Data Collection for Developing a Dynamic Model of a Light Helicopter

At the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics the influence of an augmented system on helicopter pilots with limited flight skills is being investigated. This study would provide important contributions in the research field on personal air transport systems. In this project, the flight condition under study is the hover. The first step is the implementation of a rigid-body dynamic model. This could be used to perform handling qualities evaluations for comparing the pilot performances with and without augmented system. This paper aims to provide a lean procedure and a reliable measurement setup for the collection of the flight test data. The latter are necessary to identify the helicopter dynamic model. The mathematical and technical tools used to reach this purpose are described in detail. First, the measurement setup is presented, used to collect the piloted control inputs and the helicopter response. Second, a description of the flight maneuvers and the pilot training phase is taken into consideration. Finally the flight test data collection is described and the results are showed to assess and validate the setup and the procedure presented.