Initial Flight Test of Half-Scale Unmanned Air Vehicle
Abstract
Pioneer, a short-range Unmanned Air Vehicle, was recently introduced into fleet operations. Due to the manner of test and evaluation of UAV's, problems with the air vehicle have been identified during, rather than prior to, operational use and contractor testing. A flight research program has begun at the Naval Postgraduate School to use a half-scale Pioneer UAV in an attempt to study the flight behavior of Pioneer. Limitation of flight endurance below original estimations has prompted a drag analysis of the vehicle to be performed. Previously, wind tunnel work was carried out for propeller studies. The current investigation uses the results of that work to complete flights for determination of a drag polar for the vehicle. A drag clean-up of the original wing configuration was performed, and though the data are scattered due to the measurement techniques trends indicate a significant reduction in drag for the new wing. Comparison of the drag data with numerical predictions shows a reasonable correlation. Keywords: Flight test; Performance; Drag-polar; Thrust coefficient; power curve; Theses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA219584
Entities
People
- Yeho Kee
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School