A pressure belt system for an airborne pressure survey

This paper describes a new instrumentation technique to acquire coefficient of pressure (Cp) measurements on aircraft surfaces in flight. The method provides a measure of absolute pressure at points on an aerodynamic surface. Each transducer of the array is combined with signal conditioning and data processing components to communicate an engineering units result via a digital data bus. These components are incorporated into a multi-chip-module (MCM) and attached to a polyamide tape. The polyamide tape is populated with the MCMs at intervals to form the pressure belt. This paper describes the unique requirements for the measurement system, the benefits as compared to previous techniques and current project status with plans for an airborne validation.