Handling Qualities Engineering Features of the AW101 Design and Development Programme

The design and development of the AgustaWestland AW101 helicopter provided a very challenging task to Westland and Agusta engineers. The project had been conceived in the early 1980s as a joint civil and military medium lift aircraft, designed to meet both the demanding safety regulations of the civil world, and the complex operational scenario demanded by the naval Anti Submarine Warfare role. The handling requirements of three separate specifications had to be met. The potentially large cost of this was contained through the development of a common handling test plan with non-common requirements addressed separately. Throughout the design and development programme, the AW101 Flight Dynamics Simulation was used in support of the testing, scheming design solutions to development issues and providing evidence to the Certification Authorities. The first part of the paper describes some of the key features of the aircraft design that impact on handling and the Engineering simulation used to support the design. The second part describes an important system issue that arose during development and how it was successfully resolved. The third part presents results from the Civil aircraft Handling Qualities Survey flying and Handling Assessments.