Iron Bird

An Iron Bird (English: Iron Bird ) is a type of aircraft test stand and referred to in the development of aircraft a stationary installation for testing the systems of a new model.

Often it is a simple model, steel frame or building in which components are arranged in the way they will be installed in the real aircraft. This enables the function and interaction of the individual systems to be checked and important approval tests to be carried out without a prototype . The name originally comes from test stands with a steel frame structure. But now there are also purely virtual Iron Birds.