ABSTRACT |
Recently, several aircraft which lack vertical tails have been developed, the so-called“tailless aircraft”. For directional stability, these aircraft are actively controlled using devices such as drag rudders. In the case of winged re-entry vehicles, it will be useful to apply this technology, especially from the structural viewpoint. In this paper, a tailless configuration of the HOPE-X (H-II Orbiting Plane Experimental), a winged re-entry vehicle being developed by the National Aerospace Laboratory and National Space Development Agency of Japan, was analyzed. Lateral/directional control laws were designed for this configuration using the MDM/MDP approach. Though directional stability degenerated without fins, the vehicle was stabilized and controlled to a certain degree using split elevons. |