Reduction of Flight Test Data From Linear Accelerometers

Extract

The problems discussed in this note refer to the simplest case of the use of linear accelerometers, in which the flight path is in the vertical plane of symmetry of the aeroplane, and the acceleration normal to the path is to be determined.

Generally two facts are neglected:–

1. (i) That the accelerometer senses along an arbitrary body axis Z_B (Fig. 1), instead of along the wind axis Z (normal to the path).

2. (ii) That the accelerometer is not placed exactly at the e.g. of the aeroplane but at some point A, having co-ordinates x_A and z_A in the body axes.