Testing new aerospace concepts in flight remains one of NASA’s most effective ways to advance knowledge and reduce risk.

The Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, supports this mission by using small, autonomous, remotely piloted aircraft as cost-effective platforms to mature innovative ideas, accelerate learning, and enable smoother transitions to full-scale flight.

When experiments require a flight platform, several NASA remotely piloted aircraft are available: the Alta-X quadrotor; the Dryden Remotely Operated Integrated Drone (DROID) with a 10-foot wingspan; and the Multi‑Use Cub, a 14-foot-span fixed-wing aircraft with expandable payload capacity for flight experiments. For electric vertical takeoff and landing tests, the HQ-90 quadrotor offers an additional option.

Once aircraft and experiments are cleared to operate, laboratory pilots support the mission, including ground operations and flight activities.

Each staff member serves as a certified and experienced subscale aircraft pilot and is prepared to fly unique or modified commercial aircraft wherever the mission requires.

NASA’s FireSense project conducted flights in the Geneva State Forest, located about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. NASA’s Armstrong flight research staff integrated the instrument on an Alta-X drone and tested the system before deployment. Two team members then transported the drone and sensor to the forest, prepared the vehicle for flight, and operated it during the mission. The NASA sensor was installed on the drone to demonstrate how a remotely piloted aircraft can collect localized weather data that influences smoke movement and fire behavior. This information can help operating agencies improve wildfire decision making and better allocate firefighters and resources.

Other missions occur closer to NASA Armstrong, such as the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy (EPIC) project. EPIC involved the airdrop of a capsule containing a parachute and flexible sensor from the Alta-X. Laboratory personnel piloted the flights, supported flight operations, and worked with the EPIC team to design and integrate the parachute drop mechanism and safety system into the aircraft.

These tests showed that a flexible sensor could help researchers study supersonic parachutes. Continuation of this work can help fill gaps in computer models, making supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for transporting scientific instruments and payloads to Mars.

The Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory uses rapid design and testing capabilities to help small aircraft develop big ideas. These concepts could lead to future advances that support NASA missions in aeronautics, science and exploration.

For decades, NASA and its partners have advanced automatic collision avoidance technology. The research showed that an autopilot could detect and recover from an impending ground collision, a capability that is now helping save lives on high-performance US military aircraft. NASA’s Armstrong played a key role in that work and developed a simplified version, the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, which was installed on the DROID for testing.

The system demonstrated on the DROID, developed to assist general aviation pilots as well as autonomous and remotely piloted aircraft, performed well and led to further research toward a version that provides warnings and direction signals. NASA’s Armstrong Technology Transfer Office is working to license the technology for U.S. companies to develop the system as a commercial product.

The Prandtl-D (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Lower Drag) flying wing glider was also designed, manufactured and flown at NASA Armstrong. The researchers found that their twisted wing design could reduce drag and generate thrust at the wingtips, advancing concepts that can support greater fuel economy for future aircraft. The original Prandtl-D is now part of the collection of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and the Prandtl-D3 is located at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Researchers continue to develop the next generation of the design in the laboratory.

A wide range of capabilities in the laboratory help transform promising concepts into flight-ready test structures. These include rapid prototyping using traditional and advanced 3D manufacturing techniques, as well as composite and conventional manufacturing processes. The team of engineers and technicians also offers custom component design and specialized manufacturing to meet unique research needs.

The laboratory supports electrical and mechanical design, hardware and software integration, and safety and flight readiness processes necessary for successful missions. Additional technical facilities, such as NASA’s Experimental Manufacturing Branch and Armstrong Environmental Laboratory, further enhance these capabilities. Together, they support development, testing, and validation activities that advance NASA’s exploration and aeronautics goals.