AIAA 2016-0041

AIAA SciTech
4-8 January 2016, San Diego, California, USA
54th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting

High lift INflight VAlidation (HINVA) - Overview about the 2nd

Flight Test Campaign
R. Rudnik1
DLR, German Aerospace Center, 38108 Braunschweig, Germany

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D. Schwetzler2
Airbus Operations, 28199 Bremen, Germany

The objective of the joint research project HINVA is to significantly enhance the accuracy and reliability of the prediction and assessment of the aerodynamic performance
of civil aircraft with deployed high lift devices. To achieve this goal, the most advanced
numerical and experimental simulation methods currently in industrial use are to be validated against dedicated flight test data focusing on the maximum lift regime. DLRs
flight test aircraft Airbus A320-200 ATRA serves as a common configurative basis. The
flight test data are to be compared against prediction methods for aerodynamic high lift
performance, that is high Re-No cryogenic wind tunnel testing in the European transonic
Windtunnel ETW, and numerical simulation based on DLRs TAU code. Within the high
lift regime, the focus is laid on the determination of maximum lift and the corresponding
angle of attack. Accordingly, the reference device setting corresponds to the landing configuration. A core element of the project is the generation of a dedicated fully harmonized validation database consisting of wind tunnel and corresponding flight test data.
Utilizing the unique advantages of all three methods in a synergetic way is regarded as a
basis for an improved determination of flight performance and the dominant aerodynamic phenomena in the maximum lift regime for such type of aircraft. The findings are
feeding a simulation strategy for the use and application of numerical tools as well as
wind tunnel testing to determine maximum lift parameters within accuracy margins set
by the industrial high lift design process. The project is subdivided into three main
workpackages: ATRA flight test, ETW wind tunnel test, and CFD simulations. The present contribution concentrates on the flight test activities in workpackage 1. A first flight
test campaign, carried out in summer 2012 at Airbus in Toulouse, has provided pressure
measurements, transitions locations, wing deformations measurements, as well as flow
visualization using flow cones. The focus of the investigations presented here is linked to
the second flight test campaign on the ATRA, which has been completed in the spring of
2015 in Braunschweig, Germany. While the first flight test campaign in 2012 has provided basically surface data, the second campaign has been scheduled to provide complementary off-body data. The preparation of the flight test campaign, the set-up for the
flight test instrumentation and exemplary results of the second flight test campaign are
described.

A
b
BLR
BLM
Cp
CL
CD
c
FTI
F/T
HS
h

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

reference area
wing span
Boundary Layer Rake
Boundary Layer Measurement
pressure coefficient
total lift coefficient
total drag coefficient
chord length
Flight Test Instrumentation
Flight Test
Horizontal stabilizer
height

Nomenclature
greek symbols

= angle of attack
max
= angle of attack of CL,max
f
= flap deflection angle
s
= slat deflection angle

= aspect ratio

= taper ratio

subscripts
ail
= aileron

Head Transport Aircraft Branch, Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology,

Lilienthalplatz 7, 38112, Braunschweig, Germany, Member AIAA.
2
Expert, Low Speed Performance Aerodynamic Modelling, Airbus Operations,
Airbus-Allee 1, 28199 Bremen, Germany.

Copyright 2015 by Ralf Rudnik. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission.

M
PIV
Re
s
T
TBLP
VS
WSS
w

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=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

Mach number
Particle Image Velocimetry
Reynolds number based on cref
half span
temperature
Traversing Boundary Layer Probe
Vertical stabilizer
Wall Shear Stress
width

f
fu
max
ref
s

=
=
=
=
=
=

flap
fuselage
maximum of a specific quantity
reference quantity
slat
free stream value

I. Introduction

he collaborative project HINVA1 (High Lift InFlight Validation) has started in 2010 under the coordination
of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Braunschweig to improve the methodological capabilities to
predict aerodynamic maximum lift characteristics on commercial aircraft in the low speed flight regime. Building up on preceding projects that were based on CFD studies and wind tunnel testing, such as Ref. 2, 3 and 4, the
inclusion of dedicated flight testing has been regarded as a key element for the required further improvement of
accuracy and reliability. With numerical studies5 and flight Reynolds number wind tunnel testing6,7 playing a
prominent role in the project, the most important and at the same time challenging part of the HINVA project is
the generation of a comprehensive and reliable flight test database to achieve an often requested higher level of
fidelity in high-lift simulation. This is to be used for even more optimized high lift systems to thus allow more
economically and ecologically efficient aircraft designs. This objective is to be reached by a synergetic and carefully adjusted combination of all three considered methods, i.e. flight testing, wind tunnel testing, and CFD
simulations in one single project. Previous validation projects such as EUROLIFT [2] have clearly shown the
benefits of integrating the generation of experimental validation data and their use in one project in order to
guarantee a proper and common understanding of the requirements and drawbacks of the single methods and
enable a detailed scrutinizing of the generated datasets by the involved experts for the single methods. The main
requirements towards aerodynamic data for the validation of CFD methods and the comparison to ETW wind
tunnel data have been identified as the following:
a) Aerodynamic forces in the linear (stabilized angels of attack) and nonlinear lift range (stall maneuver).
b) Deformation effects of the overall wing and the deployed high-lift devices.
c) Surface flow measurements including high resolution surface pressures over the full wing span and at the
horizontal tailplane.
d) Transition measurements at leading edge areas of the single elements of the high lift wing.
e) Aerial flow visualization for flow direction and separation detection.
f) Skin friction measurements at areas which are prone to flow separation.
g) Off-surface measurements to record boundary layer profiles, confluence, and extent of separation normal
to the surface, as well as vortex structures and velocity fields.
h) Exact flight conditions, aircraft attitude and position and information about the flight dynamics behavior for
the nonlinear range and its limitations.
The availability of a consistent dataset comprising such experimental evidence is regarded as a prerequisite to
allow for a correct modeling of the (deformed) aircraft in flight by CFD and during wind tunnel testing. Due to
the complexity, the amount of FTI, and resulting differing, partly contradictory requirements, the flight test effort
has been subdivided into two main flight test campaigns. With the first flight test campaign, conducted in 2012
at Airbus flight test center in Toulouse, France, the aspects according to a) through e) and h) have been successfully covered8. The second flight test campaign, which is subject of the present contribution, took place in spring
of 2015 and has been devoted to cover aspects f) and g).
It appears mandatory to have a common configurative base for this comprehensive validation exercise. For
the HINVA project, DLRs Airbus A320-232 ATRA flight test aircraft, see Figure 1, is selected for this purpose.
As outlined before, the technical objective of the project is the reliable determination of maximum lift and the
angle of attack at which it is reached. In certification flight tests, the maximum lift performance of the aircraft is
determined by flying defined stall maneuvers. With respect to the aerodynamic layout of the high lift system, the
attainable maximum lift coefficient is of special relevance for the landing configuration. But also the maximum
lift coefficient of the cruise configuration in low speed high lift conditions is of relevance for the aircraft certification. With the high lift devices retracted, this configuration represents a geometrically less complex configuration characterized by a different type of stall and separation onset. Thus, it is a valuable alternative configuration
to benchmark the numerical capabilities, and is therefore also scheduled to be investigated in the project. Concerning flight testing, the cruise configuration has been considered in the first flight test campaign, only. The
reason is that many of the off-body effects, such as the generation and interaction of longitudinal vortices, vortex
shedding at edges of deployed high lift devices, the engine nacelle and strakes, and the interaction of free shear
flows of upstream high lift elements with boundary layer flows on downstream elements are either not present
with the high lift devices retracted or occur at different locations. Therefore, the second flight test campaign and

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its instrumentation have been tailored to address and measure relevant aerodynamic phenomena of the aircraft
with devices in landing configuration. According to the design perspective, the requirements on the deviation of
the maximum lift determination with CFD-methods and in the wind tunnel experiment can be quantified to be
smaller than 2% for CL,max and max . It is a common understanding of the HINVA project that a thorough validation and assessment of the predictive capabilities of the methods in use requires more than just analyzing deviations of the predicted overall performance values to flight test data. Therefore, a detailed evaluation of surface
and flowfield data and their generation is regarded as an essential complementary aspect.

Figure 1. DLR ATRA test aircraft Airbus A320-200 with installed FTI for HINVA F/T 2
Both simulation methods and the related tests take static aeroelastic deformation of the high lift wing into account. For the numerical approach, this will be accomplished by a coupled fluid-structural interaction approach9,
for the experimental studies the deformation behavior will be measured in the wind tunnel and during the flight
tests. In addition, the influence of the stall maneuver is studied by a corresponding numerical simulation of a
guided stall maneuver including static aeroelastic effects, which has been neglected in the past when comparing
to flight test data. While the effects of deformation and the weakly unsteady stall maneuver are not expected to
cause major deviations of the performance data, the project philosophy is to address as much as possible of the
single potential influencing factors for the determination of the maximum lift coefficient and to quantify their
respective impact in order to finally come-up with a complete picture of the simulation strategies, their deficiencies and areas of improvement.
The approach outlined above is reflected in the project structure. Four main workpackages have beem established:
-

Workpackage WP 1:

ATRA Flight Testing

Workpackage WP 2:

Wind tunnel Testing in ETW

Workpackage WP 3:

Numerical Simulation

Workpackage WP 4:

Simulation Strategy

With the project ending in 2015, all major milestones featuring two flight test campaigns and a wind tunnel
test using a newly built dedicated cryogenic A320 model10 in the European Transonic Windtunnel, ETW, in
Cologne have been meanwhile successfully completed. A large amount of numerical studies, either preparing the
experimental investigations or serving as a reference for the CFD validation has been carried out in parallel.
Experimental and numerical results support the generation of a simulation strategy for maximum lift determination.
The present contribution focusses on the second flight test campaign, which is linked to workpackage 1. After an overview of the general approach for the flight testing, the set-up and selected results of the flight test
techniques in use will be presented.

II. Aircraft Configuration

For all experimental and numerical activities in HINVA, an Airbus A320-200 has been selected as a baseline
configuration. It represents a single-aisle twin-jet short-to-medium range commercial airliner. The specific version of the aircraft is given by the fact that DLRs Advanced Technology Research Aircraft ATRA is used for
the flight test campaigns. The ATRA test aircraft is an Airbus A320-232, equipped with IAE V2527-A5 turbofan
engines. The main aircraft dimensions are listed in Table 1. As can be seen in Figure 1, this type of engine is
featuring a long-cowl nacelle with internal mixing of primary and secondary airflows, whereas the alternative

engine option, CFM International CFM 56-5A/B, has a short cowl nacelle with external mixing of the airflows.
The engine has a moderate bypass ratio of 4.8. The maximum take-off weight amounts to 75.5 tons. The main
outer dimensions of the engine are also listed in Table 1:
Table 1: Main dimensions of Airbus A320-232 aircraft
[m]
34,10
fuselage length, l fu

wing span, b = 2s

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wing reference area,

37.57

[m]

3.95

[m]

11.76

[m]

11.51

[m ]

122,4

reference chord, cref

[m]

4.19

aspect ratio,

[-]

9.4

taper ratio,

[-]

0.246

overall engine length, leng

[m]

3.20
1.68

fuselage width, w fu
fuselage height, hfu (abv.
ground)
distance between engine axes

[m]

chord sweep, 25

[]

25

engine width, weng

[m]

horizontal stabilizer width, wHS

[m]

12,45

vertical stabilizer height, hVS

[m]

5.87

Details of the high lift system for the Airbus A320 are described in Ref.11. For the flight tests in the second
flight test campaign, the configuration full has been investigated, exclusively. The corresponding deflection
angles of the high lift devices are s = 27 for the slat and f = 40 for the trailing edge flap, respectively. The
ailerons are drooped by ail = 5. For all of the second flight test campaign, the ATRA aircraft has been equipped
with a so-called lift improvement package (LIP), which is intended to increase the maximum lift capabilities for
special field requirements. Main features of the LIP are an enlarged slat horn and an additional outboard strake
on the nacelle.

III. Set-Up of the ATRA Flight Testing Campaigns

The flight test activities are assigned to Workpackage 1 of the HINVA project. In total, two flight test campaigns have been scheduled. This is reflected in the workpackage structure with three tasks:
- Task 1.1:

Flight Test F/T 1

- Task 1.2:

Flight Test F/T 2

- Task 1.3:

Analysis and Refurbishment of F/T Data

The first one took place at the Airbus flight test center in Toulouse, France, in 2012, while the second one has
been carried out at DLRs flight test center in Braunschweig, Germany. The first test campaign has been set-up
to provide a baseline set of flight test data, covering aerodynamic force, surface pressure data, transition locations in two sections, flow visualization information, and last but not least deformation information of the main
wing and also of the deployed devices. The tests have been carried out test-flying the landing as well as the
cruise configuration. Flow conditions cover stabilized point, preferably at high angles of attack as well as stabilized points at various altitudes ranging from 8.000 ft. up to 20.000 ft. Details are given in Ref. 8.
While the first flight test campaign has provided a comprehensive data base, it featured widely matured inflight measurement techniques. The focus of the second flight test campaign is to deliver complementary offsurface data for selected most relevant flight conditions while focusing on more advanced flight test techniques.
The data of both flight test campaigns are then analyzed and compared to exiting information in Task 1.3.

IV. 2015 Flight Test Campaign, F/T 2

The flight test campaign took place in the first quarter of 2015 at the DLR center in Braunschweig. Due to
the necessity to separate certain parts of the FTI in order to prevent spurious interference for the external installation and completely differing weather requirements, the second flight test campaign (F/T 2) has been split-up in
two parts.
The first part, designated as F/T 2-1 and conducted in January 2015, concentrated on In-flight PIV measurements to deliver aerial velocity information in a selected cross section. The area of observation has been above
the midboard fixed wing downstream of the engines. The objective is to observe the formation and interaction of
nacelle and strake vortices with the fixed wing boundary layer. In this campaign, stabilized flight conditions up
to high angles of attack of about = 15 at altitudes between 10.000 ft. and 19.000 ft. have been tested.
After the refurbishment of the aircraft cabin and exterior, the FTI for the second part of the second flight test
campaign, F/T 2-2, has been mounted. For F/T 2-2 taking place in March 2015, the following measurement
techniques are schedule to be implemented:
Skin friction measurements on wing and flap surface
Boundary layer rake measurements to determine steady off-body velocities

 Traversing boundary layer probes to determine unsteady off-body velocities

For these tests, a mix of stall maneuvers and tests at stabilized points has been scheduled for the aircraft at
heavy weight close to 70 to.. Stall maneuvers have been carried out at 10.000 and 19.000 ft, while stabilized
angles of attack have been flight tested at 10.000 ft., 16.000 ft., and 19.000 ft., respectively.

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V. 2015 Flight Test Campaign, 1st Part (F/T 2-1)

A. In-Flight PIV
Based on preceding studies in the fuselage boundary layer of a turboprop aircraft12, the In-flight PIV system of
DLR in Gttingen has been further matured to be applied for the first time on a large jet powered aircraft.
The PIV system consists of a high energy light source with light sheet optics to expand and align the laser
beam, cameras, and a sequencer for synchronization. A double pulse laser system with high output energy is
required. Hence, each PIV Laser consists of two single Laser heads, whose laser beams are superimposed with
the help of combining optics. For the In-flight PIV tests, a CFR 400-system is used featuring a solid state laser
with an Nd/YAG crystal. It provides monochromatic green light, which is coherent and collimated. A dedicated
cooling system is required to operate the laser unit.
Four so-called pco.edge high resolution cameras with PIV abilities manufactured by PCO have been used for
the tests within HINVA. They provide a resolution of 5.5 megapixels (2560 x 2160 pixels) with a dynamic range
of 16 bit and a scientific CMOS sensor. Figure 2 shows the set-up of the cameras and the laser system inside the
cabin after installation.

Figure 2. Cabin installation of cameras and laser during F/T 2-1 and experimental window (right)
The cameras and the laser unit are mounted on a support system that has proven to allow a precise and sufficiently stiff alignment of the cameras during the first flight test campaign in 2012. The right hand side of Figure
2 depicts a so-called experimental window that has been designed and manufactured by DLR to serve as a frame
for exchangeable glass inserts with specified optical properties. For the use in front of the laser unit, a borofloat
glass insert has been used. As can also be seen in Figure 2, all interior scratch windows have been removed at
those windows that serve as optical access for cameras or laser to ensure a high optical quality. Moreover, the
external windows have been replaced by new ones prior to the flight.

Figure 3. Cabin installation of cameras and laser during F/T 2-1 and experimental window (right)

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In order to prevent reflection, the starboard wing has been coated by non-reflecting black foils in all areas that
might be affected by the laser sheet. Fig. 3 shows the foil and the green laser sheet during a preparatory ground
test in the hangar at DLR in Braunschweig.
The main objective of the PIV tests has been to measure the aerodynamic interference of nacelle and strake
vortices with the boundary layer of the fixed wing. Together with the wing root area of the wing, the region
downstream of the engine is decisive for the stall of a conventional twin jet airliner. A suited observation area
and the corresponding camera set-up are sketched in Figure 4. The location, extension, and resolution of the
observation area have been defined based on accompanying CFD calculations of the full configuration. For this
purpose the full angle of attack range of interest had to be evaluated, as the formation and, most of all, the location of the single vortices is changing with angle of attack.

Figure 4. Observation area (green) and cameras views of the PIV-system during F/T 2-1
Various sorts of tracer particles are feasible. In wind tunnel tests, artificial seeding can be used, e.g. by smoke
generators. The advantage of this approach is to have control about the seeding in terms of particle size and density. Basically, this approach is feasible for flight testing, too, but would require the installation of a smoke generation system. Such systems, typically installed in wing pods, have been successfully used in flight testing, e.g.
for wake vortex studies in the past. Yet, according to the concept of the project, an external pod would have an
impact on the high lift performance of the aircraft, as it changes the baseline configuration depending on the
conceivable mounting positions. For the present choice of the area of observation, this would mean a mounting
either at the pylon or on the engine cowling, which is unacceptable from an aerodynamic point of view. Therefore, the most viable approach for the seeding is the utilization of natural particles in the atmosphere, preferably
cloud droplets.
Yet, this poses a number of challenges for the planning and execution of the flight tests. On the one hand side,
clouds with a suitable droplet size have to be identified. The term suitable refers to the fact that the droplets
have to be large enough and in sufficient density to be well observable by the camera system. At the same time,
the droplets should not be not too large in order not to influence the measurements of the velocities by their own
inertia forces. On the other hand, representing a third challenge, the baseline requirement for all performance
flight testing in HINVA has been to avoid any large scale turbulence effects that might affect the overall aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. This means typically to avoid any clouds, at all. All this had to be fulfilled in
a specified temporarily reserved test range (TRA) over norther Germany for a given time of the year, in the present case in January. Of course icing conditions had to be avoided, too. Facing this set of requirements led to the
fact, that the In-Flight PIV testing has been regarded as a feasibility study in the project planning.
The laser installation and operation has to be done according to the JAR 25.1309 rules for safe laser operation
inside airspace leading to some further implications for the experimental and cockpit crew. Moreover, the flights
had to be scheduled to take place at night for optimum optical properties. Together with the high angles of attack, this has posed a certain challenge to the cockpit crew.
Concerning flight conditions, the search for suitable atmospheric scenarios has been carried out at flight levels
of FL 100, FL150 160, and FL190. Only stabilized points have been targeted for angles of attack of = 5,
10, 12.5, and 15.
In addition to the quantitative determination of flow velocities in a cross flow plane, the In-Flight PIV cameras
can also be used for flow visualization. Figure 5 shows such type of result for the highest investigated angle of
attack at FL 100. The green laser light allows to identify different vortices as they pass through the observation
area if sufficient moisture is present. The picture is taken from the front cameras looking on the starboard wing.
The wingtip can be seen in the upper left part of the photograph and might serve for orientation.

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The main phenomena visible in the picture are the outboard strake vortex, which is part of the lift improvement
package. It has been mounted on the ATRA during the 2012 flight test campaign and is now part of the baseline
test configuration as it provides a certain safety margin for modifications of the high lift system. The outboard
strake vortex is rotating clockwise in the view of the photograph and appears rather confined.

Figure 5. Strake vortex traces above the fixed wing in the observation area, F/T 2-1 [13]
On the right hand side of the picture, the inboard strake vortex is visible. It has nearly twice the size and less
confined boundaries. The assignment of the various vortices in the picture has been carried out by comparing to
corresponding visualization of CFD computations that have been carried out by DLR to support the interpretations. These computations also revealed that the small vortex type of phenomenon which can be identified outboard of the outboard strake vortex, is generated by a slat track upstream of the area of observation. The illuminated device between slat track vortex and outboard strake vortex is a hinge point that is installed on the main
wing to support aircraft maintenance.
These results are at present further evaluated to provide finally instantaneous and averaged vector plots of the
local velocity field. Figure 6 shows a first example of such type of evaluation.

Figure 6. Velocity field above the wing suction side downstream of the engine position, F/T 2-1 [13]
The result proves that the In-Flight PIV flight test is delivering quantifiable results and insofar the feasibility
study might be regarded as successful. Yet, careful analysis of the experimental data is necessary to determine
the droplet size and identify spurious impacts of too large droplets. Once this is done, the results can be used for
the validation and maturation of CFD codes as indented with the HINVA project. Besides this, the flights tests
have helped to improve the understanding of the capabilities of natural seeding for PIV measurements in flight.

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VI. 2015 Flight Test Campaign, 2nd Part (F/T 2-2)

The second part of second flight test campaign requires a completely different external and cabin installation.
In contrast to the In-Flight PIV set-up, both wings have been equipped with FTI and in this case all measurement
techniques are intrusive. The main objective is to measure boundary layer information. Thus, for FT 2-2 two
different approaches have been devoted to the measurement of velocity profiles normal to the aerodynamic surfaces of the fixed wing and the flap. Again, complementary information is pursued also for the velocity measurements in terms of FTI itself and the locations of the measurements. Fixed boundary layer rakes have been
selected as one FTI approach to provide steady velocity data, while for the other one unsteady velocity measurements are carried out by a single sensor which is mounted on lever that traverses through the boundary layer.
The velocity data are complemented by skin friction measurements at selected region of the fixed wing and the
trailing edge flap.
The flight conditions have been chosen to match those of the 2012 flight test campaign with the full configuration and installed LIP in order to generate complimentary information to the 2012 test campaign. Accordingly,
a ramp weight of the test aircraft of approximately 70 to is realized. A combination of stabilized flight points and
stall maneuvers has been flight tested at FL 100 and FL190. For the stabilized points, angles of attack of = 5,
10, 15 and max -5 have been scheduled. Concerning the stall maneuvers, 10 repeats have been flown in order
to allow also the traversing boundary layer probe to record velocity data the in the boundary layer at fixed
heights above the surface.
A. Skin friction measurements using DSHW probes
The FTI for the skin friction measurements has been developed, designed, and installed by the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (ILR) of the Technical University Berlin. Skin friction is determined as wall shear
stress via so-called Delta Surface Hot Films (abbr. DSHF).
The measurement principle is based on local wall shear stress detection using surface hot wire or hot film anemometry14. The objective is to gather information about the magnitude as well as the direction of the local wall
shear stress. The surface hot wire anemometry is a thermoelectric measurement method for near-wall boundary
layer velocities. It is based on the correlation between the convective heat transfer of a thin electrically heated
metallic element and the electrical heat output needed to keep its temperature and resistance constant using a
Wheatstone measuring bridge (constant temperature anemometer CTA).
The hot-wire is a platinum coated tungsten wire with a diameter of 5m; the standard length is 1.5mm to 2mm.
Figure depicts a standard delta surface hot-wire probe to measure the wall shear stress (magnitude and direction), as developed at TU-Berlin16. The probe consists of three surface hot-wires which are arranged in the shape
of a triangle, thus, called delta probe. The main dimensions of the delta probe are about 5mm in width and
height excluding the electrical contact areas for each surface hot-wire.

1.5mm

Figure 7: Delta surface hot-wire probe (hot-wires highlighted as dashed lines)

Due to the fact that the hot wire measurement technique and the hot film measurement technique are based on
the same physical concept, commercially available hot films have been used instead of hot wires for the HINVA
flight test F/T 2-2 to form the sensing delta probe. In total, 75 single hot wire elements have been used distributed on 25 DSHF-probes. The probes need to be calibrated rotatory using a proper calibration device as well as a
proper reference measurement technique, which was developed at TU-Berlin. For in-situ calibration of the
DSHF, so-called Computational Preston Tube Method (CPM3) sensors are used. In order to determine the local

wall shear stress, CPM3-probes are placed in areas of interest on the aircraft wing. These probes are made of
three single Preston tubes which have different diameters. Each Preston tube provides an impact pressure corresponding to the wall distance which is nearly half the tubes diameter. Taking into account the corresponding
static pressure value, the local velocities can be calculated. Using these velocity information, the van-Driest law,
allows to calculate the local wall shear stress and the corresponding theoretically boundary layer profile. As the
CPM3-probes are based on pressure information, they have been linked to the FTI block addressing differential
pressure measurements. Moreover, each CPM3 probe is equipped with a temperature sensor to calculate the local
density. Nine CPM3 sensors have been placed close to the DSHF-probes.

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The selection of suitable location of the installation is supported by CFD computations of DLR. Figure 8
sketches locations of the sensors on the port wing.

Figure 8. Location of the sensors for wall stress measurements for F/T 2-2
Basically, the DSHF sensors are placed in line-of-flight in two sections of the wing and flap, as well as parallel
to the fixed wings trailing edge. For the inboard group of sensors (WSS1), an area has been selected that is
prone to flow separation at high angles of attack and at stall conditions. The outboard section addresses a high
lift section with a flow situation that is widely undisturbed by engine installation or end effects.
The evaluation of the skin friction measurements is currently ongoing at TU-Berlin.
B. Steady velocity measurements using boundary layer rakes (BLR)
The velocity measurements as carried out by the Technical University of Berlin utilize classical boundary layer
rakes on the port wing. In order to gather information about the local boundary layer profile, differential pressure
measurements are made. Instead of the oftentimes used stacked Pitot tubes, so called Conrad probes are used by
the TU-Berlin. As a result, the magnitude and the direction of the velocity profile can be determined, which is
advantageous for the present flow situation on a high lift swept wing with boundary layer profiles composed of
flow normal to the leading edge and crossflow components.
The Conrad probes are made of two chamfered Pitot tubes with the tips of the two tubes forming a triangle.
This construction allows the determination of the spatial impact pressure by value and direction within an angular range of 15. Using the local static pressure measured by a single Pitot tube, the boundary layers velocity profile can be calculated. The Conrad probes and the Pitot tube are made of stainless steel tubes having an
outer diameter of 1mm. The total pressure at different wall distances as well as the incident angle of the flow
correlates with the sum and the margin of both ventricular pressures using a calibration.
The Conrad and Pitot probes are integrated into streamlined rakes. Each rake is equipped with a RTD temperature sensor in order to calculate the local density. Figure 9 shows an example of a rake used in FT 2-2. The
height of the rakes is adjusted to the expected local boundary layer height and profile. For this purpose velocity
profiles have been computed by CFD for the angles of attack under consideration and evaluated accordingly. The
spacing of the Conrad probes normal to the wall is also adapted to best resolve the features of the local boundary
layer profiles. In total, four boundary layer rakes have been used. Their overall extension normal to the wall
ranges from 140 mm to 350 mm. The number of Conrad probes varies for each rake between 11 und 25 probes.

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Figure 9. Boundary layer rake concept of the TU-Berlin [17].

The position of the 4 rakes designated as BLR #1 to BLR #4 is depicted in Figure 10. In contrast to the alternative velocity measurement as described in chapter C, the boundary layer rakes allow to measure comparatively
thick boundary layers. Therefore, this concept of velocity measurement has been placed predominantly in the
area of the trailing edge of the fixed wing and the trailing edge flap. BLR #1 and #3 are located on the inboard
and outboard trailing edge flap, BLR #2 and #4 are located on the fixed wing at different spanwise and chordwise positons. BLR #2 is placed at the D-Nose in order to provide velocity information that can to a certain extent be compared to the unsteady velocity measurements described in chapter C. BLR #3 is slightly shifted outboards to prevent interference with the wake of BLR #2. All rakes are placed at locations where no flow separation is expected as this would be inconsistent with the measurement concept of the Conrad probes, specifically
with the limited range of flow inclination.

Figure 10. Location of the boundary layer rakes sensors of TU-Berlin for F/T 2-2
Each rake is aligned carefully to the local flow based on CFD computations in order not to exceed the given
range of flow incidences. Figure 11 shows BLR #1 installed on the trailing edge flap in the inboard part of the
wing. The wiring is covered by Aluminium tape in order to minimize flow disturbances. In front of the rake on
the fixed wing, the installed DSHF-sensors WSS 1 are visible, as well as the CPM 3 module.
The boundary layer rakes as well as the CPM-3 modules are connected to DLRs pressure measurement system
by pressure tubes routed on the wing and to pressure transducers in the aft part of the wing (cove). The electrical
signals are then sent by a special wiring into the pressure racks in the cabin.

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Figure 11. BLR #1 and DSHF installation on the ATRA on inboard part of the port wing.
Figure 12 depicts the FTI installed on the port wing during flight in order to provide an impression of the dimensions of the rakes. The rakes are painted orange in order to be clearly visible.

Figure 12. BLR installation on the ATRA on the port wing (right hand side of the picture) during flight.
Figure 13 shows velocity profiles recorded at BLR #2 as an example for the test results. BLR #2 has been installed outboard of the engine at the D-nose. Corresponding to its upstream position and the boundary layer
thickness, it represents the smallest of the four rakes. It is equipped with 11 Conrad sensors.
The boundary layer profiles are decomposed into a tangential velocity vt and a lateral velocity vl. The orientation of the velocities is explained by corresponding coordinate systems in the plot. The measured velocities are
normalized by the local velocity at the boundary layer edge. In the third plot the resulting flow incidence is plotted normal to the surface. In the lower part of Figure 13, the angles of attack are indicted in the timeline of the
stall maneuver. In total, 4 angles of attack are evaluated in the linear lift range up to the angle of attack max at
which the maximum lift coefficient is obtained. The position of the single sensors is given by the symbols in the
boundary layer profiles.
The wake of the slat can be identified at about 40% of the rake height in the tangential velocity profile. While
there is no significant variation in the profiles for the lower angles of attack, a clear loss of tangential velocity is
observed for max. This is not reflected by the profiles for the lateral velocities.
It has to be mentioned that these are preliminary results. A more thorough analysis is ongoing at the Technical
University of Berlin to assess all data and also critically rule out spurious measurements.

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Figure 13. Results of the BLR 2 measurement as recorded during F/T 2-2 [17].
C. Unsteady velocity measurements using traversing boundary layer probes (TBLP)
The second approach for the determination of velocity profiles is based on a novel measurement technique
developed by the Institute of Fluid Mechanics (ISM) of the Technical University of Braunschweig. Basically,
Kulite senors have been placed on a lever that is traversed by a step motor through the boundary layer normal to
the wing. In order to avoid mutual disturbances of BLR and TBLP sensors, the starboard wing has been selected
for the TBLP placement. Figure 14 shows the selected locations for the four TBLPs.

Figure 14. Location of the traversing boundary layer probes of TU-Braunschweig for F/T 2-2
With the traversing motion is limited to 100 mm, the TBLP-modules are placed in the front part of the wing.
As for the boundary layer rakes, regions with strong separation are avoided. TBLP #4 supports the measurement
at the inboard wing, where BLR #1 provides velocity profiles on the flap. To a certain degree, the selection of
the spanwise positions is driven by the consideration to be as close as possible to the locations of the pressure
belts in F/T1.

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The overall layout is driven by the consideration to develop a widely autonomous FTI system. Thus, each
TBLP-unit consists of a probe module and a support module providing the electric energy. The probe and the
support systems are integrated in an aerodynamic fairing, which has been designed and optimized in windtunnel
tests at the TU-Braunschweig. The TBLP-unit is sketched in a lab set-up in Figure 15.

Figure 15. Sensor and battery module of the TBLP designed by TU-Braunschweig for F/T 2-2
On the aircraft, the probe modules are placed on the wing suction side according to Figure 14. The battery
pack is mounted on the lower wing side in order to minimize flow disturbances. As the probes are designed to
act widely autonomous, the measured data are stored directly at the probe in a small data storage device.
The probe modules are equipped with an in altitude traversable three-hole-probe. Each probe head consists of
three time resolved pressure sensors to measure the yaw angle and the velocity. To determine the static pressure
for the calculation of the velocity, a pressure tap is used at the measurement location.
The support module controls the probe module, provides the power, and acquires the data. The connection
between the two modules consists of one DVI-cable. Apart from the bonding, no connection to the airplane is
necessary. The communication with the cabin is done via radio from the TBLP operator PC and rack. The remote control PC is connected to the Basic FTI system of the airplane to ensure synchronous measurement processes. The remote control PC satisfies only the task to start the measurements.
Figure 16 shows the external TBLP installation on the port wing during flight.

Figure 16. TBLP installation on the ATRA on the right hand wing during flight.
In order not to interfere with the spoiler and flap system, the connection cables for the power supply between
upper and lower wing side have to be routed along the D-nose. An attempt has been made to realize a routing
path that causes as little disturbance of the flow as possible. Yet, as can be seen in Figure 16, a spurious effect of
the cables cannot completely be excluded. Therefore, it was decided to install flow cones on spoiler # 1, 3, and 4
downstream of TBLP and wiring installation. The rationale is to detect premature separation tendencies that

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might be caused by the TBLP installation. In order to do this, the flow visualization exercise and results recorded
during the first flight test campaign in 2012 served as a reference. They have been installed at the same wing
side. In order to get consistent information of the flow visualization, the flow cones in Figure 16 have been installed at the exact same locations as the ones in F/T 1. The flow visualization evaluation gave no indication of
premature separation aft of the TBLP units. Yet, this finding does not rule out any impact of the intrusive installation of the FTI in general.
Again, some examples of the velocity profiles measured with the TBLP system are provided in Figure 17.
The velocity is indicated by black lines and symbols, while the inclination angle is plotted with red curves and
symbols. The measurements have been recorded at FL 100 and at two stabilized angles of attack. The left plot
corresponds to an angle of attack in the linear lift regime, while the right plot shows results for an angle of attack
of about 3 below max . For each angle of attack, four repeat measurements have been recorded for a stabilized
condition. The position of the slat wake is indicated by z2. A larger scatter can be observed for the higher angle
of attack, underlining the unavoidable larger scatter related to a flow condition at high aircraft attitude. The plot
in the lower part of Figure 17 gives an impression of the degree of unsteadiness based on a time-dependent velocity signal at two constant vertical positions. The advantage of the system to measure high resolved boundary
layer profiles becomes obvious from the smooth slope of the profiles.

in linear lift regime

max - 3

Figure 17. Results of the TBLP #2 measurement as recorded during F/T 2-2
With the time to traverse through the vertical range of 100 mm being far too long to capture full boundary
layer profiles during the stall maneuver, an alternative attempt has been made to measure also stalls with the
TBLP-system. For this purpose 10 representative vertical positions have been identified. The sensor is then subsequently placed at these positions throughout the 10 repeats that have been flown for the stalls.
A detailed description of the TBLP test system, its design, preparation, and further results are described in
Ref. 18.

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VII. Summary and Outlook

An overview has been given about a low speed high lift flight test campaign using DLRs test flight aircraft
ATRA. The activities are embedded in the research project HINVA to provide a comprehensive database for the
validation of numerical and experimental methods to predict the aerodynamic high lift performance, in particular
the maximum lift coefficient and the related angle of attack.
The campaign follows a first one that has been carried out in 2012 to provide high resolution surface data.
The present flight test campaign is intended to generate complimentary flowfield and boundary layer data for
stabilized points at various altitudes and angles of attack and during stall maneuvers. For this purpose, velocity
profiles have been recorded at selected locations on the fixed wing and the flap using 4 boundary layer rakes and
4 traversing boundary layer probes. In addition to this line information of the velocity distributions normal to the
surfaces, a feasibility study to apply In-Flight PIV has been carried out to provide aerial velocity vector fields
above the fixed wing downstream of the engine position. Despite numerous challenges, specifically with regard
to the requested natural seeding, first results look quite promising. In addition to measurements of flow velocities, skin friction has been measured using delta surface hot films at the inboard and the midboard part of the
wing and the flap.
All scheduled test points could be covered successfully. The FTI in use worked without major implications.
The flight test database could be considerably extended by the described flight test activity. The refurbishment
and detailed analyses of the data is ongoing at the involved test teams. Once this is completed, the data will be
compared to dedicated wind tunnel test data and numerical results obtained on the same high lift configuration to
serve as a guidance for present and future improvements in code development.
Acknowledgments
The research work discussed in the paper is funded as part of the German Aeronautical Research Program LuFo
IV. The authors are grateful for this funding opportunity. Special thanks is devoted to the FTI teams, that have
made the flight tests possible.
For DLR, Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology in Braunschweig, Jrg Meyer, Martin Sitzmann,
Klaus de Groot and Heiko v. Geyr have been responsible for the cabin layout and the pressure measurement
system. For the InFlight PIV measurements, credit goes to Christina Politz, Reinhard Geisler, and Tobias
Kleindienst of the Gttingen part of DLRs Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology. Thorsten Waitz,
Cansu Aygzel, Christian Strube and Klaus Noack of the ILR of the Technical University of Berlin were in
charge of the skin friction measurements as well as of the boundary layer rakes. Helge Koch and Peter Scholz of
the ISM of the technical University of Braunschweig were responsible for the TBLP-system.
The authors are also grateful for the strong support of Airbus concerning the installation of the cabin systems
and the strong support for the qualification of the FTI. In this context, Stephane Vaux, acting as the FTE for the
HINVA test flights is to be named, and Eckhard Hausser as the Airbus Test pilot. Tom Neumann, Klaus Klenke,
and Saskia Nieke supported the electrical installation.
On the DLR side, thanks goes to the flight experiments department with Gerald Ernst, Florian Antrack, and
Jens Hammer for ground activities, and Hans-Jrgen Berns and Stefan Seydel together with Adrian Mller and
Waldemar Krebs as DLR FTE being part of the mixed DLR/Airbus crew that carried out the HINVA flight tests.
Stefan Kommalein was responsible for the airworthiness documentation and clearance.
In additions to persons mentioned above and a lot others that supported the activity, the continued excellent
collaboration between Airbus and DLR in preparing and conducting the flight tests shall be explicitly acknowledged.
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