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Development of the Cranfield University Bulldog flight test facility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2017

N.J. Lawson ,
R. Correia ,
S.W. James ,
J.E. Gautrey ,
G. Invers Rubio ,
S.E. Staines ,
M. Partridge  and
R.P. Tatam
N.J. Lawson*
Affiliation:
National Flying Laboratory Centre, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
R. Correia
Affiliation:
Engineering Photonics, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
S.W. James
Affiliation:
Engineering Photonics, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
J.E. Gautrey
Affiliation:
National Flying Laboratory Centre, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
G. Invers Rubio
Affiliation:
National Flying Laboratory Centre, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
S.E. Staines
Affiliation:
Engineering Photonics, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
M. Partridge
Affiliation:
Engineering Photonics, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
R.P. Tatam
Affiliation:
Engineering Photonics, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Beds, UK
*
n.lawson@cranfield.ac.uk
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Abstract

Cranfield University's National Flying Laboratory Centre (NFLC) has developed a Bulldog light aircraft into a flight test facility. The facility is being used to research advanced in-flight instrumentation including fibre optic pressure and strain sensors. During the development of the test bed, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used to assist the flight test design process, including the sensor requirements. This paper describes the development of the Bulldog flight test facility, including an overview of the design and certification process, the in-flight data taken using the installed fibre optic sensor systems and lessons learned from the development programme, including potential further applications of the sensors.

Keywords

aerodynamicsavionics and systemsCFDflight testflight testfibre optic sensorfibre Bragg gratingFabry-Perot interferometer
Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 121 , Issue 1238 , April 2017 , pp. 533 - 552
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2017 

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