CONTROLET

Control surface loads
Validation by CFD, flight test, windtunnel

ADC involvement:

Development of Flight test data acquisition
Minor change approval on several types for FTI installation
Execution of flight test
Data analysis

The Project:

Believe it or not! State of the art control surface load assumptions in the GA certification specifications effectively dates back to windtunnel measurements of a Curtiss Jenny in 1918. The acceptable method described is extremely conservative and does not enable to address a variety of current usual control surface features such as horns, gaps, tabs and alike. Together with Hochschule Karlsruhe (HKA), ADC performed research using literature, windtunnel, CFD and fight test to improve available knowledge. This knowledge is now used in our loads evaluation tool Airlet II. In the course of this project a further low cost flight data acquisition “Control-Fish” was developed, enabling de-centralized, but synchronised measurements on the aircraft. This development was even subject to a publication in “aerokurier” (german only).