Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Engineering - Department of Aerospace Engineering

The objective of this thesis is to design and implement the para-real flight system. The system is designed for ground testing of aircrafts, its subsystems, and autopilots. The para-real flight system is implemented in a wind tunnel that can test aircraft models up to 0.55 m wing span under controlled wind speed up to 20 m/s. A test rig is designed to hold the model and control the flow angle of attack and side slip angle. The rig is designed to deliver power to the model in the tunnel and to fully actuate the model. The forces and moments acting on the model are measured by six components force and torque sensor. A three dimensional flight simulator is developed to demonstrate the movement of the model undergoing test in the tunnel. The simulator uses instantaneous measurements of forces and moments to determine flight conditions. A static test is performed to assess the methodology of measuring the forces and moments acting on the tested model. The measurements are compared to a numerically computed data for a mini UAV model in various flight conditions. Several tests are conducted to get the para-real flight system limitations and calibration. A conventional mini UAV and unconventional mini flying wing UAV are equipped with data gathering system to acquire its real flight data. 45% and 40% scaled models are prepared to be tested by the para-real flight system. The experimental results show that the present para-real flight system has limited capabilities but the para-real flight system idea is applicable and promising

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