The four main research areas at the Institute of Flight System Dynamics are 1.) Guidance and Control of manned and unmanned flying systems (particular focus on nonlinear adaptive flight control); 2.) trajectory optimization; 3.) sensors, data fusion and navigation and finally 4.) modeling and parameter estimation. Having available a solid theoretic base gained from fundamental research, the efforts always aim at applicability in real-life systems. Thus, much emphasis is put on experimental demonstration and validation as well as on addressing aspects relevant to system development, airworthiness and certification. Due to the close cooperation with many small and medium enterprises, cost effectiveness is another key aspect. The research infrastructure comprises multiple flight simulators (generic research simulator, Beech B58, DA-42 Level 6), a manned research aircraft (DA-42 MPP NG) and multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, both fixed and rotary wing. In support of the research efforts, integrated tool chains, demonstrators and test rigs have been developed and implemented that are also offered for use to potential partners.