Advanced In Flight Measurement Techniques

The book presents a synopsis of the main results achieved during the 3 year EU-project "Advanced Inflight Measurement Techniques (AIM)" which applied advanced image based measurement techniques to industrial flight testing. The book is intended to be not only an overview on the AIM activities but also a guide on the application of advanced optical measurement techniques for future flight testing. Furthermore it is a useful guide for engineers in the field of experimental methods and flight testing who face the challenge of a future requirement for the development of highly accurate non-intrusive in-flight measurement techniques.

The aim of this book is to briefly present modern optical measurement techniques to measure the thermal and flow parameters in-flight. Furthermore, advanced optical methods to measure the deformation of the surface of wings and rotor blades of aircraft will be presented. Readers will gain knowledge as a result of research conducted in the framework of the two European projects AIM and AIM2 and verified during the flight test on various types of aircraft. These have included the Evektor VUT100, Airbus A380, Dornier 228, Fairchild Metro II, Janus, PW-6, Piaggio P180 and Scottish Aviation Bulldog.

The demands for higher performance for modern aircraft have led the wind tunnel community, which is an integral link in the design process, to develop more refined and cost effective measuring techniques. These technologies have gradually matured from laboratory novelties into instruments regularly used in aerodynamic testing. The development of these modern measurement techniques has greatly extended the capability and accuracy of the classical methods for measurement techniques and provided better insight into flow physics. This Symposium provided a forum for active researchers to address the state-of-the-art, to exchange experiences and ideas, and for the practitioners to obtain an overview of the technology and learn how to appy it.