China’s giant wind tunnel to accelerate devt of new warplanes

Under development for more than eight years, China’s latest, world-leading wind tunnel is now ready to help develop new warplanes after reaching a milestone on Tuesday by successfully testing and receiving data for an in-development aircraft. With its help, China will be able to develop new warplanes faster and perform better, experts said on Wednesday.

The wind tunnel, called FL-62, conducted its first operation on Tuesday by running a test for an undisclosed new aircraft. The operation went smoothly as the flow field generated by the wind tunnel was stable and test data for the aircraft was gathered for the first time, the Aerodynamics Research Institute, under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), announced in a statement on Tuesday.

This successful test showed the FL-62 wind tunnel was ready to test all types of aircraft and contribute to their development.

Approved for construction in 2012 and based in Shenyang, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, the 6,620-ton, 17,000-cubic meter machine is China’s first large continuous transonic wind tunnel. It is a fundamental and strategic facility crucial to China’s aviation industry, as it will decide the shape of China’s future warplanes, according to information AVIC released previously.

Compared to previous Chinese wind tunnels, the FL-62 can provide more stable and consistent airflow, resulting in more realistic data gathered from aircraft models tested in the tunnel, said a military expert who asked not to be named.

With the data, aircraft developers could optimize the aircraft’s aerodynamic design, giving it better performance in speed, range, maneuverability and stealth, the expert said, noting that a more advanced wind tunnel will also likely reduce the development time because the data it generates will be more accurate.