EDUCATIONAL FLIGHT TESTING ACTIVITIES WITH PIPISTREL

The flights were performed on May 29-30 at the Pipistrel Italia premises at the Gorizia airport after an introductory seminar.This allowed the students to prepare the preliminary documentation for the test flights, involving the verification of an array of performance and flying qualities characteristics.

In each mission, a student acted as the Flight Test Engineer (FTE) leading the activity in the cockpit alongside a Pipistrel test pilot.This impressive resources allowed the students to experience first-hand the flight testing process, perfectly complementing the course lectures.

After the mission, the students shall analyze the data gathered in flight and produce a complete Flight Test Report as a mandatory requirement for their final evaluation.

The Flight Testing course, an elective in the second semester of the last year of the M.Sc. studies in Aeronautical Engineering, offers enrolled students a range of practical flight test activities.

These include, in addition to the collaboration with Pipistrel, the collaboration with Leonardo Helicopters on its AW139 and AW168 models, the activity offered by the Italian Navy on its NH90 full motion flight simulator at Naval Air Station Luni, and the usage of the "Flying classroom" of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (an instrumented fixed-wing ultralight Aircraft Tecnam P92E).

Through this wide array of unique educational activities the students can apply their hard-earned capabilities to certified civil and military applications, including high-tech and even radically innovative products, such as fully electric aircraft.

We are grateful to Pipistrel and Textron eAviation for this amazing opportunity to enhance the preparation of PoliMI students on its celebrated light aircraft under the guidance of the company flight test department headed by Flight Test Manager Marco Rizzato and with the participation of Flight Test Engineer Alberto Favier, Flight Test Instrumentation specialist Edoardo Sassi and Test Pilots Martin Vadnu and Jožef Kovačič.

As in the past edition, we learned a lot. An unforgettable experience for everybody involved!