Data Acquisition System and Methodology for High Angle of Attack Parameter Estimation

A digital data acquisition system that has been flight tested in a Schweizer 2-32 sailplane, and the algorithms designed for high angle of attack parameter identification are described in this paper. The system is portable and self-contained. Inertial sensors are mounted in a strapdown unit. Two Kiel-probes are used for airspeed measurement. "Off-the-shelf" microelectronic components are configured to operate as a multiprocessing system. The on-board computing power is used to monitor the sensor and support system and to improve flight test effectiveness. The Estimation-Before-Modeling technique has been selected for parameter identification. A time history of a flight test maneuver that will be used in the estimation of the aerodynamic parameters also is presented.