Rotorcraft Researchers and Operators-Is There a Common Ground?

UNTIL RECENTLY, CIVIL HELICOPTER DEVELOPMENT has been tied to military procurement of new designs. Now, an emerging civil market is seen (Fig. 1), broad in scope, whose growth has been compared to that of the fixed-wing industry (1).* A rapid increase in the passenger-miles or ton-miles per year of helicopter use, epitomized by rapid growth of helicopters in the offshore oil industry, is anticipated. Civil needs are emerging as a strong driver of helicopter technology, independent of military requirements, but sharing many of the problems familiar to military users. Concurrently, government research allocations for helicopter aeronautics are limited (Fig. 2) and priorities must be established so that essential tasks are adequately addressed. The relevance of helicopter R & D activities to the needs of civil users and operators