CV–22 TACTICS SIMULATION: FLIGHT DIRECTOR COUPLED MODES FOR LOW SPEED TERMINAL AREA OPERATIONS

To address CV-22 Osprey operational requirements in the terminal area, studies have been performed over the last two years under the CV-22 Tactics Simulation Program. The overall objective of this effort was to provide enhanced operating characteristics during the demanding degraded visibility terminal area operations employed by special operation forces and recently highlighted in Afghanistan and Iraq. While the baseline flight director and coupled modes system provides a powerful tool for the warfighters, these recent operational experiences highlighted opportunities for further enhancements specifically in the area of low speed and hovering flight when operating in degraded visual cueing environments. To address these enhancement opportunities, rapid prototyping and periodic piloted evaluation of a modified Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) and the flight director avionics crew system interface was performed in Bell Helicopter’s CV-22 Full Mission Simulator. Piloted simulation evaluations indicated that the additional features and capabilities did indeed provide enhancements for critical low speed operations. This study forms the foundation for future implementation of additional operational capabilities for the AFCS and flight director in the aircraft.