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

Flight trials on the NRC Bell 205 Airborne Simulator were conducted at the Flight Research Laboratory to develop a vertical axis handling qualities criteria for a shipborne helicopter. A motorized vertical axis tracking mission task element was developed to simulate the high hover position of the flight deck landing task. The handling qualities resulting from the variation of heave damping and thrust to weight ratio were evaluated for deck motions associated with sea states 3 through 6. Desired performance was generally achieved with heave damping greater then -0.2 sec-1 provided that the thrust to weight ratio was high enough to enable the helicopter to match the flight deck vertical velocity. However for sea states 5 and 6, pilot workload, due primarily to collective activity, was sited as being too high for a Level 1 handling qualities rating. Further testing to establish suitable torque dynamics and verify roll requirements are proposed.