Modeling Flightc The Role of Dynamically Scaled Free-Flight Models in Support of NASA's Aerospace Programs

NASA has made many contributions to a broad range of aircraft including general aviation, fighters, civil transports, lifting bodies, reentry capsules, parawing vehicles, and supersonic transports. This book describes the issues that must be considered when transferring subscale results to full-scale application, and reviews results obtained in historically significant aircraft programs.

The major portion of the book focuses on the applications of the techniques to generic configurations for general research as well as to specific aircraft and spacecraft configurations. Important lessons learned are also reviewed. A brief review of the special dynamic force tests that usually accompany free-flight tests is provided, and the document concludes with the author's perspective on potential future opportunities and requirements in free-flight model testing.