An Approach to Fly-by-Wire Handling Qualities Testing Linking Development Tools to Civil Certification Requirements

Details

• Creators:
  Jones, Michael ; Shubert, Martin ; Mitchell, David ; Vo, Emily ; Klyde, David ; Newman, Richard ; Lotterio, Marco
• Corporate Creators:
  Systems Technology, Inc. ; Tiltrotor Flight Test Consulting LLC ; Mitchell Aerospace Research ; Crew Stations [Seattle, WA]
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Compliance and Airworthiness Division
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Acceptance Tests Certification Cooper-Harper Handling Qualities Ratings. Flight Tests Handling Characteristics
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/TC-25/31
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/991p-8z81
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Contracting Officer:
  McGuire, Robert
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center
• Abstract:
  Traditional certification methods may not be suitable for aircraft in the powered-lift category. These novel aircraft feature alternative fuels (e.g. electric), distributed propulsion, over-actuated control surfaces, and advanced fly-by-wire technology. A larger research portfolio focuses on developing a variety of flight test techniques for this category. One area that requires consideration for certification is handling qualities. In previous efforts, work conducted by Systems Technology, Inc. (STI), outlined an approach to using Handling Qualities Task Elements (HQTEs) for civilian certification. In addition, a catalogue of HQTEs was presented along with supporting flight test techniques. HQTEs are proposed for partial compliance demonstration. This research report extends this work further, through the introduction of the ‘Flight Test Scorecard’ (FTSC) approach. This report provides a linkage between the proposed HQTEs and certification requirements to aid the applicants in their use during the certification process. In addition, this report provides an overview of the FTSC approach intended to support the FAA and applicant to display information relating to the completion of HQTEs and any supporting data that may be shared as part of the certification process. The scope also includes revisited HQTEs, including proposed boundaries and tolerances, which were refined during flight testing conducted in this work. The objectives of this work were to review aircraft accident databases, to create the FTSC approach, to test this approach and define metrics suitable for applicants to collect as ‘Supporting Data’, and to further refine the HQTEs developed in previous work. The final demonstration of this research effort was a dedicated flight test campaign using a variable stability helicopter.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:618670d923908ed14eedbfea29f94ec6ad914cc9a64da15d793c2b4daee2dbff7a431ea658410aaaba50bf24180f588e9615c27a2bc5561199d76ab96a27388b
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91815/dot_91815_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.10 MB ]