Nonlinear Flight Simulator Development and Scenario-Based Evaluation for a Transport Aircraft in MATLAB/Simulink

Accurate and control-oriented simulation environments are essential for analyzing aircraft dynamics and developing advanced flight control strategies without the cost and risk of real flight testing. This study presents a nonlinear flight simulator for transport aircraft implemented in MATLAB/Simulink, in which aerodynamic, propulsion, actuator, and atmospheric subsystems are integrated within a unified six-degree-of-freedom framework. Unlike conventional approaches based on simplified or partially decoupled models, the proposed framework preserves nonlinear coupling effects while incorporating physically constrained actuator dynamics, asymmetric propulsion behavior, and stochastic disturbance modeling within a consistent architecture. This enables systematic scenario-based evaluation of both nominal and degraded operating conditions. The Boeing 747 transport aircraft is used as a benchmark case to demonstrate the capability of the framework under cruise maneuvers, actuator degradation, asymmetric engine failure, and turbulence disturbances. The results demonstrate physically consistent dynamic responses and capture key cross-coupling characteristics of transport aircraft. Owing to its modular and extensible structure, the proposed platform provides a scalable and control-oriented environment for the integration of advanced control strategies, including fault-tolerant and delay-aware methods, thereby bridging the gap between flight dynamics modeling and control-oriented research.