Flight Test Evaluation and Aerodynamic Performance Modeling of a C-130H with an Advanced Propeller

摘要

The NP2000 is an advanced, eight-blade propeller with an aerodynamic design similar to the six-blade propeller on the new C-130J. Flight tests performed on a U.S. Air Force C-130H with NP2000 propellers installed in place of the original four-blade propellers determined the effect of the new propellers on aircraft performance. The testing demonstrated greater net thrust at equivalent power settings. The flight test results also revealed that the changes in aircraft performance could not be modeled coherently using the legacy aerodynamic model, even though consistent thrust-drag bookkeeping was employed. For an aircraft such as the C-130 with strong interactions between the propeller slipstream and airframe, changes to the thrust strongly affect the lift and drag characteristics of the aircraft. The development of these characteristics, using modern flight-test instrumentation and analysis methods, is described. The process resulted in a unique drag model suitable to modeling the airborne performance of the C-130H with NP2000 propellers.