Design methodology and flight test protocols for a dynamically-scaled general aviation aircraft

This paper discusses the motivation, requirements, and approach of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) General Aviation Upset and Stall Testing Aircraft Research (GA-USTAR) project. The goal of the GA-USTAR project is to build and flight test a dynamically-scaled, Reynold-number corrected model of a General Aviation (GA) type aircraft intended for upset and stall flight modeling. The project is separated into three phases. In Phase 1, to simplify the construction, a scaled commercial-of-the-shelf radio control (R/C) model of a GA aircraft is used as a starting point. From a list of available GA aircraft R/C models, a 1/5- scale Cessna 182 was selected. The methodology behind the choice of the Cessna 182 as the GA-USTAR Phase 1 (baseline) model is detailed. The method of accurately determining the mass distribution and inertias is described in detail. In Phase 2, the approach taken to appropriately dynamically scale the Phase 1 Cessna 182 model is discussed. The desired geometric, kinematic, and mass parameters for a dynamically-scaled Cessna 182 is discussed. Finally, to ensure that stall is closely matched, new airfoils will be designed and tested in the UIUC subsonic wind tunnel and then used on the GA-USTAR Phase 3 flight platform. New airfoils are required to correct for the Reynolds number effects inherent in scaled models. Flight testing and data acquisition will be performed for all three phases of the GA-USTAR project. Details regarding flight data instrumentation and flight test planning are also described in this paper.