Carefree Maneuvering via Tactile Cueing Flight Demonstrations

A comprehensive carefree maneuvering system with tactile cueing was developed and applied to three different demonstration aircraft: an H-6, AH-64E, and MH-47G. Common algorithms were used for all three aircraft despite the large disparity in size and flight control system configuration between the vehicles, showing the versatility and robustness of the limit prediction methodology. This paper describes the carefree maneuvering algorithms and presents results from piloted simulation and flight testing. Benefits were quantified using metrics in the categories of mission productivity, handing qualities, workload, performance, and safety and the results showed significant improvements in all areas. Based on these results, similar benefits should be expected if these carefree maneuvering tactile cues were to be integrated in any other rotorcraft platform, whether it be a legacy or future design, partial authority or fly-by-wire.