Airplane model structure determination from flight data

A procedure for airplane model structure determination from flight data based on modified stepwise regression (MSR), several decision criteria, and postulated aerodynamic model equations is presented. The MSR is constructed to force a linear model for the aerodynamic coefficient first, then to select significant nonlinear terms and reject nonsignificant terms from the model. In addition to the statistical criteria in the stepwise regression, the prediction sum of squares criterion and analysis of residuals are examined for the selection of an adequate model. The procedure is used in examples with simulated and real flight data. It is shown that the MSR performs better than the ordinary stepwise regression and that the technique can be also applied to the large amplitude maneuvers.