Airborne instrumentation magnetic tape recording thru the early 90's

Today's state-of-the-art airborne instrumentation tape recording is reviewed as background. Advantages and limitations of magnetic tape, as compared to other storage medium are considered, then practical present day longitudinal and helical recording is discussed. Following this a recorder manufacturer's projection of what the Flight Test Engineer can expect thru the early 1990's is presented. Bit rate, error rates, areal and volumetric packing densities as well as recorder weights and dimensions are considered.