Presenting proven methods, practical guidelines, and real-world flight-test results for a wide range of state-of-the-art flight vehicles, Aircraft and Rotorcraft System Identification, Second Edition addresses the entire process of aircraft and rotorcraft system identification from instrumentation and flight testing to model determination, validation, and application of the results. This highly anticipated second edition includes additional applications throughout the book and new in-depth chapters presenting extended model structures and identification results for large flexible transport aircraft, as well as the detailed methodology to develop a continuous full flight envelope simulation model from individual system identification models and trim test data.

Concepts Discussed

• Frequency-response methods well suited for system identification of flight vehicle models from noisy flight-test data and for unstable bare airframe dynamics

• Physics-based model structures for practical aircraft and rotorcraft system identification

• The importance of physical insight in model development and applications

Special Features

• Student version of CIFER^® with updated graphical user interface using MATLAB^®

• Specific guidelines for flight testing, data analysis, and proper selection of model structure complexity, illustrated in many flight-test examples

• Numerous flight-test results illustrating the wide-ranging roles of system identification in analysis of aircraft/rotorcraft flight mechanics, feedback control, handling qualities, structural response, higher-order models of fixed/rotary-wing aircraft, and flight simulation

• Extensive problem sets at the end of each chapter, with many exercises based on flight-test data provided for the XV-15 in hover and cruise, giving the reader hands-on real-world experience with system identification methods and interpretation of results; solutions manual available from AIAA