Hypersonic Wind-Tunnel Free-Flying Experiments with Onboard Instrumentation

Laser-Induced Diaphragm Rupture for Improved Sequencing and Repeatability in a Hypersonic Facility

“…Free flight experiments in the TUSQ facility initially used a system in which models were slung beneath a retractable rod and were firmly held in place against a molded head on the rod prior to tunnel firing using a highly tensioned string [12]. Prior to diaphragm rupture, the string was cut with a razor blade, and the model fell away from the molded head under the action of gravity.…”

Free-Flight Aerodynamic Testing of the Skylon Space Plane

“…The free-flight technique has been successfully applied in short-duration hypersonic test facilities by several authors. Mudford [10] spaceplanes. All aspects of the vehicle's geometry are scaled by the desired factor, n, to give the model length, and the position of the centre of mass of the model for example.…”

A Review of Wind Tunnel Based Virtual Flight Testing Techniques for Evaluation of Flight Control Systems

“…There are mainly two kinds of wind tunnel free-flight tests: (1) low speed free-flight tests [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] with power system, which can provide enough thrust to counterbalance aerodynamic drag so that the center of gravity of the test model will be kept in an axis line when the model attitude is changing (an example of such tests is shown in Figure 8), and (2) high speed (subsonic/transonic/supersonic/hypersonic) free-flight tests [35][36][37][38][39], which do not have power systems and will result in a free falling motion of the test model without control. Low speed free-flight tests with power can be used to investigate flying qualities and control law effects up to a maximum trim angle of attack or until loss of control occurs [7], while high speed free-flights are mainly used to identify stability derivatives with measured attitudes and trajectories.…”

“…Their development histories are introduced, respectively, below. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39], free spin [40], free tumble [41], and free fall [7]. A VFT architecture proposed by Standard Missile Company [85].…”