I previously wrote about Max Q - Maximum Dynamic Pressure comparing the Max Q experienced by a SpaceX rocket during launch, the Space Shuttle and a typical airliner. Now let’s take a look at the Max Q that was experienced by the X-15 while it went about setting various speed and altitude records during it’s research.
Read more →
The very first generation was described in my Geeks and Fast Jets post. Generations 2, 3 and 4 were described in the Homebrew FTI post. This post describes the 5th generation of the FTI system.
One of the reasons for a new generation was because the price of the Rockwell-Collins ADAHRS+GPS unit had shot up from an original price of $5,500 to $12,000 in the intervening years since the 4th generation unit was developed.
Read more →
Recently Agostino De Marco posted a video of a Red Bull sponsored aerobatic aircraft flying inverted above a Red Bull Formula 1 car and asked for a guess of the angle of attack (AoA) of the aircraft.
In particular the sign convention for AoA when the aircraft is inverted.
I decided to test out JSBSim to confirm that all the sign conventions worked out in terms of being able to fly the aircraft inverted in trim etc.
Read more →
From the LSO NATOPS manual.
4.2.7 Effective Glideslope Due to Wind and Deck Motion The glideslope angle, referred to as the basic angle aboard ship, is the fixed pitch angle around which the lens assembly stabilizes. A basic angle setting of 3.5° is most commonly used, with 4° used for higher wind-over-deck conditions (38+ knots) or on the small decks when hook-to-ramp clearance is near the 10-foot minimum.
Read more →
The standard method of tracking the aircraft’s control positions as the pilot moves the controls for flight test instrumentation (FTI) purposes is to attach string potentiometers (string pots) to the control cables/rods. As the control cable/rod moves based on the pilot’s inputs a spring loaded thin steel wire is reeled in or out of the string pot.
Read more →
The standard method of tracking the aircraft’s control positions as the pilot moves the controls for flight test instrumentation (FTI) purposes is to attach string potentiometers (string pots) to the control cables/rods. As the control cable/rod moves based on the pilot’s inputs a spring loaded thin steel wire is reeled in or out of the string pot.
Read more →
The standard method of tracking the aircraft’s control positions as the pilot moves the controls for flight test instrumentation (FTI) purposes is to attach string potentiometers (string pots) to the control cables/rods. As the control cable/rod moves based on the pilot’s inputs a spring loaded thin steel wire is reeled in or out of the string pot.
Read more →
This is an example of the data collected by my Homebrew FTI (Flight Test Instrumentation) system during a spin in an Extra-300.
The control positions were tracked using a camera based tracking system that I developed and the output from the camera tracking units were fed into the FTI unit.
Read more →
I first got involved in designing FTI equipment in 2008 when TFASA (Test Flying Academy of South Africa) asked me to design some FTI equipment to be used in a Hawker Hunter jet that they were using for a course they were running. I did a write-up on this work in - Geeks and Fast Jets.
Read more →
Taking a look at the ground effect and the flare on landing performance using JSBSim to see it’s effect on the final sink rate and the change in airspeed.
For this test I’m using the Boeing 737 model included with JSBSim. The aircraft is setup and trimmed at 150ft AGL with a speed of 140kt IAS and on a 3 degree flight path with the flaps and gear down.
Read more →