As part of the NASA Aviation Safety Program, a novel pitot-static calibration method was developed to allow rapid in-flight calibration for subscale aircraft while flying within confined test areas. This approach uses Global Positioning System technology coupled with modern system identification methods that rapidly computes optimal pressure error models over a range of airspeed with defined confidence bounds. This method has been demonstrated in full- and sub-scale flight tests and has shown small 2-σ error bounds with significant reduction in test time compared to other methods. Recent flight testing conducted at The University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) assessed different calibration methods to enable reductions in test equipment, flight time, and costs while achieving accurate results. That research determined that the step decrease maneuver with a 180 deg heading change minimized test time with good accuracy. The current research was motivated by the desire to further reduce these test times by decreasing the turn angle and creating a maneuver that could be flown en-route with minimal interruption in flight path. Flight tests were conducted at UTSI utilizing an instrumented Piper Navajo research aircraft. In addition, the UTSI engineering flight simulator was used to investigate initial test maneuver requirements. This paper provides a summary and analysis of flight test results that illustrates the performance and capabilities of the NASA calibration method for the 180 deg turn step decrease maneuver as well as similar maneuvers with decreased turn angles.
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