Integrated Flight Test Data System With Real-Time Graphic Display

Future flight test programs of sophisticated commercial and military aircraft, requiring a multitude of parameter measurements and fast data turn-around-time, dictate the need for a new approach to data acquisition and processing. This paper shows how these goals will be met using a total systems approach to automate the process while keeping the “man in the loop”.

The airborne system includes universal signal conditioning, digitizing, high packing density serial tape recording, and simultaneous telemetry transmission for up to 400 data channels. The ground station permits real-time and nonreal-time processing of multiple data streams without the need for editing or preprocessing procedures. The principal features of the ground station include advanced data acquisition front ends, a third generation computer, and cathode ray tube graphic displays of data in engineering units which permit on-line interactive data processing by the flight test engineer.