Model-Based Flight Testing

The civil aircraft development cycle structure has been changing dramatically. The time from a go-ahead to a first delivery has been shortened, which puts a considerable amount of pressure on specification, design, manufacture, and testing efforts. The guarantee of a safe flight and the increasing complexity of the new generation of aircraft are forcing the industry to develop innovative techniques for new programs. Simulation has been proven to be a valuable tool that can be used. Nevertheless, the potential of simulation has not fully been explored in some phases of the aircraft development process. In flight test campaigns, it is already common to use simulation to predict an aircraft's behavior prior to the flight or even to structure a flight test proposal. An iterative approach considering flight testing, model updates, campaign reevaluation would be efficient and safe. This manuscript discusses the matter and proposes a process that would enhance flight test campaign efficiency with interactive use of intensive simulation. The manuscript also highlights relevant aspects of the implementation of this process. Preliminary results obtained from a regional jet climb flight test campaign show that it is possible to compress the initial test matrix when an adequate model is used in conjunction with flight data.