We present a method for numerical simulations of a maneuvering aircraft, which uses a first-order unsteady panel method as the only source of aerodynamic forces and moments. By using the proposed method, it is possible to simulate a motion of an aircraft, while the only required inputs are geometry and inertia characteristics, which significantly reduces the time required to start the simulation. We validated the method by a comparison of recordings of flight parameters (position, velocities, accelerations) from an actual aerobatic flight of a glider and the results obtained from the simulations. The simulation was controlled by deflections of control surfaces recorded during the actual flight. We found a reasonable agreement between the experimental data and the simulation. The design of our method allows to evaluate not only the integral kinematic quantities but also instant local pressure and inertia loads. This makes our method useful also for a load evaluation of an aircraft. A significant advantage of the proposed method is that only an ordinary workstation computer is requiredto perform the simulation.
Numerical simulation of flapping wings using a panel method and a high-order Navier-Stokes solver
