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Report on a visit to the Arvin/Calspan Corporation Buffalo, New York, September 1992
No full textThe visit to the Arvin Calspan Corporation in Buffalo was made in support of a PhD programme undertaken in the College of Aeronautics (CoA). the research topic concerns flying and handling qualities of advanced fly-by-wire civil aircraft.
With the introduction of electronic Flight Control Systems (FCS) the responses of aircraft to a pilot input can become highly modified compared with that of conventional aircraft. As such systems have been introduced to military aircraft problems associated with their flying and handling qualities have become apparent. Much research and development work has been undertaken into understanding and solving these problems and producing military aircraft that handle well. Although this work continues, today’s aircraft demonstrate a vast improvement on earlier designs.
While much research has been undertaken into the flying and handling qualities of military aircraft considerably less has been performed in the area of civil aircraft. Consequently there are few guidelines for the design, assessment and certification of the civil aircraft now being produced that utilise electronic FCS.
The purpose of this PhD programme is to address the deficiencies in the civil aircraft field and apply the knowledge and technologies of the military designs and criteria where applicable. In order to do this it is necessary to obtain a thorough understanding of the work undertaken in both the military and civil fields, and to gain exposure to problems that have been identified.
The Arvin/Calspan Corporation has been involved in handling qualities research since the 1940’s and through it’s numerous research programmes utilising it’s variable stability aircraft has become recognised as one of the world leaders in the field of handling qualities.
Therefore a visit to the headquarters of the Flight Research Department of the Arvin/Calspan Corporation in Buffalo was made in support of this study. The two main purposes were to undertake a literature search of their reports from their research programmes of relevance to this study and to perform an engineering test flight in one of their two Variable Stability Learjet In-Flight Simulators, to demonstrate features of modern FCS designs.
During the visit the opportunity was also taken to discuss the more recent developments in the field with Calspan personnel. In addition contact was made with the Stability, Control, Simulation and Flying Qualities Technology Group of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Long Beach, who were conducting a TIFS investigation during the visit.CI
Second quarterly report on the application of modified stepwise regression for the estimation of aircraft stability and control parameters
No full textThe performance of 60 degrees delta wings : the effects of leading edge radius on vortex flaps and the wing
No full textMUSTANG 0 A low-cost technology demonstration nanosatellite. Summary of the Group Design Project MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering 2004/05 Cranfield University
No full textStudents of the MSc course in Astronautics and Space Engineering 2004/05 at
Cranfield University took Mustang 0 as their group project. This report
summarises their findings. Mustang is a partnership of several groups interested
in technology for small spacecraft: Mustang 0 is intended to be a simple
spacecraft suitable for technology demonstration (especially highly miniaturised
systems based on MEMS or microsystem technology (MST)). A parallel student
project took place in the School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science at
Cranfield University to investigate MST available from non-space sectors and the
qualification process for space hardware. Design studies have been performed for
all the spacecraft sub-systems and build on previous work by Mustang partners.
The spacecraft designed has a mass of just less than 10 kg, a lifetime of 1
year, is 3-axis controlled, and could be launched to either GTO or LEO. New
areas studied this year include software design and operations, and some
hardware (the main structure) has been manufactured. The project conclusion is
that a low-cost (< £ 100k for a flight-ready space- craft) technology
demonstration mission is possible. The Mustang 0 study identifies no fundamental
problems, although a significant amount of work remains. Many sub-systems now
require prototyping to validate and develop the proposed design
MUSTANG 2001 Summary of the Group Design Project MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering 2001/02 Cranfield University
No full textMUSTANG (Multi-University Space Technology Advanced Nanosatellite Group) was the
group design project for students of the MSc in Astronautics and Space
Engineering for the Academic Year 2001/02 at Cranfield University. The project
also involved students of Southampton University and Astrium (UK) Ltd. and was
supported by BNSC. The project involved the initial design of a nanosatellite to
be used as a technology demonstrator for microsystem technology (MST) in space.
The project builds on previous work (in 1999/2000 and 2000/01) and is both a
critical re-evaluation of the previous work and a development of new design work
in specific areas (e.g. electrical subsystem, mechanisms, data handling). By the
end of the project, the design has developed to a stage where detailed sub-
system design and prototyping / manufacture are the next steps. The goal of
launch readiness by 2003/04 is possible, but only achievable with significant
extra resources
Note on the application of the linearised theory for compressible flow to transonic speeds
No full textIt is shown that for finite aspect ratio the linearised theory of compressible flow remains theoretically consistent in the region of transonic speeds, although tis predictions may deviate appreciably from experimental results in that region. The variation of the theoretical lift curve slope of an aerofoil of finite span is considered as the mach number increases from below unity to above unity, and it is shown that the lift curve slope remains finite and continuous
The aerodynamic derivatives with respect to sideslip for a delta wing with small dihedral at supersonic speeds
No full textExpressions are derived for the sideslip derivatives on the assumptions of the linearised theory of flow for a delta wing with small dihedral flying at supersonic speeds. A discussion is included in the appendix on the relation between two methods that have been evolved for the treatment of aerodynamic force problems of the delta wing lying within its apex Mach cone. Continues
Experiments on an induction type high speed wind tunnel driven by low pressure steam
No full textThe performance of an induction type high speed wind tunnel driven by low pressure steam (up to 120lb. per sq.in. absolute) has been investigated up to a Mach number of about 1.7. It was found that by suitable design a range of Mach numbers could be attained over a wide range of supply pressures and steam quantities. Comparison with previous experiments in which compressed air was used to drive the tunnel show that the required steam and air pressure and quantities are comparable. These results imply that in many cases existing boiler plants can readily be adapted to drive high speed tunnels of useful dimensions. Continues
Stability of the compressible laminar boundary layer with an external pressure gradient
No full textThe small perturbation theory of the stability of the laminar boundary layer, as first considered in detail by Tollmien and Schlichting for incompressible flow and applied to compressible flow by Lees and Lin, is extended in this paper to include compressible flow with a pressure gradient in the main stream. Continues