29 Apr 1993

The first X-31 (Bu. No. 164584) flew over Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1993. Aircraft 584 completed 292 flights during the Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability (EFM) program before being lost on January 19, 1995, when icing in the nose probe caused the flight control computer to receive bad data. German test pilot Karl-Heinz Lang ejected after the aircraft became uncontrollable. The program continued, using the second aircraft. (NASA Image)

1993: The Rockwell X-31A EFM Demonstrator made the first high-angle-of-attack, post-stall, 180-degree turn known as the Herbst Maneuver. The aircraft made the turn in a 475-foot radius. Two X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability demonstrators were test-flown during the early 1990s at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, to obtain data on control in the post-stall flight regime. The X-31 program demonstrated the value of thrust vectoring – directing engine exhaust flow – coupled with advanced flight control systems, to provide controlled flight at very high angles of attack.