The Basic Flying Characteristics of the Rotor Systems Research Aircraft

Sikorsky Aircraft, Division of United Technologies Corporation, has designed and fabricated and is currently flight testing two Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA). Sikorsky is under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U. S. Army to develop these unique aircraft which will be used to provide an in-flight testing capability of new rotors and new rotor concepts. Although its primary mission will be to fly as a compound helicopter while gathering valuable information about new rotor systems, the RSRA can also be flown as a conventional helicopter, or as a fixed-wing airplane. With the stability and control characteristics associated with each of these configurations, a wide variety of aircraft flying characteristics is available. This paper presents the predicted basic flying characteristics of the RSRA based on wind tunnel tests and pilot and non-pilot simulation studies. With the completion of the helicopter flight tests, comparisons of the analytical predictions with pertinent pilot qualitative comments and flight test data are also presented.