More effective aircraft stability and control flight testing throughuse of system identification technology

The development of system identification technology was undertaken to provide for more effective aircraft flight testing by reducing the time required to conduct specific tests and/or to provide for a more comprehensive data analysis. F-14A and TA-4J flight test results presented demonstrate that the flight time required to obtain stability and control data can be significantly reduced without loss in accuracy of conventional flight test derived parameters. Presentation of S-3A and EA-6B system identification results demonstrate that this technology can be successfully used to update the aerodynamic data bases of modern jet aircraft from flight test data. These system identification results are compared with wind tunnel data and flight test derived parameters to demonstrate the accuracy of this new technology. Applications of this technology to integrate several areas of aircraft flight testing are discussed. (Author)