Mission Task Elements (MTEs)

Abstract

The division of rotorcraft/aircraft missions into Mission Phases leads to precisely defined manoeuvres, the so-called Mission Task Elements (MTS). These MTEs are the tasks the test pilots have to perform to get the final Handling Qualities Ratings (HQRs). Based on the workload encountered during the task, and the performance achieved, they will return their rating using the Cooper-Harper rating scale. During the preceding European Projects RHILP and ACT-TILT, several HQ tests in simulators were performed with a civil tiltrotor (CTR), each focussing on a different aspect of tiltrotor HQ. The tiltrotor merges the characteristics of a side-by-side rotor helicopter with large roll inertia and an aeroplane with large prop-rotors, adding the challenge of analysing and specifying the converted mode HQ.