Adverse rotorcraft-pilot coupling: Test campaign development at the University of Liverpool

The development of a pilot-in-the-loop investigation into rotorcraft-pilot coupling are presented for three test campaigns which were conducted as part of GARTEUR HC(AG-16): rigid body; biodynamic and aeroelastic. For each campaign, the modelling activities and results are shown. PIO events were recorded during the rigid body test campaign, although not always in the expected vehicle axes. The biodynamic campaign required a significant amount of development work to be carried out on the University of Liverpool‟s flight simulation facility and the results of this development are presented. For the aeroelastic campaign, an aeroelastic rotor and slung load were successfully implemented but an aeroelastic fuselage presented problems. The test campaigns are set in the context of being the first step in understanding and preventing rotorcraft-pilot couplings but the paper provides recommendations on the next steps to take the research forwards. * Submitted to the 34 ERF, Liverpool, Sept 2008 † Flight Science and Technology Research Group, The University of Liverpool. Corresponding author Email: mjump1@liv.ac.uk, steve.hodge@baesystems.com. Tel: +44 151 794 6845; Fax: +44 151 794 6841. ‡ ONERA, Base Aerienne 701, FR-13661 Salon de Provence, France, binh.dangvu@onera.fr. § Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, I-20156 Milano, Italy, masarati@aero.polimi.it, quaranta@aero.polimi.it, mattaboni@aero.polimi.it. ** Technical University of Delft, Kluyverweg 1, NL-2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands, m.d.pavel@tudelft.nl. †† Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH, D-81663 Muenchen, Germany, oliver.dieterich@eurocopter.com.