This research establishes a high-fidelity dynamic modeling framework for the Skywalker 1800 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by integrating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with flight test validation. To capture unsteady aerodynamic phenomena, overset (Chimera) mesh simulations were performed for plunging, pitching, and flapping motions. Stability derivatives were extracted using Fourier decomposition and rigorously validated against instrumented flight test data. System identification via the output error method was applied to both CFD-generated responses and real-world flight logs. Results reveal that the comprehensive set of stability derivatives extracted from the unsteady overset simulations including C L α , C m α , C m q , and C m α ˙ provides a highly accurate foundation for mathematical modeling. When implemented into a 6-DoF longitudinal simulation, the predicted dynamic responses closely matched the actual flight test telemetry under identical control inputs. Minor discrepancies are attributed to aeroelastic effects inherent in the foam airframe. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that unsteady overset simulations are highly effective for capturing the complete aerodynamic characteristics essential for reliable UAV flight dynamics modeling.
Siswantara et al. (Fri,) studied this question.