Applications of Infrared Technology to Helicopter Flight Testing

This document deals with some applications of the infrared technology for industrial flight tests of helicopters. The first application concerns the measurement of structural temperature. Flight tests are performed on a prototype helicopter equipped with suitable infrared cameras in order to measure the surface temperature of structures located in the vicinity of the engines exhaust nozzles. These trials show that the infrared technology is fully usable for helicopter flight testing purposes and the results inferred underline that this instrumentation offers clear advantages compared with the methods generally used. The second application is about the visualisation of the gas flow. Tests are performed on a helicopter in hovering flight with on-ground infrared cameras in order to visualise the engines exhaust gas flowing along the helicopter structure and through the rotors. The images derived from this trial equipment highlight the high potential of the infrared technology in the experimental field of gas flow visualisation for helicopter flight testing purposes.