Category Archives: Uncategorized

The standard method of tracking the aircraft’s control positions as the pilot moves the controls for flight test instrumentation (FTI) purposes is to attach string potentiometers (string pots) to the control cables/rods. As the control cable/rod moves based on the … Continue reading →

This is an example of the data collected by my Homebrew FTI (Flight Test Instrumentation) system during a spin in an Extra-300. The control positions were tracked using a camera based tracking system that I developed and the output from the … Continue reading →

I first got involved in designing FTI equipment in 2008 when TFASA (Test Flying Academy of South Africa) asked me to design some FTI equipment to be used in a Hawker Hunter jet that they were using for a course … Continue reading →

Taking a look at the ground effect and the flare on landing performance using JSBSim to see it’s effect on the final sink rate and the change in airspeed. For this test I’m using the Boeing 737 model included with … Continue reading →

When an aircraft pitches up or down the tailplane rotates around the cg of the aircraft and this motion causes a change in the tailplane’s angle of attack, which generates a change in lift at the tailplane. This change in … Continue reading →

During a rocket launch the commentator will often call out “Max Q” at a specific point in time during the launch. This is the point at which the dynamic pressure acting on the rocket will be at it’s maximum. The … Continue reading →

In the mid 1980s while I was in high school my father bought me an Apple II, well actually a clone of an Apple II from Hong Kong. He had been a helicopter pilot in the air force and had … Continue reading →

The last reported location for MH-370 from Malaysian military radar is N6.6381 E96.408 at 18:22UTC. If we assume some maximum ground speed for the next 78 minutes until the 19:40UTC satellite ping then the intersection of the maximum aircraft range … Continue reading →

For each ping between the aircraft and the Inmarsat satellite we have the range/elevation angle between the satellite at that time (satellite is moving) and the aircraft and we have the Burst Frequency Offset (BFO) Doppler data. So the LOS … Continue reading →

I’ve used the tagging feature in the original Windows Vista Photo Gallery and the Windows Live Photo Gallery versions for tagging people in photos and the location of the photo. The latest version of Windows Live Photo Gallery now includes … Continue reading →