Abstract
Flight test methodology is often discussed regarding full-scale aircraft, leaving out the flight testing of model aircraft. Information on how to comprehensively conduct and analyze the interchangeable flight test methodology between full-scale and model aircraft procedures is scarce to come by. Systematically following procedures to conduct a flight test on a full-scale aircraft was conducted on a model aircraft named the AlbaBird. The AlbaBird’s dimensions include a length of 34.3”, wingspan of 43.3”, wing area of 209.3 in2, approximate chord length of 9”, and a weight of 3.54 lbs. A performance flight test was conducted on the model aircraft and demonstrated that the classic means of gathering climb and descent data using the Sawtooth Climb method for full-scale aircraft gathered information on the best angle of climb, best rate of climb, minimum rate of descent, and maximum glide speed. It was proven that following the same flight test methodology used to gather performance information for a full-scale aircraft may be used on a smaller model aircraft, at least when the using the Sawtooth climb method. This may not always be true for all model aircraft because the reynolds number may have an adverse effect on the quality of data gathered if it is too small, leading to potentially unpredictable data and results. There were three performance flight tests performed. Tests 1 and 2 were able to identify that the maximum speed at 60% throttle was 38 kts and the stall speed was 23 kts. Test 3 determined climb and descent performance using the Sawtooth Climb method. During the climb performance test, the airspeed for best angle of climb was 24 kts at 712 fpm and the best angle of climb was 27 kts at 755 fpm. For the descent performance test, the minimum rate of descent was 25 kts at -290 fpm and the maximum glide speed was 31 kts at -327 fpm.