A Nimrod aircraft has been surrounded in more than 4.5km of aluminium profile in a framework in order to conduct lightning strike tests.
“The structure was quite unlike any other and was certainly the largest aluminium profile structure that we have been involved in, “said Nigel Clarke, managing director of Boldman, which designed, supplied and built the framework at BAE Systems in Warton.
Pulses of up to 50,000 amps are injected into the nose of the aircraft, and the framework is there to provide a return path to the generator.
The aircraft inside was the Nimrod PA03, which is being used to test out the whole of the mission system. Information from the trial, together with electromagnetic modelling and further analysis, will provide the basis for achieving clearance for the aircraft.
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