Low-cost wind measurement system for small aircraft

A new approach for on-board determination of wind speed and direction for small aircraft is presented. With appropriate computing power and navigation data available on-board of an aircraft, the system can be realized with minimum cost. An efficient software which contributes to the low-cost solution has been developed for performing the required computations at a high update rate in realtime. The navigation system does not only provide the required position and attitude data, but is also used for computing the angles of attack and side-slip. Thus, aerodynamic sensors for these quantities are not necessary. Results from simulation experiments and flight test are presented for verification of the wind measuring system.