NIAR’s Newest Lab Opens at Former Coliseum
Bombardier’s Learjet 85 is currently undergoing testing at NIAR’s Aircraft Structural Testing and Evaluation Center. The facility provides almost any necessary structural test, from testing a full-scale aircraft to testing at the coupon level.
Bombardier’s Learjet 85 is currently undergoing testing at NIAR’s Aircraft Structural Testing and Evaluation Center. The facility provides almost any necessary structural test, from testing a full-scale aircraft to testing at the coupon level.

Normally, when a sports arena reaches the end of its life, it’s torn down. In Wichita, self-proclaimed “Air Capital of the World,” however, it’s renovated and converted into a state-of-the-art full-size aircraft test facility. Last month the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (WSU) finished the transformation of the former Britt Brown Arena/Kansas Coliseum into the brand-new Aircraft Structural Testing and Evaluation Center (Astec for short), one of four Wichita-area aviation test facilities currently operated by the school.