Practical Aspects of the Frequency Domain Approach for Aircraft System Identification

Practical aspects of the frequency-domain approach for aircraft system identification are explained and demonstrated. Topics related to experiment design, flight data analysis, and dynamic modeling are included. For demonstration purposes, simulated time series data and simulated flight data from an F-16 nonlinear simulation with realistic noise are used. This approach enables detailed evaluations of the techniques and results, because the true characteristics of the data and aircraft dynamics are known for the simulated data. Analytical techniques and practical considerations are examined for the finite Fourier transform, nonparametric frequency response estimation, parametric modeling in the frequency domain, experiment design for frequency-domain modeling, data analysis and modeling in the frequency domain, and real-time calculations. Flight data from a subscale jet transport aircraft are used to demonstrate some of the techniques and technical issues.