three AH-1Z developmental prototypes, first restrained ground run Aug. 17.

While the first AH-1Z prototype, Zulu 1, already has more than 350 flight hours chalked up, it is not an "all-up" AH-1Z - it retains the AH-1W cockpit. Zulu 2, the most heavily instrumented of the prototypes, is in its final stage of buildup.

Taking Zulu 3 on its maiden voyage were Bell Helicopter test pilot Herb Moran and VX-21's Maj. Pat Mohr, both members of the H-1 Integrated Test Team here.

"They performed main rotor track and balance and initial aircraft and systems shakedown due to maintenance/manufacture," explained Lt. Col. Nick Hall, chief government test pilot for the H-1 ITT. "They also performed numerous takeoffs and landings, flew in level flight to 120 knots and 45 degrees angle of bank."

While any aircraft's first flight is an exciting milestone, Zulu 3 is the first flight of the H-1 Upgrade Program's new technology in the AH-1Z platform, according to Col. Doug Isleib, H-1 attack and utility helicopters program manager. Also making a debut Monday was the latest version of the integrated software that runs the aircraft and its systems, version 2.3.2., and Lockheed Martin's "Hawkeye" target sighting system.

"But more than anything, this first flight is a visible sign of the tremendous amount of work the government/Bell test team has been doing the past few months," Isleib said. "And because of that hard work, we will soon darken the skies with H-1s!"

With three aircraft now flying (Zulu's 1 and 3, and Yankee 1), only Zulu 2 and Yankee 2 remain to fly.

Yankee 2, having ground run Aug. 14, is currently performing in-hangar electrical tests before it will actually fly, according to ITT Lead Robin Locksley. Because it is more heavily instrumented and requires more time to assemble, Zulu 2 follows its siblings in the schedule.

The program, as of today, has amassed 431.2 hours in flight test with the three prototypes now flying.

-USMC-

Photo
Zulu 3, the first AH-1Z with both the upgraded rotor system and drive train, and the integrated software-driven, all-digital cockpit, makes it first flight Monday here. Flown by Bell Helicopter test pilot Herb Moran and VX-21's Maj. Pat Mohr, both with the H-1 Integrated Test Team here, the aircraft flew for 1.4 hours and performed a series of functional checks. Among the flight's accomplishments were attaining 120 knots air speed and 45 degrees angle of bank. Photo by Dan Forster, H-1 ITT.