Method for determining drag characteristics of aircraft and system for performing the method

A process for determining drag characteristics of an object in a fluid tunnel comprising:

• providing a system including at least three sensors mounted on said object and a processor operatively connected to each sensor;
• positioning the object at an initial attitude in the fluid tunnel;
• measuring an initial orientation of the object while the object is at the initial attitude using a first tilt sensor of said sensors to create initial orientation information;
• passing fluid over the object using the fluid tunnel;
• moving the object from said initial attitude to a subsequent attitude;
• measuring a subsequent orientation of the object while the object is at said subsequent attitude using a first orientation sensor of said sensors to create subsequent orientation information of the object;
• measuring subsequent drag variables of the object while the object is at the subsequent attitude and said fluid is passing over the object using a drag sensor of said sensors to create subsequent drag information;
• processing said initial and subsequent orientation information using the processor to create resulting orientation information of the object;
• and
• processing said resulting orientation information and said subsequent drag information using the processor to determine a resulting drag of the object.

A process for determining a resulting orientation of an object comprising:

• providing a system including a plurality of sensors mounted on said object and a processor operatively connected to each sensor;
• positioning the object at an initial attitude;
• measuring an initial orientation of the object while the object is at the initial attitude using a first tilt sensor of said sensors to create initial orientation information;
• passing fluid over the object;
• moving the object from the initial attitude to a subsequent attitude;
• measuring a subsequent orientation of the object while the object is at the subsequent attitude using a first orientation sensor of said sensors to create subsequent orientation information;
• and
• processing the initial orientation information and the subsequent orientation information using the processor to determine the resulting orientation of the object.

A system for determining a resulting orientation of an object comprising:

• a first tilt sensor configured for mounting on the object and measuring an initial orientation of the object to create initial object orientation information during operation of the system;
• a first orientation sensor configured for mounting on the object and measuring a subsequent orientation of the object to create subsequent orientation information during operation of the system;
• and
• a processor operatively connected to said first tilt sensor and said first orientation sensor for determining a resulting orientation of the object by processing said initial orientation information and said subsequent orientation information during operation of the system wherein said first orientation sensor measures object pitch and object roll and said system further comprises a second orientation sensor that is operatively connected to said processor and configured for mounting on the object for measuring object pitch and object yaw during operation of the system.