ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA >
First flight test of passive dual synthetic jet for short takeoff and landing lift enhancement
Received date: 2025-12-29
Revised date: 2026-01-21
Accepted date: 2026-02-11
Online published: 2026-02-27
Supported by
Joint Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2141252);The Innovative Research Group Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China(T2221002);National Natural Science Foundation of China(12572318)
Active flow control， which dynamically manipulates flow structures by injecting energy into the flow field， presents an innovative strategy to fulfill the high-lift requirements for aircraft operating under Short Takeoff and Landing （STOL） conditions. To assess its practical efficacy， this study developed an integrated control system that combines dual synthetic jet actuators-designed to control flow separation on control surfaces-with a multi-stage circulation control system aimed at augmenting wing lift. This system was deployed on an aircraft platform featuring a 5 m wingspan and a takeoff mass of 100 kilogram class for flight testing. The flight test in November 2025 results revealed that the dual synthetic jet lift-enhancement system significantly improved takeoff and landing performance： the takeoff rotation speed decreased from 26 m/s to 21 m/s， the ground roll distance was reduced from 156 m to 101 m， and the landing touch-down speed declined from 25 m/s to 20 m/s， and the landing energy was lowered by 36%. Furthermore， the achievement of a stable roll rate of 3.8 （°）/s through asymmetric actuation directly demonstrates the capacity of system to generate asymmetric lift and rolling control moments via precise flow manipulation. This work represents the first flight validation of a passive dual synthetic jet lift-enhancement technology on a medium-scale aircraft platform， thereby offering an innovative， efficient， and independently controllable technical approach for advancing aircraft STOL capabilities.
Zhenbing LUO , Chunqiang WANG , Zhiyan GUO , Jianyu GONG , Zhijie ZHAO . First flight test of passive dual synthetic jet for short takeoff and landing lift enhancement[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2026 , 47(13) : 533291 -533291 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2026.33291
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