Minimum Time Turns with Direct Sideforce.

Abstract : The objective of the study is to find the optimal trajectories and corresponding minimum turning times for a high performance aircraft with and without direct sideforce to perform a prescribed turn. These trajectories and times are then compared to evaluate the benefit of direct sideforce. Optimal control theory is applied to solve the minimum time to turn optimal control problem using a suboptimal control problem approach and a second order parameter optimization method. The results indicate that the use of direct sideforce is beneficial in reducing turning time. In addition, the use of sideforce causes a small loss of energy for initial velocities lower and much higher than the corner velocity. (Author)