Flight Test Instrumentation Systems For Fighter Type Aircraft

Heinz Roth, Expert Advisor Flight Test Instrumentation, EADS – Military Aircraft, Manching, Germany

Abstract

During development and certification of newly designed aircraft or even upgraded variants the functioning and performance of the onboard flight test instrumentation system are the key elements for acquisition and provision of the flight test data to the flight test engineers.

For fighter type aircraft the space and locations available for installing the required equipment are of particular challenge to the designers and a matter of painful compromises to be accepted by the flight test management.
When in addition the work share in an international programme, such as the quadronational Eurofighter, is based on assignment of design responsibilities to the participating companies for major components and systems, the challenge becomes even greater.

This paper presents the international arrangements made to organize the procurement and installation of the onboard flight test instrumentation systems for the Eurofighter development aircraft and it provides some information on the recently installed system for the German Instrumented Production Aircraft. Beside the system architecture and the location of the selected state-of-the-art equipment the specific capabilities and system performance are highlighted in relation to the flight test tasks assigned.

Finally an outlook into future requirements is made and related developments in the field of flight test instrumentation are discussed.