Boeings QTD² Technology

Shhhh… 😉

August was an extraordinary month for Flight Test, even by Boeing standards. Several significant flight test programs were running at the same time, including the two 777-200LRs – WD001 and WD002 – which have been chronicled in this journal.

Flight Test also is sometimes asked to support long-term technology research that won’t find its way onto a production airplane for 3-5 years, or longer. That’s what happened this summer. With the 777-200LRs in the home stretch to certification, let’s look at Flight Test’s involvement with long-term technology research that one day will make a big difference to our airline customers.

The noise reduction test program is called Quiet Technology Demonstrator (QTD) 2. General Electric, Goodrich and NASA came to Boeing’s remote airfield in Glasgow, Mont., to test technology that targets engines and landing gear, the most prominent airplane noise producers. It will find its first commercial use several years down the road on the 787 and the 747 Advanced programs.

The First QTD²:

Micorphones mounted all over the ANA 777-300ER testbed: