One of the tried and true tools for flight testing is to tape small strips of yarn to a flying surface, in this case the horizontal and vertical tail structure. The GoPro cameras record video of the test, and allow you to play it back and check the airflow based on the yarn movements. Straight yarn means straight airflows, and yarn that is yanking from side to side or up and down would indicate turbulent airflow. Since this is a video of a video, you, unfortunately, can’t clearly see the yarn on these tail surfaces but it is staying straight. The yarn of the tail boom is in the turbulent air created by the GoPro camera itself and was expected to behave this way. So we can check another box on the list of items of our test program!
ANALYSIS OF AIRFLOW IN FLIGHT TESTING – August 10, 2022
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