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