Parameter identification with a controlled free flying model of a spaceplane

A flight test method for the investigation of flying qualities of a spaceplane with a radio controlled model is presented in this paper. Therefore a relatively simple model is equipped with several sensors and a telemetry transmitter. The model is dropped from a radio controlled carrier vehicle at an altitude of about 700 m. Because of the instability and the high wing loading a dynamically scaled model of the investigated spaceplane configuration PHOENIX cannot be controlled by vision from ground. A computer on ground is used to operate the model automatically by computing feedforward and feedback control algorithms. To avoid the high risk of a landing the model is recovered by a parachute. asured data are used to estimate the parameters of a quasi-steady aerodynamic model with an equation error method. A comparison of these parameters with available wind tunnel data indicates, that the quality of the estimated parameters is comparatively high.