FLIGHT TEST FOR H-V DIAGRAM DE- TERMINATION OF A TH-500 HELICOP- TER EQUIPPED WITH NEW MAIN ROTOR BLADES

摘要

A flight test program was executed for the military qualification of a new main rotor blade model for the TH-500 helicopter employed in the Italian Air Force. Within the test program, part of the test flights were aimed to gather the required data to determine the height-velocity diagram in a clean configuration of the helicopter. In this frame, several actions were implemented in order to allow for test flight time/ costs saving and for safety improvements. In particular, the explored H-V diagram was based on both analytic and off-line simulation predicted curves; moreover, a flight test technique was used where full autorotations were executed only for the most critical test points on the border of the predicted envelope. The test results obtained were used to define new helicopter limitations and normal and emergency procedures to be included in the rotorcraft flight manual. This paper discusses, among all things, how the pilot workload was one of the driving factors considered by the evaluating crew in order to clear the new H-V envelope in a safe and reliable manner.