A piloted simulator investigation of static stability and stability/control augmentation effects on helicopter handling qualities for instrument approach

摘要

A motion base simulator was used to compare the flying qualities of three generic single rotor helicopters during a full attention to flight control task. Terminal area instrument approaches were flown with and without turbulence. The turbulence of helicopter static stability was investigated in terms of the values of cockpit control gradients as specified in the existing airworthiness criteria. The effectiveness of several types of stability control augmentation systems in improving the instrument flight rules capability of helicopters with reduced static stability was examined. Two levels of static stability in the pitch, roll, and yaw axes were examined for a hingeless rotor configuration; the variations were stable and neutral static stability in pitch and roll, and two levels of stability in yaw. For the lower level of static stability, four types of stability and control augmentation were examined for helicopters with three rotor types: hingeless, articulated, and teetering.