Abstract
A time-optimal, vertical-plane, evasive-offensive maneuver using poststall flight is found for a fighter aircraft similar to an F-16. An evader aircraft initially followed by a pursuer aircraft transfers position using the vertical-plane maneuver, becoming the pursuer. The aircraft that was initially the pursuer is assumed to continue flight at constant velocity and constant altitude. A direct numerical method, collocation with nonlinear programming, proves well suited for solving this problem. The evader aircraft's optimal trajectory is found to be a cobra maneuver, one of the vertical poststall maneuvers. Allowing the evader to use thrust vectoring yields a small improvement in final time.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1017-1021 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Aircraft |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2000 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aerospace Engineering