Flight Test Analysis Method for Aerodynamic Characteristics of Helicopter Rotor in Level Flight

To analyze flight test failures, ensure flight safety, and provide data support for the aerodynamic design of helicopters, it is necessary to conduct aerodynamic characteristic analysis of helicopter rotors based on flight test data. This article establishes a helicopter rotor aerodynamic model and an aerodynamic parameter identification method in level flight. In this article, we take the flight test data of a helicopter’s level flight performance as an example, and use the genetic algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization for parameter identification calculation. We obtain aerodynamic parameters such as rotor angle of attack and rotor lift-to-drag ratio in the helicopter’s level flight state, and so on, and analyze the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter’s rotor. The results show that the method established in this paper can accurately and effectively obtain the aerodynamic parameters of the helicopter rotor through flight tests. It can also evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter rotor and meet the requirements of the American standard ADS40 for obtaining the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter through flight tests. Thus, it has great engineering application value.