{"id":{"repo_id":"byu","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-1386"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/byu/oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-1386","repository":{"repo_id":"byu","name":"Brigham Young University","base_url":"https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Flight Testing Small, Electric Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles","abstract":"Flight testing methods are developed to find the drag polar for small UAVs powered by electric motors with fixed-pitch propellers. Wind tunnel testing was used to characterize the propeller-motor efficiency. The drag polar was constructed using data from flight tests. The proposed methods were implemented for a small UAV. A drag polar was found for this aircraft with CDo equal to 0.021, K1 equal to 0.229, and K2 equal to -0.056. This drag polar was then used to find the following performance parameters; maximum velocity, minimum velocity, velocity for maximum range, velocity for maximum endurance, maximum rate of climb, maximum climb angle, minimum turn radius, maximum turn rate, and maximum bank angle. Applications in UAV control and mission planning are also proposed.","abstract_html":"Flight testing methods are developed to find the drag polar for small UAVs powered by electric motors with fixed-pitch propellers. Wind tunnel testing was used to characterize the propeller-motor efficiency. The drag polar was constructed using data from flight tests. The proposed methods were implemented for a small UAV. A drag polar was found for this aircraft with CDo equal to 0.021, K1 equal to 0.229, and K2 equal to -0.056. This drag polar was then used to find the following performance parameters; maximum velocity, minimum velocity, velocity for maximum range, velocity for maximum endurance, maximum rate of climb, maximum climb angle, minimum turn radius, maximum turn rate, and maximum bank angle. Applications in UAV control and mission planning are also proposed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ostler, Jon N."],"institution":"Brigham Young University - Provo","degree_name":"MS","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:27:43Z","subjects":["performance","flight test","flight testing","drag polar","UAV","small","electric powered","electric","unmanned","uninhabited","Mechanical Engineering"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/387","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ostler, Jon N."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2006-03-17T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Brigham Young University - Provo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["performance","flight test","flight testing","drag polar","UAV","small","electric powered","electric","unmanned","uninhabited","Mechanical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/387","https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/1386/viewcontent/ETD_CISOPTR_607.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Flight testing methods are developed to find the drag polar for small UAVs powered by electric motors with fixed-pitch propellers. Wind tunnel testing was used to characterize the propeller-motor efficiency. The drag polar was constructed using data from flight tests. The proposed methods were implemented for a small UAV. A drag polar was found for this aircraft with CDo equal to 0.021, K1 equal to 0.229, and K2 equal to -0.056. This drag polar was then used to find the following performance parameters; maximum velocity, minimum velocity, velocity for maximum range, velocity for maximum endurance, maximum rate of climb, maximum climb angle, minimum turn radius, maximum turn rate, and maximum bank angle. Applications in UAV control and mission planning are also proposed."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application:pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Brigham Young University - Provo"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Flight Testing Small, Electric Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Ostler, Jon N."],"dc:date":["2006-03-17T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology; Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:description.abstract":["Flight testing methods are developed to find the drag polar for small UAVs powered by electric motors with fixed-pitch propellers. Wind tunnel testing was used to characterize the propeller-motor efficiency. The drag polar was constructed using data from flight tests. The proposed methods were implemented for a small UAV. A drag polar was found for this aircraft with CDo equal to 0.021, K1 equal to 0.229, and K2 equal to -0.056. This drag polar was then used to find the following performance parameters; maximum velocity, minimum velocity, velocity for maximum range, velocity for maximum endurance, maximum rate of climb, maximum climb angle, minimum turn radius, maximum turn rate, and maximum bank angle. Applications in UAV control and mission planning are also proposed."],"dc:format":["application:pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/387","https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/1386/viewcontent/ETD_CISOPTR_607.pdf"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["Brigham Young University - Provo"],"dc:source":["Brigham Young University - Provo"],"dc:subject":["performance","flight test","flight testing","drag polar","UAV","small","electric powered","electric","unmanned","uninhabited","Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:title":["Flight Testing Small, Electric Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:27:43Z"}