Airplane aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is of course one of the main item of airplane design. The knowledge of the aerodynamic loads acting on the airplane allow to know the flight behavior and the required power.

The aeronautical test chamber of GVPM is a medium size chamber suitable for many kind of tests related the low Mach flight conditions. The chamber size is optimal for testing with complete airplane model of 2-3 m span allowing a good reproduction of airplane geometry and details.

The most classical tests are force and moment measurements at different Angle of attack and side-slip. GVPM can provide different internal balances to fit the internal room and the class of loads of the different models. Beside the main balance measuring the whole airplane loads, additional smaller balances allow for partial measurements as, for example, tail loads.

Pressures measurements on the airplane surface can help to better understand the phenomena and provide comparison data for CFD V&V.

Other kind of experiments in the fields of aeronautics can be carried out at GVPM and, in particular, a wide experience has been achieved in air-intake testing.