Flight Trials and Drag Analysis of a Scale Model Floatplane

This paper reports on the flight trials performed to support the development of the Tigerfish retractable float system. A 1/6^th scale model of a Cessna 208 has been built, instrumented and flight tested using conventional fixed floats, to estimate the zero-lift drag coefficient of a scale model aircraft with a conventional fixed float system. This drag coefficient is then compared to the Reynolds Number scaled zero-lift drag coefficient of the full scale aircraft, obtained from the manufacturers published performance data. The flight data was used in both an inertial and an aerodynamic analysis to estimate zero-lift drag coefficient. Good agreement is shown between the scaled published data and the flight data.