Description

The Great Planes Avistar 30cc is a commercially available radio model aircraft for advanced flight training and sport flying purposes. The aircraft comes partially pre-built is an "Almost-Ready-to-Fly" (ARF) form and has a balsa and plywood built-up structure that is very resilient. The aircraft is an approximately 150% larger version of the Avistar Elite (15cc) , which has often been used as a testbed aircraft for various research activities.

The Avistar 30cc is currently in development to conduct scaling studies flight test research. The airframe was constructed following manufacturer recommendations except for the propulsion system, where the internal combustion engine is replaced by an electric more. This motor system offers a near constant performance, increased reliability, and lower vibrations. Aircraft specifications can be found in Specifications .

The aircraft was instrumented with an Al Volo FC+DAQ flight control and data acquisition system. The system operates at 400 Hz and integrates with a 9 degree-of-freedom (9-DOF) XSens MTi-G-710 IMU with a GPS receiver. A pitot-static probe was be installed on left wing tip. The flight control commands were recorded by measuring the pulse width modulation (PWM) signals sent to the servos. The propulsion system information was logged by FC+DAQ through an interfaces with the Castle Creations ESC. Using the sensors, the system was able to log and transmit: 3D linear and angular accelerations, velocities, and position along with GPS location; pitot-static probe airspeed; 3D magnetic field strength and heading; control surface deflections; and motor voltage, current, RPM, and power. Specifications for the instrumentation can be found in Specifications .

Flight testing will be performed autonomously using the Flight Testing Automation Tool outlined in Dantsker, Yu, Vahora, and Caccamo 2019 under the direction a flight coordinator while being monitored by a safety pilot.