Aircraft System Identification

Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive overview of both the theoretical underpinnings and the practical application of aircraft modeling based on experimental data also known as aircraft system identification. Much of the material presented comes from the authors own extensive research and teaching activities at the NASA Langley Research Center, and is based on real-world applications of system identification to aircraft. The book uses actual flight-test and wind-tunnel data for case studies and examples, and is a valuable resource for researchers and practicing engineers, as well as a textbook for postgraduate and senior-level courses. [...] The methods and algorithms explained in the book are implemented in a NASA software toolbox called SIDPAC (System IDentification Programs for AirCraft). SIDPAC is written in MATLAB®, and is available by request from NASA Langley Research Center. SIDPAC is composed of many different tools that implement a wide variety of approaches explained fully in the book. These tools can be readily applied to solve aircraft system identification problems.