Introduction to Flight Testing

Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
About the Authors
Series Preface
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Companion Website
Chapter 1 Introduction
	1.1 Case Study: Supersonic Flight in the Bell XS‐1
	1.2 Types of Flight Testing
		1.2.1 Scientific Research
		1.2.2 Experimental Flight Test
		1.2.3 Developmental Test and Evaluation
		1.2.4 Operational Test and Evaluation
		1.2.5 Airworthiness Certification
	1.3 Objectives and Organization of this Book
	References
Chapter 2 The Flight Environment: Standard Atmosphere
	2.1 Earth\'s Atmosphere
	2.2 Standard Atmosphere Model
		2.2.1 Hydrostatics
		2.2.2 Gravitational Acceleration and Altitude Definitions
		2.2.3 Temperature
		2.2.4 Viscosity
		2.2.5 Pressure and Density
		2.2.6 Operationalizing the Standard Atmosphere
		2.2.7 Comparison with Experimental Data
	2.3 Altitudes Used in Aviation
	References
Chapter 3 Aircraft and Flight Test Instrumentation
	3.1 Traditional Cockpit Instruments
		3.1.1 Gyroscopic‐Based Instruments
		3.1.2 Pressure‐Based Instruments
		3.1.3 Outside Air Temperature
		3.1.4 Other Instrumentation
	3.2 Glass Cockpit Instruments
	3.3 Flight Test Instrumentation
		3.3.1 Global Navigation Satellite System
		3.3.2 Accelerometers
		3.3.3 Gyroscopes
		3.3.4 Magnetometers
		3.3.5 Barometer
		3.3.6 Fusion of Sensor Data Streams
	3.4 Summary
	References
Chapter 4 Data Acquisition and Analysis
	4.1 Temporal and Spectral Analysis
	4.2 Filtering
	4.3 Digital Sampling: Bit Depth Resolution and Sample Rate
	4.4 Aliasing
	4.5 Flight Testing Example
	4.6 Summary
	References
Chapter 5 Uncertainty Analysis
	5.1 Error Theory
		5.1.1 Types of Errors
		5.1.2 Statistics of Random Error
		5.1.3 Sensitivity Analysis and Uncertainty Propagation
		5.1.4 Overall Uncertainty Estimate
		5.1.5 Chauvenet\'s Criterion for Outliers
		5.1.6 Monte Carlo Simulation
	5.2 Basic Error Sources in Flight Testing
		5.2.1 Uncertainty of Flight Test Instrumentation
		5.2.2 Example: Uncertainty in Density (Traditional Approach)
		5.2.3 Example: Uncertainty in True Airspeed (Monte Carlo Approach)
	References
Chapter 6 Flight Test Planning
	6.1 Flight Test Process
	6.2 Risk Management
	6.3 Case Study: Accept No Unnecessary Risk
	6.4 Individual Flight Planning
		6.4.1 Flight Area and Airspace
		6.4.2 Weather and NOTAMs
		6.4.3 Weight and Balance
		6.4.4 Airplane Pre‐Flight
	6.5 Conclusion
	References
Chapter 7 Drag Polar Measurement in Level Flight
	7.1 Theory
		7.1.1 Drag Polar and Power Required for Level Flight
		7.1.2 The PIW–VIW Method
		7.1.3 Internal Combustion Engine Performance Additional details are available in an online supplement, “Basic Performance Prediction of Internal Combustion Engines.”
		7.1.4 Propeller Performance
	7.2 Flight Testing Procedures
	7.3 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	References
Chapter 8 Airspeed Calibration
	8.1 Theory
		8.1.1 True Airspeed
		8.1.2 Equivalent Airspeed
		8.1.3 Calibrated Airspeed
		8.1.4 Indicated Airspeed
		8.1.5 Summary
	8.2 Measurement Errors
		8.2.1 Instrument Error
		8.2.2 System Lag
		8.2.3 Position Error
	8.3 Airspeed Calibration Methods
		8.3.1 Boom‐Mounted Probes
		8.3.2 Trailing Devices and Pacer Aircraft
		8.3.3 Ground‐Based Methods
		8.3.4 Global Positioning System Method
	8.4 Flight Testing Procedures
	8.5 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	References
Chapter 9 Climb Performance and Level Acceleration to Measure Excess Power
	9.1 Theory
		9.1.1 Steady Climbs
		9.1.2 Energy Methods
	9.2 Flight Testing Procedures
		9.2.1 Direct Measurement of Rate of Climb
		9.2.2 Measurement of Level Acceleration
	9.3 Data Analysis
	9.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	References
Chapter 10 Glide Speed and Distance
	10.1 Theory
		10.1.1 Drag Polar
		10.1.2 Gliding Flight
		10.1.3 Glide Hodograph
		10.1.4 Best Glide Condition
	10.2 Flight Testing Procedures
	10.3 Data Analysis
	10.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	References
Chapter 11 Takeoff and Landing
	11.1 Theory
		11.1.1 Takeoff Ground Roll
		11.1.2 Landing Ground Roll
		11.1.3 Rotation Distance
		11.1.4 Transition Distance
		11.1.5 Climb Distance
		11.1.6 Total Takeoff and Landing Distances
		11.1.7 Simple Estimations
	11.2 Measurement Methods
	11.3 Flight Testing Procedures
		11.3.1 Standard Flight Procedures
		11.3.2 Flight Test Procedures
		11.3.3 Data Acquisition
		11.3.4 Data Analysis
	11.4 Flight Test Example: Cessna R182
	References
Chapter 12 Stall Speed
	12.1 Theory
		12.1.1 Viscous Boundary Layers
		12.1.2 Flow Separation
		12.1.3 Two‐Dimensional Stall Characteristics
		12.1.4 Three‐Dimensional Stall Characteristics
		12.1.5 Stall Control
		12.1.6 Stall Prediction
	12.2 Flight Testing Procedures
		12.2.1 Flight Characteristics
		12.2.2 Data Acquisition
	12.3 Data Analysis
	12.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	References
Chapter 13 Turning Flight
	13.1 Theory
	13.2 Flight Testing Procedures
		13.2.1 Airworthiness Certification
		13.2.2 Educational Flight Testing
		13.2.3 Piloting
		13.2.4 Instrumentation and Data Recording
	13.3 Flight Test Example: Diamond DA40
	References
Chapter 14 Longitudinal Stability
	14.1 Static Longitudinal Stability
		14.1.1 Theory
		14.1.2 Trim Condition
		14.1.3 Flight Testing Procedures
		14.1.4 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	14.2 Dynamic Longitudinal Stability
		14.2.1 Theory
		14.2.2 Flight Testing Procedures
		14.2.3 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	References
Chapter 15 Lateral‐Directional Stability
	15.1 Static Lateral‐Directional Stability
		15.1.1 Theory
		15.1.2 Directional Stability
		15.1.3 Lateral Stability
		15.1.4 Flight Testing Procedures
		15.1.5 Flight Testing Example: Cirrus SR20
	15.2 Dynamic Lateral‐Directional Stability
		15.2.1 Theory
		15.2.2 Flight Testing Procedures
		15.2.3 Flight Test Example: Cirrus SR20
	Nomenclature
	Acronyms and Abbreviations
	References
Chapter 16 UAV Flight Testing1
	16.1 Overview of Unmanned Aircraft
	16.2 UAV Design Principles and Features
		16.2.1 Types of Airframes
		16.2.2 UAV System Architecture
		16.2.3 Electric Propulsion
		16.2.4 Command and Control (C2) Link
		16.2.5 Autonomy
	16.3 Flight Regulations
	16.4 Flight Testing Principles
		16.4.1 Air Data Instrumentation
		16.4.2 UAV Flight Test Planning
		16.4.3 Piloting for UAV Flight Testing
	16.5 Flight Testing Examples with the Peregrine UAS
		16.5.1 Overview of the Peregrine UAS
		16.5.2 Propulsion System Characterization
		16.5.3 Specific Excess Power: Level Acceleration and Rate of Climb
		16.5.4 Glide Flight Tests
	16.6 Flight Testing Examples with the Avanti UAS
		16.6.1 Overview of the Avanti UAS
		16.6.2 Coast‐Down Testing for the Drag Polar
		16.6.3 Radio Range Testing
		16.6.4 Assessment of Autonomous System Performance
	16.7 Conclusion
	References
Appendix A Standard Atmosphere Tables
Appendix B Useful Constants and Unit Conversion Factors
	Reference
Appendix C Stability and Control Derivatives for a Notional GA Aircraft
	Reference
Index
EULA