Flight Test Facility - the Fraunhofer IBP flight lab

Flight Test Facility in Holzkirchen
© Fraunhofer IBP
Fraunhofer IBP’s Flight Test Facility in Holzkirchen.

We study on the ground what might happen in the air

Flight Test Facility (FTF) Holzkirchen
© Fraunhofer IBP
Graphic depiction of the Fraunhofer Flight Test Facility.

Fraunhofer IBP is the expert you are looking for when it comes to research into flight and ground scenarios in the secure environment of a flight laboratory.

The flight lab, which is the only one of its kind in the world, houses a low-pressure chamber containing the front segment of a wide-body aircraft with the original cabin, crown, galley, cockpit, avionics and cargo area. In this demonstrator, we study all aspects of the interior climate - from comfort and hygiene in the passenger cabin and personnel areas galley and cockpit, to the distribution of environmentally-friendly fire-extinguishing agents in the cargo area, right through to analyzing the formation of condensation on the aircraft structure and even replicating malfunctions in the avionics cooling system.

Designed for different types of aircraft

We have also expanded our facilities to include a business jet platform as part of the European aviation research project “Clean Sky”: we use one cabin segment to study specific aspects of the cabin climate in private aircraft. A tail segment contains the avionics simulation model of a more electric aircraft for studying heat management, and a composite cockpit segment is designed so that fuselage materials can be changed to assess the resulting effects.
 

When it comes to Flight Test Facility issues, we are the right address because...

With the flight lab, we can perform complex tests on flight and ground scenarios safely on the ground. The test facilities are complemented by our AirCraft Calorimeter, which we use to simulate thermal shocks or rapid drops in pressure.

Get in touch with us so that we can assist you with your system test research projects!

Technical specification

  • Pressure range: With test persons up to 750 hPa, without occupancy up to 116 hPa
  • Temperature range: -50 to +80 °C
  • Dehumification: Up to 5 % RH

 

Simulation data / Measurement technology of the test bench

Flexible measurement of temperature, humidity, mass flows, material distributions, particle distributions, heat flows, etc.