ASSESSMENT OF HANDLING QUALITIES FOR THE SHIPBORNE RECOVERY TASK - ADS 33 (MARITIME)

Flight Trials were conducted on the NRC Bell 205 Airborne Simulator at the Flight Research Laboratory to evaluate the handling qualities of a helicopter for the shipborne recovery task. A motorized horizontal and vertical axis tracking device was built to simulate the effects of flight deck motion, and a flight test maneuver was developed to simulate the hauldown recovery task. The handling qualities resulting from the variation of pitch, roll and yaw bandwidths were evaluated for deck motions associated with sea states 3 through 6. Analysis of the pilot control inputs, resultant aircraft motion and effective bandwidth achieved indicate that the small amplitude input criteria apply to the shipborne landing environment and that the roll bandwidth design specification should be increased from 2.5 rads/sec to 4.0 rads/sec for level 1 handling qualities for sea states below 5. For sea states 5 or higher, it was determined that level 1 handling qualities were not attainable with the tested levels of aircraft augmentation. Further testing is required to enhance the pitch cueing of the shipborne landing FTM and to compare the land-based task to a shipborne recovery in a simulator environment.