Energy-Maneuverability as a Framework for Performance and Handling Qualities Testing

Abstract

Energy-maneuverability representations are an important tool that operational pilots use to understand helicopter maneuver performance across a wide range of conditions, though the potential for these representations to provide a unifying framework for performance and handling qualities testing has not been previously explored. The present work reports the results of an investigation in which handling qualities test results are combined with predictions of specific excess power in order to present a more holistic view of aircraft capability. The flight testing involved the break turn mission task element, which was flown across a range of airspeeds and bank angles to asses handling qualities over a broad flight envelope. The results of the flight test show that energy-maneuverability diagrams are uniquely suited to present an aircraft's performance and handling qualities in a single visualization. This study also proposes the concept of usable aircraft performance—i.e., the combination of both the performance to maneuver as well as favorable handling qualities—and suggests ways in which this concept can provide important insights into flight test results as well as a basis for developing future, integrated requirements for aircraft performance and handling qualities.