A summary of joint US-Canadian augmentor wing powered-lift STOL research programs at the Ames Research Center, NASA, 1975-1980

Several different flight research programs carried out by NASA and the Canadian Government using the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft to investigate the design, operational, and systems requirements for powered-lift STOL aircraft are summarized. Some of these programs considered handling qualities and certification criteria for this class of aircraft, and addressed pilot control techniques, control system design, and improved cockpit displays for the powered-lift STOL approach configuration. Other programs involved exploiting the potential of STOL aircraft for constrained terminal-area approaches within the context of present or future air traffic control environments. Both manual and automatic flight control investigations are discussed, and an extensive bibliography of the flight programs is included

Helicopter Pilot Performance for Discrete-maneuver Flight Tasks

This paper describes a current study of several basic helicopter flight maneuvers. The data base consists of in-flight measurements from instrumented helicopters using experienced pilots. The analysis technique is simple enough to apply without automatic data processing, and the results can be used to build quantitative matah models of the flight task and some aspects of the pilot control strategy. In addition to describing the performance measurement technqiue, some results are presented which define the aggressiveness and amplitude of maneuvering for several lateral maneuvers including turns and sidesteps

Flight experience with advanced controls and displays during piloted curved decelerating approaches in a powered-lift STOL aircraft

The control, display, and procedural features are described for a flight experiment conducted to assess the feasibility of piloted STOL approaches along predefined, steep, curved, and decelerating approach profiles. It was found to be particularly important to assist the pilot through use of the flight director computing capability with the lower frequency control-related tasks, such as those associated with monitoring and adjusting configuration trim as influenced by atmospheric effects, and preventing the system from exceeding powerplant and SAS authority limitations. Many of the technical and pilot related issues identified in the course of this flight investigation are representative of similarly demanding operational tasks that are thought to be possible only through the use of sophisticated control and display systems

In-flight simulation investigation of rotorcraft pitch-roll cross coupling

An in-flight simulation experiment investigating the handling qualities effects of the pitch-roll cross-coupling characteristic of single-main-rotor helicopters is described. The experiment was conducted using the NASA/Army CH-47B variable stability helicopter with an explicit-model-following control system. The research is an extension of an earlier ground-based investigation conducted on the NASA Ames Research Center's Vertical Motion Simulator. The model developed for the experiment is for an unaugmented helicopter with cross-coupling implemented using physical rotor parameters. The details of converting the model from the simulation to use in flight are described. A frequency-domain comparison of the model and actual aircraft responses showing the fidelity of the in-flight simulation is described. The evaluation task was representative of nap-of-the-Earth maneuvering flight. The results indicate that task demands are important in determining allowable levels of coupling. In addition, on-axis damping characteristics influence the frequency-dependent characteristics of coupling and affect the handling qualities. Pilot technique, in terms of learned control crossfeeds, can improve performance and lower workload for particular types of coupling. The results obtained in flight corroborated the simulation results

Influence of dynamic inflow on the helicopter vertical response

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of dynamic inflow on rotor-blade flapping and vertical motion of the helicopter in hover. Linearized versions of two dynamic inflow models, one developed by Carpenter and Fridovich and the other by Pitt and Peters, were incorporated in simplified rotor-body models and were compared for variations in thrust coefficient and the blade Lock number. In addition, a comparison was made between the results of the linear analysis, and the transient and frequency responses measured in flight on the CH-47B variable-stability helicopter. Results indicate that the correlations are good, considering the simplified model used. The linear analysis also shows that dynamic inflow plays a key role in destabilizing the flapping mode. The destabilized flapping mode, along with the inflow mode that the dynamic inflow introduces, results in a large initial overshoot in the vertical acceleration response to an abrupt input in the collective pitch. This overshoot becomes more pronounced as either the thrust coefficient or the blade Lock number is reduced. Compared with Carpenter's inflow model, Pitt's model tends to produce more oscillatory responses because of the less stable flapping mode predicted by it

Analytical and flight investigation of the influence of rotor and other high-order dynamics on helicopter flight-control system bandwidth

The increasing use of highly augmented digital flight-control systems in modern military helicopters prompted an examination of the influence of rotor dynamics and other high-order dynamics on control-system performance. A study was conducted at NASA Ames Research Center to correlate theoretical predictions of feedback gain limits in the roll axis with experimental test data obtained from a variable-stability research helicopter. Feedback gains, the break frequency of the presampling sensor filter, and the computational frame time of the flight computer were systematically varied. The results, which showed excellent theoretical and experimental correlation, indicate that the rotor-dynamics, sensor-filter, and digital-data processing delays can severely limit the usable values of the roll-rate and roll-attitude feedback gains

A flight-test and simulation evaluation of the longitudinal final approach and landing performance of an automatic system for a light wing loading STOL aircraft equipped with wing spoilers

As part of a comprehensive flight-test investigation of short takeoff and landing (STOL) operating systems for the terminal systems for the terminal area, an automatic landing system has been developed and evaluated for a light wing-loading turboprop-powered aircraft. An advanced digital avionics system performed display, navigation, guidance, and control functions for the test aircraft. Control signals were generated in order to command powered actuators for all conventional controls and for a set of symmetrically driven wing spoilers. This report describes effects of the spoiler control on longitudinal autoland (automatic landing) performance. Flight-test results, with and without spoiler control, are presented and compared with available (basically, conventional takeoff and landing) performance criteria. These comparisons are augmented by results from a comprehensive simulation of the controlled aircraft that included representations of the microwave landing system navigation errors that were encountered in flight as well as expected variations in atmospheric turbulence and wind shear. Flight-test results show that the addition of spoiler control improves the touchdown performance of the automatic landing system. Spoilers improve longitudinal touchdown and landing pitch-attitude performance, particularly in tailwind conditions. Furthermore, simulation results indicate that performance would probably be satisfactory for a wider range of atmospheric disturbances than those encountered in flight. Flight results also indicate that the addition of spoiler control during the final approach does not result in any measurable change in glidepath track performance, and results in a very small deterioration in airspeed tracking. This difference contrasts with simulations results, which indicate some improvement in glidepath tracking and no appreciable change in airspeed tracking. The modeling problem in the simulation that contributed to this discrepancy with flight was not resolved

Flight-test evaluation of STOL control and flight director concepts in a powered-lift aircraft flying curved decelerating approaches

Flight tests were carried out to assess the feasibility of piloted steep curved, and decelerating approach profiles in powered lift STOL aircraft. Several STOL control concepts representative of a variety of aircraft were evaluated in conjunction with suitably designed flight directions. The tests were carried out in a real navigation environment, employed special electronic cockpit displays, and included the development of the performance achieved and the control utilization involved in flying 180 deg turning, descending, and decelerating approach profiles to landing. The results suggest that such moderately complex piloted instrument approaches may indeed be feasible from a pilot acceptance point of view, given an acceptable navigation environment. Systems with the capability of those used in this experiment can provide the potential of achieving instrument operations on curved, descending, and decelerating landing approaches to weather minima corresponding to CTOL Category 2 criteria, while also providing a means of realizing more efficient operations during visual flight conditions

Flight experiments using the front-side control technique during piloted approach and landing in a powered lift STOL aircraft

The essential features of using pitch attitude for glidepath control in conjunction with longitudinal thrust modulation for speed control are described, using a simple linearized model for a powered-lift STOL aircraft operating on the backside of the drag curve and at a fixed setting of propulsive lift. It is shown that an automatic speed-hold system incorporating heave-damping augmentation can allow use of the front-side control technique with satisfactory handling qualities, and the results of previous flight investigations are reviewed. Manual control considerations, as they might be involved following failure of the automatic system, are emphasized. The influence of alternative cockpit controller configurations and flight-director display features were assessed for their effect on the control task, which consisted of a straight-in steep approach flown at constant speed in simulated instrument conditions

Asymmetric Ejecta of Cool Supergiants and Hypergiants in the Massive Cluster Westerlund 1

We report new 5.5 GHz radio observations of the massive star cluster Westerlund 1, taken by the Australia Telescope Compact Array, detecting nine of the ten yellow hypergiants (YHGs) and red supergiants (RSGs) within the cluster. Eight of nine sources are spatially resolved. The nebulae associated with the YHGs Wd1-4a, -12a and -265 demonstrate a cometary morphology - the first time this phenomenon has been observed for such stars. This structure is also echoed in the ejecta of the RSGs Wd1-20 and -26; in each case the cometary tails are directed away from the cluster core. The nebular emission around the RSG Wd1-237 is less collimated than these systems but once again appears more prominent in the hemisphere facing the cluster. Considered as a whole, the nebular morphologies provide compelling evidence for sculpting via a physical agent associated with Westerlund 1, such as a cluster wind