Sierra Nevada Corporation · 2017
Freedom Trainer
A full-size lightweight trainer, built in-house in under five months, except the tires and wheels.
In 2017 Sierra Nevada Corporation asked the aerospace practice for a full-size training aircraft a pilot could sit in, and that could come apart for the road. The airplane was the Freedom Trainer. Propulsion was business-jet engines. The article carried a full interior, lights, weapon stations, and horizontal stabilizers that could rotate.
Work started from unfinished surface models. Inner structure was drawn in CATIA V5 and checked with finite element analysis against the weight the customer wanted. Molds were cut, the outer skin was laid up, and those same molds became the fixtures for the bones. Paint, interior, gear, wings, and tail closed the build.
At about 37 feet, it would not travel in one piece. The practice built two shipping containers, removable gear, hoists, and wing fixtures, then set the fuselage in with a dual-forklift lift. It was reassembled at the far end.
Photographs and the project list are from the ADM Works aerospace page. ADM Aero continues this work as its own company.