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ANZIAM J. 47(EMAC2005) pp.C615--C632, 2007.

A model of an aircraft towing a cable-body system

C. K. H. Chin

R. L. May

(Received 2 November 2005; revised 31 January 2007)

Abstract

We integrate together a model of an aircraft with a model of a body being towed by a thin elastic cable. The model of the towed body allows for either payout or retrieval of the cable. Both the aircraft and towed body are modelled as rigid bodies having six degrees of freedom. All aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the bodies are approximated linearly and so are expressed in terms of stability coefficients. A variable time step was employed for the aircraft model and a fixed time step was used for the towed body model; the integrated model retains this feature. Results of simulated flights are presented for both a Cessna and a Boeing 747 towing a Hayes TRX-12 target.

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Authors

C. K. H. Chin

Department of Maritime Engineering, Australian Maritime College, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia. mailto:c.chin@amc.edu.au

R. L. May

School of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. mailto:rob@rmit.edu.au

Published April 9, 2007. ISSN 1446-8735

References

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2. Burden, R. L. and Faires, J. D., Numerical Analysis, Seventh edition, Brooks--Cole, 2001.
3. Chin, C. K. H., May, R. L. and Connell, H. J., Numercial Simulation of the Manoeuvring of an Aircraft, Proceedings of the Fourth Biennial Engineering Mathematics and Applications Conference, editors May, R. L., Fitz--Gerald, G. F. & Grundy, I. H., The Institution of Engineers, Australia, pp. 91--94, 2000.
4. Chin, C. K. H., May, R. L. and Connell, H. J., A Numercial Model of a Towed Cable--Body System, The Anziam Journal, Vol. 42 Electronic Supplement, pp. C362--C384, 2000. http://anziamj.austms.org.au/V42/CTAC99/Chin
5. Cochran, J. E. Jr., Innocenti, M., No, T. S. & Thukral, A., Dynamics and Control of Maneuverable Towed Flight Vehicles, Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 1245--1252, 1992.
6. Roskam, J., Airplane flight dynamics and automatic flight controls, Roskam Aviation and Engineering Corp, 1982.
7. Wingham, P. J. and Ireland, B., The dynamic behaviour of towed airborne and underwater body-cable systems, Advances in Underwater Technology, Ocean Science and Offshore Engineering, Vol. 15, 1988.