3 Day Open Conference
3 Day Open Conference
The Dawn of Wireless F-16 Instrumentation: A Survey of Flutter Flight Testing With Advanced Subminiature Telemetry System Concept Demonstrator
Tuesday 18th November 2008
11.30 - 12.00
Auditorium 3
The instrumentation expert has always held a permanent chair at the test team table. Real-time analysis and post-flight review of test data is paramount to any conclusions or results derived from the data acquisition process. Instrumented aircraft are heavily modified with dedicated wiring to collect data from various points on test items, stores, or the aircraft itself. The modifications on these unique aircraft are costly to install and maintain and their resulting wiring requirements increase the likelihood of lengthy delays to test programs when problems arise. The development and integration of a wireless network-based miniaturized instrumentation system, the Advanced Subminiature Telemetry system (ASMT), is the solution the flight test community has been waiting for! The ASMT system is a revolutionary idea which, when perfected, will provide unobtrusive externally-installed sensors to collect flight test data. The miniaturized components are intended to minimize the effect on mass and physical properties of the test item while providing accurate, real-time performance information through a wireless network based system which is iNET-ready (Integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry). Additionally, the implementation of this technology will significantly decrease the logistical footprint of installation, maintenance, and system diagnosis. After considerable ground testing and product enhancements, the next step to make ASMT a reality was to validate the performance against a legacy system. Multiple ASMT accelerometers were externally-mounted on LAU-129 launchers using an electro-cleavable adhesive bond during F-16 flutter testing. The focus of the test was to observe low frequency limited-cycle oscillation data (LCO) in the 0-10 Hz range due to airframe response in a new flight configuration. The test verified that the external application of the accelerometers did not affect the LCO susceptibility of the launchers themselves while providing a side-by-side comparison of the ASMT data to the legacy instrumentation data. This parallel comparison measured the effects of latency and eliminated concerns over electromagnetic interference. The potential for full-scale implementation of the ASMT technology has now been demonstrated in F-16 flutter testing. This innovative network will revolutionize flight test instrumentation by reducing preflight logistic impacts, dropping instrumentation related mission aborts, and exponentially increasing instrumentation capabilities. Future applications may include store separations testing as well as high data rate applications in acoustics, pressure, and high frequency vibrations, but the door is now open to all applications in flight testing which require wireless, broadband instrumentation.
About the Speaker(s):
MATTHEW A. HAYDEN
Major, USAF
SIDNEY J. USRY
1st Lt, USAF