Development and Flight Testing of Modified Mission Task Elements for Ultralight Helicopters

Abstract

For the safe and economic training of new pilots, an earthbound helicopter trainer, which suspends the aircraft in a gimbal frame, presents an option of bridging the gap between the safety of simulator practice and the fidelity of the real aircraft. Such a system could increase the security for the first flight hours of new trainees without sacrificing the learning effects of interacting with the actual hardware. The flight characteristics of such a training device need to match those of the real helicopter intended to qualify for the training purpose to avoid negative training. This paper presents the results of a flight test with an ultralight coaxial rotorcraft, the CoAX 2D manufactured by edm aerotec GmbH. Based on the CoAX helicopter platform, the Next Generation Trainer (NGT), an earthbound trainer, is currently under development within the Electric Coaxial Helicopter Trainer Project (ECHT). Flight tasks were created to compare the handling qualities of the aircraft and the trainer, which are tailored to the design limitations of the trainer, as well as the expected flight performance based on training requirements for ultralight helicopters. The proposed task maneuvers, based on modified Mission Task Elements (MTEs) and regular MTEs defined in ADS-33E-PRF, have been evaluated and compared through flight testing. Based on the results, the applicability of the modified task elements for handling quality comparison is assessed, and possible changes for future application are proposed.