Modern aircraft design relies on fibre composites and the principles of lightweight construction. At the Institute of Aviation, research and development in this field focuses on unmanned aircraft. As well as fixed-wing aircraft, this includes multicopters with innovative control systems for long duration missions. Their use includes agricultural applications and situation monitoring in disaster relief missions.
Research into aircraft systems is designed to further raise flight safety levels. A current example involves predicting the icing behaviour of aircraft structures using simulation models. This, in turn, provides the basis for designing the relevant de-icing systems. Another research focus lies in compact, integrated avionics systems which control sub-functions such as flight control, data links and navigation sensors.
The Institute also has access to flight simulators and a research aircraft for testing aeronautical components and systems in flight.
