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Eurofighter successfully concludes cold environmental trials in Sweden
Parking overnight at –32 °C - Power-up - Off we go!
Trials extended due to "warm" weather at the Arctic Circle
Madrid / Munich / Vidsel, 10 March 2005

In the afternoon of 9 March, a Eurofighter completed the up to now longest and most exceptional test campaign ever conducted away from its home site. The touch-down of Instrumented Production Aircraft IPA4 of EADS Military Aircraft Spain at Getafe near Madrid marked the successful conclusion of the Cold Environmental Trials (CET), during which for three months from 9 December 2004 the aircraft was stationed at Vidsel, close to the Arctic Circle in North Sweden, where it was exposed to the extreme cold. The purpose of these comprehensively documented extended trials was to verify the operational behaviour of the most advanced European fighter aircraft and its systems under inhospitable arctic conditions at temperatures constantly between -25 and -31 °C, EADS reported on Thursday.

During the CET campaign, IPA4 provided more than 45 proofs of performance, both on the ground and during the 17 flights it undertook. The fault-free operation of the entire aircraft and its on-board systems was verified within the required low-temperature range. In preparation for each step of the test campaign, the aircraft was parked overnight in the open, exposed to wind and weather. This ensured that the cold was able to penetrate into every nook and cranny of the airframe and the systems installed, giving them what the aviation experts appropriately call a “cold soak”. With the fighter aircraft "deep frozen" in this way, among other things the procedures up to "ready for takeoff" and the observation of a two-hour cockpit readiness in stand-alone operation, during which the power supply for the aircraft systems only comes from the on-board APU, were tested and documented for the user air forces. The interest in these tests naturally focused on the behaviour of all aircraft circuits relying on fluids, for example the hydraulic and fuel systems along with the associated aggregates, such as pumps, landing gear, airbrake and air conditioning system.

The roughly 50-strong test team came from EADS Military Aircraft Spain, from the Spanish engine manufacturer IPT, partner of the Eurojet consortium, and from INTA, the institute for aeronautical research run under the supervision of the Defence Ministry in Madrid. To monitor and store the test data acquired, among other equipment a mobile MIDS (Multifunction Information Distribution System) station was deployed to Vidsel. Further integral parts of the CET were ground routines, such as the opening and closing of the external maintenance and access panels, as well as refuelling, on- and off-loading of various external stores up to a maximum landing weight of just under 19 tonnes.

Ironically, the temperatures at Sweden's Vidsel Air Base, which are normally guaranteed to provide deep-freezer climate, were initially too "mild" for CET conditions. The Eurofighter team therefore used these circumstances to carry out some unscheduled trials, such as taxiing on entirely icy and snow-packed runways. Eurofighter demonstrated that its directional stability and braking characteristics are completely reliable on these surfaces too.

After IPA4 had completed the return flight to its Getafe home base with an intermediate touchdown at German Fighter Wing 73 “Steinhoff” in Laage nearby Rostock, Fernando Plaza, Programmes Director of EADS Military Aircraft Spain, took stock: “We are very proud to announce the successful completion of this campaign. All the individual points in the CET programme have been fulfilled, with Eurofighter demonstrating that it also meets the operational requirements under such extreme environmental conditions. Special grounds for satisfaction are to be seen in the phenomenally high operationally ready rate for the aircraft and its systems, despite the arctic conditions." As Plaza underlined, the Cold Environmental Trials are a special showcase for the programme because IPA4 was fitted to the latest configuration, including integration of Direct Voice Input. The Spanish Programmes Director thanked all the employees and institutions involved for their contribution to the success of what was most probably the longest CET in the history of military aviation.