Determining a free flight performance surface by mathematical optimization techniques utilizing an air speed indicator, MEMS inertial sensors and a variomete

Abstract

Paragliding is unpowered flight in which pilots rely on their ability to navigate rising currents of air to remain airborne. Paraglider flight performance is an important measure of the capabilities of a particular design of a canopy. Most often, the performance characteristics of a canopy are measured as horizontal velocity vs. vertical velocity for steady state flight in still air. The performance curve created using this approach neglects to take into account the effect which turning has on flight. In contrast, the performance surface created from the research carried out in this paper demonstrates the effect of turning on canopy flight; such a representation of performance is novel to the authors' knowledge. To produce this surface, a flight was conducted in which a paraglider's performance was measured for various steady state velocities and turning rates; the data were then analyzed utilizing mathematical optimization after appropriate calibration corrections were applied.