Calculation Methods of Flight Performance of Flapping Wing Aircrafts Based on Energy Theory and Slipstream Theory (September 2018)

Flight performance calculation is an important part of the micro flapping wing air vehicle design. It is used to verify whether the air vehicle design meets the performance requirements so as to make targeted improvements to the design. It also provides a reference for the flight test of the micro flapping wing air vehicle. The calculation methods for the flight performance of the fixed-wing air vehicle and the rotorcraft cannot be copied for the flight performance of the flapping wing air vehicle. The paper first builds the energy theory and slipstream theory of the flapping wing flight, providing a calculation method of the power required for the flapping wing flight. Based on the design data, including performance requirements of the flapping wing air vehicle, overall parameters, and wing drive system performance, the paper proposes the calculation methods for the flight performance such as the level flight performance, climb performance, and endurance performance of the flapping wing air vehicle. The paper compares the flight performance calculation results of flapping wing air vehicle prototype with the flight test data, which illustrates the rationality of the calculation methods proposed.