A Flight Investigation of Lateral-Directional Handling Qualities for V/STOL Aircraft in Low Speed Manoeuvring Flight

摘要

An investigation to determine the ranges of various lateral-directional characteristics required to provide adequate flying qualities for turning manoeuvres at low speed was undertaken using an airborne V/STOL aircraft simulator. Five parameters were varied in a systematic manner: the damping ratio, the frequency and the ratio of the roll-angle to the sideslip-angle in the Dutch roll mode, together with the damping ratio and frequency of the numerator quadratic of the roll-angle to aileron-control-input transfer function. The pilots performed a low speed, visual manoeuvring task and documented their assessment of the characteristics through extensive comments and a numerical rating. (Author)