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Introduction to Flight Testing. Edition No. 1. Aerospace Series

  • Book

  • 352 Pages
  • June 2021
  • John Wiley and Sons Ltd
  • ID: 5838682
Introduction to Flight Testing

Introduction to Flight Testing

Provides an introduction to the basic flight testing methods employed on general aviation aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles

Introduction to Flight Testing provides a concise introduction to the basic flight testing methods employed on general aviation aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles for courses in aeronautical engineering. There is particular emphasis on the use of modern on-board instruments and inexpensive, off-the-shelf portable devices that make flight testing accessible to nearly any student.

This text presents a clear articulation of standard methods for measuring aircraft performance characteristics. Topics covered include aircraft and instruments, digital data acquisition techniques, flight test planning, the standard atmosphere, uncertainty analysis, level flight performance, airspeed calibration, stall, climb and glide, take-off and landing, level turn, static and dynamic longitudinal stability, lateral-directional stability, and flight testing of unmanned aircraft systems.

Unique to this book is a detailed discussion of digital data acquisition (DAQ) techniques, which are an integral part of modern flight test programs. This treatment includes discussion of the analog-to-digital conversion, sample rate, aliasing, and filtering. These critical details provide the flight test engineer with the insight needed to understand the capabilities and limitations of digital DAQ.

Key features: - Provides an introduction to the basic flight testing methods and instrumentation employed on general aviation aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. - Includes examples of flight testing on general aviation aircraft such as Cirrus, Diamond, and Cessna aircraft, along with unmanned aircraft vehicles. - Suitable for courses on Aircraft Flight Test Engineering.

Introduction to Flight Testing provides resources and guidance for practitioners in the rapidly-developing field of drone performance flight test and the general aviation flight test community.

Table of Contents

About the Authors xiii

Series Preface xv

Preface xvii

Acknowledgements xxi

About the Companion Website xxiii

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Case Study: Supersonic Flight in the Bell XS-1 3

1.2 Types of Flight Testing 9

1.2.1 Scientific Research 9

1.2.2 Experimental Flight Test 12

1.2.3 Developmental Test and Evaluation 14

1.2.4 Operational Test and Evaluation 14

1.2.5 Airworthiness Certification 15

1.3 Objectives and Organization of this Book 17

Nomenclature 18

Acronyms and Abbreviations 19

References 19

2 The Flight Environment: Standard Atmosphere 22

2.1 Earth’s Atmosphere 23

2.2 Standard Atmosphere Model 24

2.2.1 Hydrostatics 24

2.2.2 Gravitational Acceleration and Altitude Definitions 25

2.2.3 Temperature 26

2.2.4 Viscosity 27

2.2.5 Pressure and Density 28

2.2.6 Operationalizing the Standard Atmosphere 29

2.2.7 Comparison with Experimental Data 30

2.3 Altitudes Used in Aviation 32

Nomenclature 34

Subscripts 34

Acronyms and Abbreviations 35

References 35

3 Aircraft and Flight Test Instrumentation 36

3.1 Traditional Cockpit Instruments 36

3.1.1 Gyroscopic-Based Instruments 38

3.1.2 Pressure-Based Instruments 38

3.1.3 Outside Air Temperature 41

3.1.4 Other Instrumentation 42

3.2 Glass Cockpit Instruments 42

3.3 Flight Test Instrumentation 45

3.3.1 Global Navigation Satellite System 46

3.3.2 Accelerometers 49

3.3.3 Gyroscopes 49

3.3.4 Magnetometers 50

3.3.5 Barometer 51

3.3.6 Fusion of Sensor Data Streams 51

3.4 Summary 52

Nomenclature 54

Subscripts 54

Acronyms and Abbreviations 54

References 55

4 Data Acquisition and Analysis 56

4.1 Temporal and Spectral Analysis 56

4.2 Filtering 61

4.3 Digital Sampling: Bit Depth Resolution and Sample Rate 63

4.4 Aliasing 66

4.5 Flight Testing Example 69

4.6 Summary 69

Nomenclature 70

Subscripts 70

Acronyms and Abbreviations 70

References 71

5 Uncertainty Analysis 72

5.1 Error Theory 73

5.1.1 Types of Errors 73

5.1.2 Statistics of Random Error 76

5.1.3 Sensitivity Analysis and Uncertainty Propagation 77

5.1.4 Overall Uncertainty Estimate 79

5.1.5 Chauvenet’s Criterion for Outliers 79

5.1.6 Monte Carlo Simulation 80

5.2 Basic Error Sources in Flight Testing 81

5.2.1 Uncertainty of Flight Test Instrumentation 81

5.2.2 Example: Uncertainty in Density (Traditional Approach) 85

5.2.3 Example: Uncertainty in True Airspeed (Monte Carlo Approach) 86

Nomenclature 88

Subscripts 89

Acronyms and Abbreviations 89

References 89

6 Flight Test Planning 90

6.1 Flight Test Process 90

6.2 Risk Management 93

6.3 Case Study: Accept No Unnecessary Risk 96

6.4 Individual Flight Planning 97

6.4.1 Flight Area and Airspace 98

6.4.2 Weather and NOTAMs 99

6.4.3 Weight and Balance 100

6.4.4 Airplane Pre-Flight 103

6.5 Conclusion 105

Nomenclature 105

Acronyms and Abbreviations 105

References 105

7 Drag Polar Measurement in Level Flight 107

7.1 Theory 107

7.1.1 Drag Polar and Power Required for Level Flight 107

7.1.2 The PIW-VIW Method 112

7.1.3 Internal Combustion Engine Performance 114

7.1.4 Propeller Performance 119

7.2 Flight Testing Procedures 124

7.3 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 125

Nomenclature 127

Acronyms and Abbreviations 129

References 129

8 Airspeed Calibration 132

8.1 Theory 132

8.1.1 True Airspeed 134

8.1.2 Equivalent Airspeed 134

8.1.3 Calibrated Airspeed 135

8.1.4 Indicated Airspeed 137

8.1.5 Summary 137

8.2 Measurement Errors 138

8.2.1 Instrument Error 138

8.2.2 System Lag 138

8.2.3 Position Error 139

8.3 Airspeed Calibration Methods 142

8.3.1 Boom-Mounted Probes 143

8.3.2 Trailing Devices and Pacer Aircraft 143

8.3.3 Ground-Based Methods 145

8.3.4 Global Positioning System Method 145

8.4 Flight Testing Procedures 147

8.5 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 148

Nomenclature 150

Subscripts 151

Acronyms and Abbreviations 151

References 151

9 Climb Performance and Level Acceleration to Measure Excess Power 153

9.1 Theory 153

9.1.1 Steady Climbs 154

9.1.2 Energy Methods 160

9.2 Flight Testing Procedures 165

9.2.1 Direct Measurement of Rate of Climb 165

9.2.2 Measurement of Level Acceleration 166

9.3 Data Analysis 167

9.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 168

Nomenclature 172

Subscripts 173

Acronyms and Abbreviations 173

References 174

10 Glide Speed and Distance 175

10.1 Theory 176

10.1.1 Drag Polar 176

10.1.2 Gliding Flight 179

10.1.3 Glide Hodograph 180

10.1.4 Best Glide Condition 181

10.2 Flight Testing Procedures 183

10.3 Data Analysis 185

10.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 186

Nomenclature 188

Subscripts 188

Acronyms and Abbreviations 189

References 189

11 Takeoff and Landing 190

11.1 Theory 190

11.1.1 Takeoff Ground Roll 191

11.1.2 Landing Ground Roll 193

11.1.3 Rotation Distance 194

11.1.4 Transition Distance 194

11.1.5 Climb Distance 195

11.1.6 Total Takeoff and Landing Distances 195

11.1.7 Simple Estimations 195

11.2 Measurement Methods 196

11.3 Flight Testing Procedures 197

11.3.1 Standard Flight Procedures 197

11.3.2 Flight Test Procedures 199

11.3.3 Data Acquisition 200

11.3.4 Data Analysis 200

11.4 Flight Test Example: Cessna R182 201

Nomenclature 202

Subscripts 203

Acronyms and Abbreviations 204

References 204

12 Stall Speed 205

12.1 Theory 206

12.1.1 Viscous Boundary Layers 207

12.1.2 Flow Separation 208

12.1.3 Two-Dimensional Stall Characteristics 209

12.1.4 Three-Dimensional Stall Characteristics 211

12.1.5 Stall Control 211

12.1.6 Stall Prediction 213

12.2 Flight Testing Procedures 214

12.2.1 Flight Characteristics 214

12.2.2 Data Acquisition 216

12.3 Data Analysis 217

12.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 219

Nomenclature 221

Subscripts 222

Acronyms and Abbreviations 222

References 222

13 Turning Flight 224

13.1 Theory 224

13.2 Flight Testing Procedures 232

13.2.1 Airworthiness Certification 232

13.2.2 Educational Flight Testing 233

13.2.3 Piloting 233

13.2.4 Instrumentation and Data Recording 234

13.3 Flight Test Example: Diamond DA40 235

Nomenclature 236

Subscripts 237

Acronyms and Abbreviations 237

References 237

14 Longitudinal Stability 238

14.1 Static Longitudinal Stability 238

14.1.1 Theory 238

14.1.2 Trim Condition 242

14.1.3 Flight Testing Procedures 244

14.1.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 245

14.2 Dynamic Longitudinal Stability 246

14.2.1 Theory 246

14.2.2 Flight Testing Procedures 254

14.2.3 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 255

Nomenclature 257

Subscripts 259

Acronyms and Abbreviations 259

References 259

15 Lateral-Directional Stability 261

15.1 Static Lateral-Directional Stability 261

15.1.1 Theory 261

15.1.2 Directional Stability 264

15.1.3 Lateral Stability 265

15.1.4 Flight Testing Procedures 266

15.1.5 Flight Testing Example: Cirrus SR20 267

15.2 Dynamic Lateral-Directional Stability 269

15.2.1 Theory 269

15.2.2 Flight Testing Procedures 272

15.2.3 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20 272

Nomenclature 274

Acronyms and Abbreviations 275

References 275

16 UAV Flight Testing 277

16.1 Overview of Unmanned Aircraft 277

16.2 UAV Design Principles and Features 279

16.2.1 Types of Airframes 280

16.2.2 UAV System Architecture 281

16.2.3 Electric Propulsion 285

16.2.4 Command and Control (C2) Link 286

16.2.5 Autonomy 287

16.3 Flight Regulations 288

16.4 Flight Testing Principles 288

16.4.1 Air Data Instrumentation 289

16.4.2 UAV Flight Test Planning 290

16.4.3 Piloting for UAV Flight Testing 290

16.5 Flight Testing Examples with the Peregrine UAS 291

16.5.1 Overview of the Peregrine UAS 291

16.5.2 Propulsion System Characterization 293

16.5.3 Specific Excess Power: Level Acceleration and Rate of Climb 294

16.5.4 Glide Flight Tests 296

16.6 Flight Testing Examples with the Avanti UAS 299

16.6.1 Overview of the Avanti UAS 299

16.6.2 Coast-Down Testing for the Drag Polar 301

16.6.3 Radio Range Testing 303

16.6.4 Assessment of Autonomous System Performance 305

16.7 Conclusion 305

Nomenclature 307

Acronyms and Abbreviations 307

References 308

Appendix A Standard Atmosphere Tables 310

Appendix B Useful Constants and Unit Conversion Factors 313

Reference 317

Appendix C Stability and Control Derivatives for a Notional GA Aircraft 318

Reference 319

Index 321

Authors

James W. Gregory Ohio State University. Tianshu Liu Western Michigan University.