Towards Handling Qualities Requirements for Future Personal Aerial Vehicles Dr Philip Perfect Dr Mark D. White Dr Michael Jump
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Research Associate Flight Simulation Laboratory Manager Lecturer University of Liverpool University of Liverpool University of Liverpool Liverpool, UK Liverpool, UK Liverpool, UK ABSTRACT This paper describes research under way at the University of Liverpool in the myCopter project to develop handling qualities guidelines and criteria for a new category of aircraft – the personal aerial vehicle, which it is envisaged will demand no more skill than that associated with driving a car today. Testing has been conducted both with test pilots and pilots with less experience – ranging from private pilot’s license holders through to those with no prior flight experience. The objective has been to identify, for varying levels of flying skill, the response type requirements in order to ensure safe and precise flight. The work has shown that conventional rotorcraft response types such as rate command, attitude hold and attitude command, attitude hold are unsuitable for likely PAV pilots. However, response types such as translational rate command and acceleration command, speed hold permit ‘flight naïve’ pilots to repeatedly perform demanding tasks with the required precision. 1 TP Test Pilot NOTATION TRC Translational Rate Command C Sideslip Angle Command TS Test Subject C Flight Path Angle Command UoL University of Liverpool A Aptitude Test Score VTOL Vertical Take-Off