Flight Dynamics Modeling and Simulation of a Damaged Transport Aircraft

A study was undertaken at NASA Langley Research Center to establish, demonstrate, and apply methodology for modeling and implementing the aerodynamic effects of MANPADS damage to a transport aircraft into real-time flight simulation, and to demonstrate a preliminary capability of using such a simulation to conduct an assessment of aircraft survivability. Key findings from this study include: superpositioning of incremental aerodynamic characteristics to the baseline simulation aerodynamic model proved to be a simple and effective way of modeling damage effects; the primary effect of wing damage – rolling moment asymmetry – may limit minimum airspeed for adequate controllability, but this can be mitigated by the use of sideslip; combined effects of aerodynamics, control degradation, and thrust loss can result in s ignificantly degraded controllability for a safe landing; and high landing speeds may be required to maintain adequate control if large excursions from the nominal approach path are allowed, but high-gain pilot control during landing can mitigate this risk.