Uncertainty Methodology for In-Flight Thrust Determination

The Society of Automotive Engineers technical committee E-33 for In-Flight Propulsion Measurement is preparing an Aerospace Information Report on Uncertainty of In-Flight Thrust Determination (AIR-1678). The proposed methodology for evaluating uncertainty provides traceability of errors to a national standards laboratory, and is independent of the procedure used to calculate or measure thrust in-flight. This results in a consistent means of evaluating different in-flight thrust measurement capabilities.

This paper summarizes Che proposed methodology. A companion paper, “Application of In-Flight Thrust Determination Uncertainty Methodology” presents an example application of the methodology based on the US Air Force Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) program.