scholarly journals GROUND BASED VARIABLE STABILITY FLIGHT SIMULATOR

Aviation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-34
Author(s):  
Kamali Chandrasekaran ◽  
Vijeesh Theningaledathil ◽  
Archana Hebbar
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Flight Mechanics ◽  
Pilot Training ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Fighter Aircraft ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Stability And Control ◽  
Flying Qualities ◽  
And Control

This paper discusses the development of a ground based variable stability flight simulator. The simulator is designed to meet the pilot training requirements on flying qualities. Such a requirement arose from a premier Flight-Testing School of the Indian Air Force. The simulator also provides a platform for researchers and aerospace students to understand aircraft dynamics, conduct studies on aircraft configuration design, flight mechanics, guidance & control and to evaluate autonomous navigation algorithms. The aircraft model is built using open source data. The simulator is strengthened with optimization techniques to configure variable aircraft stability and control characteristics to fly and evaluate the various aspects of flying qualities. The methodology is evaluated through a series of engineer and pilot-in-the-loop simulations for varying aircraft stability conditions. The tasks chosen are the proven CAT A HUD tracking tasks. The simulator is also reconfigurable to host an augmented fighter aircraft that can be evaluated by the test pilot team for the functional integrity as a fly-through model.

scholarly journals Conceptual Design, Flying, and Handling Qualities Assessment of a Blended Wing Body (BWB) Aircraft by Using an Engineering Flight Simulator

Aerospace ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton Humphreys-Jennings ◽  
Ilias Lappas ◽  
Dragos Mihai Sovar
Keyword(s):  
Static Stability ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Handling Qualities ◽  
Stability And Control ◽  
Flying Qualities ◽  
Blended Wing Body ◽  
And Control ◽  
Drag Ratio ◽  
Lift To Drag Ratio ◽  
Mission Profile

The Blended Wing Body (BWB) configuration is considered to have the potential of providing significant advantages when compared to conventional aircraft designs. At the same time, numerous studies have reported that technical challenges exist in many areas of its design, including stability and control. This study aims to create a novel BWB design to test its flying and handling qualities using an engineering flight simulator and as such, to identify potential design solutions which will enhance its controllability and manoeuvrability characteristics. This aircraft is aimed toward the commercial sector with a range of 3000 nautical miles, carrying 200 passengers. The BWB design was flight tested at an engineering flight simulator to first determine its static stability through a standard commercial mission profile, and then to determine its dynamic stability characteristics through standard dynamic modes. Its flying qualities suggested its stability with a static margin of 8.652% of the mean aerodynamic chord (MAC) and consistent response from the pilot input. In addition, the aircraft achieved a maximum lift-to-drag ratio of 28.1; a maximum range of 4,581 nautical miles; zero-lift drag of 0.005; while meeting all the requirements of the dynamic modes.

scholarly journals Conceptual Design optimization of a Blended Wing Body (BWB) Aircraft Using Flying and Handling Qualities Assessment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clayton Humphreys-Jennings ◽  
Ilias Lappas ◽  
Dragos Mihai Sovar
Keyword(s):  
Flight Test ◽  
Static Stability ◽  
Flight Simulator ◽  
Handling Qualities ◽  
Stability And Control ◽  
Flying Qualities ◽  
Blended Wing Body ◽  
And Control ◽  
Drag Ratio ◽  
Lift To Drag Ratio

The Blended Wing Body (BWB) configuration is considered to have the potential of providing significant advantages when compared to conventional aircraft designs. At the same time, numerous studies have reported that technical challenges exist in many areas of its design, including stability and control. This study aims to create a novel BWB design to test its flying and handling qualities using an engineering flight simulator and as such, to identify potential design solutions which will enhance its controllability and manoeuvrability characteristics. This aircraft is aimed toward the commercial sector with a range of 3,000 nautical miles, carrying a payload of 20,000kg. In the engineering flight simulator a flight test was undertaken; first, to determine the BWB design’s static stability through a standard commercial mission profile, and then to determine its dynamic stability characteristics through standard dynamic modes. Its flying qualities suggested its stability with a static margin of 8.652% of the Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC) and consistent response from the pilot input. In addition, the aircraft achieved a maximum lift-to-drag ratio of 28.1; a maximum range of 4,581 nautical miles; zero-lift drag of 0.005; and meeting all the requirements of the dynamic modes.

A Report on Optimization Techniques at the AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics and Guidance and Control Conference

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-206
Author(s):  
Walton E. Williamson ◽  
Ronald W. Greene ◽  
D. J. Bell ◽  
Prabhat Hajela
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Flight Mechanics ◽  
Guidance And Control ◽  
And Control

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Membrane Wing for Micro Aerial Vehicle Applications

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Petrović ◽  
Sean P. Shea ◽  
Ian P. Smith ◽  
Franc Kosel ◽  
Pier Marzocca
Keyword(s):  
Micro Air Vehicles ◽  
Aerodynamic Characteristics ◽  
The Body ◽  
Flight Mechanics ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Stability And Control ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Deformable Membrane ◽  
Flight Regimes ◽  
And Control

Micro-Air-Vehicles (MAV) flight regimes differs significantly from larger scales airplanes. They are operating at low Reynolds numbers of approximate 104, cruising at speed about 12m/s, and are capable of agile maneuvers in limited space environment. They are compact and easily stowable to facilitate transportation. However, due to the small size, they are usually more vulnerable to the wind gusts with significant complexities associated to their flight mechanics, stability and control, which also makes difficult to quantify flight qualities and performances. Furthermore, complex aerodynamics can produce loading scenarios leading to the destruction of the vehicle during flight operation. To minimize the size of the MAV when not in use, their wings are stowed within the body of the vehicle, and are deployed during operation. To supplement the bulk of knowledge in MAV aero-mechanics, the study of the aerodynamic characteristics of a deformable membrane MAV wing is carried out in this paper. The analysis of the membrane airfoil is performed using a fluid-structure interaction 2D model, to select a set of optimal airfoil parameters for the intended flight regime. Numerical simulations are supplied and validated with an M AV model tested in the wind tunnel.

scholarly journals Three-Surface Model with Redundant Longitudinal Control: Modeling, Trim Optimization and Control in a Preliminary Design Perspective

Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Stefano Cacciola ◽  
Carlo Riboldi ◽  
Matteo Arnoldi
Keyword(s):  
Flight Mechanics ◽  
Surface Model ◽  
Preliminary Design ◽  
Longitudinal Control ◽  
Mechanics Model ◽  
Flying Qualities ◽  
Minimum Drag ◽  
Smart Control ◽  
Potential Improvement ◽  
And Control

Notwithstanding the interest in the three-surface concept shown by aircraft designers, this configuration was not thoroughly investigated in conjunction with the adoption of two-elevator surfaces, on both canard and tail. In fact, the inclusion of an additional elevator produces a redundant longitudinal control which can be specifically exploited to target trim optimization. The same redundancy can be also employed to improve the flying qualities of the three-surface aircraft. In this paper, after introducing a simple flight mechanics model, ideal for preliminary design and analyses, the advantages of this configuration are explored. Firstly, the problem of finding the elevator deflections of canard and tail for minimum drag in trim is formulated and solved. Secondarily, the updating of a two-surface back-tailed airplane into an equivalent three-surface one is demonstrated, showing the potential improvement in cruise performance. Finally, the controls are employed through a smart control law for achieving better flying qualities.

On Aerial Indoor Position Control and System Integration for Quadcopters Using Lidars and Inertial Measurement Units

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Zimmerman ◽  
Kellen Carey ◽  
Cristinel Ababei
Keyword(s):  
Power Consumption ◽  
Flight Control ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Position Control ◽  
System Optimization ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
System Level ◽  
System Level Design ◽  
Level Design ◽  
And Control

The main contribution of this paper is to introduce a computationally efficient iterative closest line (ICL) algorithm for determining indoor position drift of a quadcopter using minimal lidar data. In addition, we present the system-level design and implementation of a new quadcopter both as hardware and flight control algorithms. Such a platform allows us to develop and experiment new control and system optimization techniques. As an example, we discuss how the proposed ICL algorithm is used for position hold and control purposes by plugging it into the low level implementation of the flight control algorithm of the quadcopter. For testing and validation we use simulations with real world data. As part of the system-level design aspects, we present an investigation of the quadcopter power consumption. We are interested in power consumption because it is the major factor that determines the flight time of a typical quadcopter. We believe that this work is a contribution toward achieving better quadcopter design and control for indoor autonomous navigation.

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