A second CH-53K King Stallion has entered the U.S. Marine Corps heavy-lift helicopter program, and the first aircraft has achieved flight envelope expansion to 120 kt, Sikorsky said in a company press release.
The CH-53K Engineering Development Models (EDM) achieved their first flights on Oct. 27, 2015, and Jan. 22, 2016. As the flight test program proceeds, these two flying CH-53K helicopters will be joined by two additional aircraft to complete flight qualification of the Marines’ next-generation heavy-lift capability over an approximate three-year flight test program. These first two aircraft are the most heavily instrumented of the EDM and will focus on structural flight loads and envelope expansion. When the other two EDM aircraft join the flight line in 2016, they will focus on performance, propulsion and avionics flight qualification.
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