Flight Test of Flight Control Performance for Airplane Mode of Smart UAV

Flight test results of flight control performance of Smart UAV were described. Flight test in airplane mode was performed by internal pilot using automatic functions including auto take-off and landing, speed/altitude/heading hold as well as a point navigation and a preprogram mode. It reached to the designed maximum speed at operational altitude. The rotor speed in airplane mode was reduced to 82% from 98% RPM in order to increase rotor efficiency with reducing Mach number at tip of rotors. Rotor governor was designed to maintain dual variable rotor speed in the flight control law. The performance of flight control including speed, altitude, heading error as well as damping and frequency were evaluated in all flight envelope in the airplane mode. These control laws were modified to meet the design requirement of Smart UAV. This paper presents the flight test result of airplane mode of Smart UAV. Detailed test plan and the flight control performance were also described.