Flight test program for airborne sensor integration and system certification conducted for the high altitude research aircraft Grob G 520T Egrett twin-seater, owned by the Flinders University/Airborne Research Australia. The flight test program was managed by the Institute, accumulating a total of 24 flight test hours. Aircraft testing included flutter, stability and control, and climb performance checks. A maximum operational ceiling of 50100 ft pressure altitude was achieved.
Consolidation and finalization of a modular system of algorithms for parameter estimation. This unique tool, dubbed ESTIMA is used in all Institute´s projects on flight vehicle system identification. The first version of the software tool for parameter estimation for general nonlinear systems was developed in the period 1981-1983. Later, in 1989 the techniques were extended to account for plant noise (atmospheric turbulence).
IBC (Individual Blade Control) flight tests accomplished with ZFL actuator technology integrated into the Bo 105 S-1 technology demonstrator of Eurocopter Deutschland. DLR provided control law design, PCM instrumentation as well as data acquisition and evaluation systems.
15 years of fruitful collaboration between the Institute and NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, India) covering the fields of system identification, data analysis, flight control system design techniques, and flight instrumentation. The 10th anniversary of cooperation was celebrated in November 1993 with a joint symposium on System Identification. The cooperation led to an exchange of more than 20 scientists from each side. The Institute was also the host organization for Indian DAAD as well as Alexander-von-Humboldt fellowship holders.
The 20-Year-Anniversary of the US Army-BMVg/DLR Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Helicopter Aeromechanics was celebrated at the German Ministry of Defense. US and German government representatives commended to this MoU as a shining example of successful transatlantic cooperation in the field of fundamental and multidisciplinary aeronautical research. The complementary use of research tools, and the work in integrated teams produced world-unique results which a single party could not have accomplished.
ATTAS Dial-a-Model demonstration flights for ETPS and EPNER test pilot schools. With these flights, the Test Pilot Training Syllabus was established and consolidated. ATTAS will be flown for ETPS, EPNER, and the German Forces Flight Test Center WTD 61 as test pilot training aircraft in 1999 and following years.
DLR-ONERA installation of a permanent rotorcraft management team. The cooperation was pioneered by the Institute, defining three leading projects dubbed Quiet, Smart, and Robust Helicopter.
A new low noise, high performance rotor system named ERATO was commonly developed by DLR and ONERA. Extensive computations with varying local rotor blade parameters like airfoil section, chord, and sweep and twist angles resulted in an unconventional noise alleviating blade shape. The rotor was successfully tested in the Modane wind tunnel and at DNW (cooperation with ONERA, Eurocopter, and DLR-Institutes of Design Aerodynamics and Aeroelasticity).