Comparison of analytical and flight test identified aerodynamic derivatives for a tandem-rotor transport helicopter

Abstract

Flight tests for verifying an analytical aerodynamic derivative model of a CH-47 helicopter were conducted for low cruise speeds and transition to hover portions of curved, decelerating landing approach trajectories. All testing was performed on a closed loop basis with the stability augmentation system of the helicopter operating, and response data were obtained using both manual and computer generated input maneuvers. The results indicate some differences between the measured response time histories and those predicted by both analytical and flight test identified derivatives. With some exceptions the discrepancies are not severe, and the overall agreement between the measured and computed time histories is reasonably good. No adverse effects attributable to closed loop testing were noted, and the use of computer generated inputs proved to be superior to manual ones