Flight Mechanics and Simulation Engineer

Flight Mechanics and Simulation Engineer

DRONAMICS

Horta, Portugal

The Responsibilities:

Working as part of the DOA R&D team and reporting to the Aero, Performance and Simulation team Lead, the Flight Mechanics and Simulation Engineer is responsible for the following:

• Reviewing the existing flight mechanics models;
• Improving fidelity of the existing flight mechanics models;
• Expanding the existing flight mechanics analysis MATLAB codebase;
• Maintaining and improving the in-house flight simulator;
• Writing technical documentation;
• Reviewing existing technical documentation/methodologies;
• Supporting the FCS engineer and Aerodynamics and Load Cases Engineer with flight mechanics related activities (e.g. linearisations, trim etc.);
• Flight test support at the test site (if required).

Your Qualifications:

• MSc/MEng or PhD in Aerospace Engineering or related field with at least 3 years industry experience (Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering field is preferred).
• Good working level in MATLAB and Simulink:
• Improvement and maintenance of existing dynamic models;
  • Contribution to existing MATLAB codebase for aircraft analysis;
  • Good understanding of data structures in MATLAB;
  • Good understanding of Model Based Design practices (MBD).
• Good understanding of aerodynamics and flight mechanics:
  • Standard definitions of aerodynamic coefficients;
  • Derivation of aerodynamic coefficients from Boundary Element Method.
• (BEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD):
  • 3DOF, 6DOF equations of motion;
  • Stability derivatives, importance and effect;
  • Flat-earth, and ECEF;
  • Trim and linearization (coupled and decoupled);
  • Static and dynamic stability analysis (coupled and decoupled).:
    • Fixed-and-free neutral and maneuvering points;
    • Longitudinal and lateral modes.
• Post-flight test data analysis.
  • Familiarity with aerodynamic models:
    • Stability derivatives/lookup tables.
  • Improvement of existing flight simulators.
• Flight test support:
  • Support existing flight tests (full and subscale aircraft) as part of the standard activities of the Aerodynamics Performance & Simulation team.
• Good technical documentation writing skills;
• Good presentation skills.

Nice to Have:

• Prior experience with fixed-wing UAV platforms is a plus;
• Good working knowledge of the GIT version control system is a plus (training can be provided);
• Good understanding of the working principles of BEM and CFD is a plus;
• Basic understanding of Simulink Compiler, C++, and compilation using MSVC is a plus (training can be provided).