Helicopter Flight Test

Flight tests are critical to helicopter development. Despite advances in computer modeling and simulation, predicted performance, stability, and safety metrics often differ from flight test results. For the foreseeable future, engineers will rely heavily on flight tests to evaluate helicopter characteristics.

We’ve started working on articles related to helicopter flight tests, see below.

Flight Test Data: Estimating Frequency and Damping - This is a short discussion about estimating frequency and damping parameters from flight test data.

Helicopter Flight Test Challenges - Challenges in helicopter flight testing

Helicopter Pace Truck - How pace trucks are used in helicopter flight tests