Manufacture, Refinement and Low-Speed Flight Testing of a Small-Scale, High-Speed Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle
Date
2023-08
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Abstract
This thesis details the mechanical design, manufacture, and flight testing of a sub-2.5kg UAV prototype. While the aircraft configuration is designed for supersonic flight, the goal of this work is to evaluate the low-speed flight characteristics and to prove positive stability and control at low speeds. Low-speed testing will evaluate the applicability of established design techniques---developed for full-scale, crewed aircraft---to small-scale, high-speed UAVs. Review of literature and preliminary results led to a focus on the prediction of lateral stability characteristics, especially vertical tail volume coefficient (VTVC). Flight testing of the prototype did not yield sustained flight; however, data collected during takeoff attempts provide valuable information about the behaviour of the design. These data indicate that the aircraft was laterally unstable, contradicting the vertical tail design determined from VTVC sizing methods. Analysis of VTVC for existing tailless delta-winged aircraft and comparison with the MUFASA aircraft showed that VTVC is insufficient as an early design parameter for small-scale, high-speed designs. A novel parameter, the fuselage-normalized tail volume coefficient, is proposed for use in conjunction with the conventional VTVC. Taken together, these two parameters provide a more complete prediction of lateral stability for small UAVs with supersonic design configurations. Future development work on this project could benefit from a detailed lateral stability study, thorough engine intake design, and improvements to the launch rail used to accelerate the aircraft.
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UAV, Flight Test, Vertical Tail, Lateral Stability, High Speed, Delta Wing
Citation
Gair, S. R. (2023). Manufacture, refinement and low-speed flight testing of a small-scale, high-speed uncrewed aerial vehicle (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.