Flight Test Results of Five Input Signals for Aircraft Parameter Identification

A joint Dutch/German aircraft parameter identification program has been conducted to investigate various factors affecting identification results. Different design methods led to five test signals which were implemented via a hydraulic control system in a flight test program with a De Havilland DHO-2 Beaver experimental aircraft. Aircraft parameters were calculated using two different parameter identification algorithms, classical Maximum Likelihood method and flight path reconstruction followed by linear regression analysis. Each test signal was repeated nine resp. ten times allowing a statistical evaluation based on Cramer-Rao lower bounds and sample variances.