Glider Uncentered Drag Polar Estimation Based on Flight Manual Data

Abstract

Abstract: Gliders or sail planes are designed to fly as efficient as possible. Three parameters, namely: CL min, CD min, and e are the factors that determine the aerodynamic efficiency of a glider.This paper presents a method to estimate the value of the determining parameters by reconstructing the drag polar curve from a given hodograph. The drag polar curve is assumed to have an uncentered polar form, and the parameters are obtained using the genetic algorithm optimization tool from MATLAB. Five gliders are succesfully identified, and the results are in a good agreement with several references.The results can further be used as a reference in defining requirements and objectives (DR0s) of glider.Hal. 118-125: ilus.