Flutter Flight Test of the Ranger 2000 Aircraft

Abstract

The philosophy of a comprehensive flight flutter test using rotating vane exciter and pulse excitation is outlined. Based on the results of the flutter analysis, a lean flight test program was developed and dedicated to wing and T-tail investigations in areas of the flight envelope where low damping was predicted. The implementation of the rotating vane exciter system was well as the sensor installation is described. Emphasis is put on reporting the flight test performance, excitation techniques and quasi online data evaluation. Comparison of test results with analysis is presented.