ACOUSTIC FLIGHT TEST OF THE EC130 B4 IN THE SCOPE OF THE FRIENDCOPTER PROJECT

An extensive noise abatement flight test was performed on the EC130 B4 aircraft, with noise data gathered on large linear and rectangular arrays on the ground. The main objectives of the flight test were to build an acoustic database for the aircraft, and to evaluate flight test and data analysis methodologies used in noise abatement testing. A large matrix of flight conditions was tested, including level flight, descent, climb, deceleration/acceleration, hover, ground idle and turning flight. In addition, manoeuvring flight segments corresponding to different unsteady phases of a typical flight were performed. In all, approximately 150 flights were recorded in two separate campaigns. A novel methodology is introduced to acquire manoeuvring data and reconstruct footprints for complete flight profiles. This methodology provides a way to reduce flight test costs while emphasising the acquisition of data corresponding to realistic flight manoeuvres. The resulting database can be used to systematically design low-noise flight procedures.