Understanding Performance Flight Testing: Kitplanes and Production Aircraft

Understanding Performance Flight Testing: Kitplanes and Production Aircraft

Author: Hubert C. Smith

Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional

Published: 2001-09-18

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 007166260X

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*Covers lightplane performance flight testing methods, measures, and computer applications *Includes CD-ROM with sample spreadsheets containing equations to help readers perform their own flight tests *Describes GPS (Global Positioning System) test method for airspeed calibration and rapid-wind camera method for takeoff performance


Safety is No Accident - From 'V' Bombers to Concorde

Safety is No Accident - From 'V' Bombers to Concorde

Author: John R W Smith

Publisher: Air World

Published: 2020-07-19

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1526769476

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Flying, as everyone knows, is generally regarded as the safest means of transportation. Yet for that to be the case an enormous amount of testing is undertaken. Central to this, of course, are the test pilots, who fly the aircraft, but it is the men behind the scenes who deal with the technical aspects of the aircraft – the flight test observers and engineers. Numerous books have been written by Test Pilots, but few, if any, from the perspective of an Aeronautical Engineer working as Flight Test Observer/Engineer in partnership with the Test Pilot. This book is an account of the author’s flight-testing career, from the 1960s to early 1980s, at Avro and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). During the author’s time at Avro, he flew on the development and certification test flights of the Avro 748, 748MF, Shackletons, Nimrod and Handley-Page Victor tanker. In the CAA, his role turned to regulation, making flight test assessments of manufacturer’s prototypes and production aircraft, to check compliance with the CAA’s flight safety requirements. The scope ranged from single-engine light aircraft to large civil transport aircraft. It involved frequent visits to foreign manufacturers and also included his participation in the CAA’s Concorde certification flight test programme. Flight testing involves risk. Advancements in the understanding of aerodynamics and an increasingly professional approach to risk management improved safety, but it would never be risk-free. Several of the author’s close friends and colleagues died in flight test accidents during this period of rapid aeronautical development; all on civil aircraft types. It is because of such people that the millions of flights undertaken each year are trouble-free.


Introduction to Flight Testing

Introduction to Flight Testing

Author: James W. Gregory

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2021-05-19

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1118949803

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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.


Flight Testing of Fixed Wing Aircraft

Flight Testing of Fixed Wing Aircraft

Author: Ralph D. Kimberlin

Publisher: AIAA

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 9781600860560

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Annotation The measurement of performance during an airplane's flight, testing is one of the more important tasks to be accomplished during its development as it impacts on both the airplane's safety and its marketability. This book discusses performance for both propeller-driven and jet aircraft.


Performance of Light Aircraft

Performance of Light Aircraft

Author: John T. Lowry

Publisher: AIAA

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 508

ISBN-13: 9781563473302

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Pilots, aviation students, kitplane builders, aircraft fleet operators and aeronautical engineers can all determine how their propeller-driven airplanes will perform, under any conditions, by using the step-by-step bootstrap approach introduced in this book. A few routine flying manoeuvres (climbs, glides, a level speed run) will give the necessary nine numbers. High-school level calculations then give performance numbers with much greater detail and accuracy than many other methods - for the reader's individual aircraft.


Introduction to Aircraft Flight Test Engineering

Introduction to Aircraft Flight Test Engineering

Author: Hubert C. Smith

Publisher: Jeppesen Sanderson

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13:

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Intended to serve primarily as a text and a laboratory manual for use by colleges and universities. It is also useful for practicing engineers and others with the technical ability to evaluate the performance of light airplanes. ISBN# 0-89100-225-1. 96 pages.