COMBINING SIMULINK® AND FLIGHTLAB® FOR HANDLING QUALITIES AND CREW STATION PROTOTYPING

Simulink®, for control systems design, and Flightlab®, for rotorcraft aeromechanical modeling, are two foundational tools used for airworthiness assessment of flight control laws and handling qualities at the Aviation Engineering Directorate, the Army’s primary airworthiness qualification authority. The combination of manufactures’ own control laws with the Army’s independently created aircraft models provides a trusted environment for handling qualities assessment, crew interface prototyping, and early user tests. Developmental control laws for the AH-64D and the fly-by-wire UH-60M have been demonstrated with live, piloted simulations using the combination of these tools.