AUTOGIRO HANDLING QUALITIES ASSESSMENT

This paper outlines the first steps of developing handling qualities requirements for light autogiros. The first ever attempt to assess autogiro handling qualities using flight tests and inverse simulation has been made. The basic premise of the research is that the handling qualities requirements and prescribed maneuvers from ADS-33E-PRF document can be modified to suit a light autogiro. The flight tests were conducted using a fully instrumented Montgomerie-Parsons autogiro. Six accel-decel and thirty slalom tests were performed in about 4 hours of flight time during three days of testing at Carlisle Airfield, UK. This paper documents the first results on autogiro handling qualities assessment based on subjective pilot comments. The paper briefly reviews the development and applications of inverse simulation at Glasgow, and reveals primary aspects of the algorithm used in this research. In the initial stage of the research an autogiro mathematical model was developed for use in the inverse simulation. Finally, the paper discusses the preliminary results of flight/simulation comparisons.