Preliminary results from a subsonic high angle-of-attack flush airdata sensing (HI-FADS) system: Design, calibration, and flight test evaluation

A nonintrusive high angle-of-attack flush airdata sensing (HI-FADS) system was installed and flight-tested on the F-18 high alpha research flight vehicle. The system is a matrix of 25 pressure orifices in concentric circles on the nose of the vehicle. The orifices determine angles of attack and sideslip, Mach number, and pressure altitude. Pressure was transmitted from the orifices to an electronically scanned pressure module by lines of pneumatic tubing. The HI-FADS system was calibrated and demonstrated using dutch roll flight maneuvers covering large Mach, angle-of-attack, and sideslip ranges. Reference airdata for system calibration were generated by a minimum variance estimation technique blending measurements from two wingtip airdata booms with inertial velocities, aircraft angular rates and attitudes, precision radar tracking, and meteorological analyses. The pressure orifice calibration was based on identifying empirical adjustments to modified Newtonian flow on a hemisphere. Calibration results are presented. Flight test results used all 25 orifices or used a subset of 9 orifices. Under moderate maneuvering conditions, the HI-FADS system gave excellent results over the entire subsonic Mach number range up to 55 deg angle of attack. The internal pneumatic frequency response of the system is accurate to beyond 10 Hz. Aerodynamic lags in the aircraft flow field caused some performance degradation during heavy maneuvering.