USAF/RAAF F-111 Flight Test with Active Separation Control

One objective of the USAF/RAAF F-111G flight test was to capture and compare separation trajectory differences of the generic Small Smart Bomb (SSB) weapons from a modified Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-111 weapons bay, with and without the Active Separation Control (ASC) blowing device activated. The ASC blowing device acts like a “virtual spoiler” at the leading edge of the weapons bay to both reduce weapons bay acoustics and enhance weapon separation characteristics. Flight test trajectory data was captured with cameras mounted on the inboard wing pylon and aft fuselage centerline of the RAAF F-111G. The flight test separation data was compared with 1/15 scale F-111 wind tunnel data obtained in the USAF AEDC 4T wind tunnel. This paper will present and compare wind tunnel and flight test separation and acoustic data with and without bay leading edge blowing utilizing the ASC device.