Aircraft Handling Qualities

This book provides a readable introduction to handling qualities, the combination of pilot acceptability and piloted performance with stability and control. It adopts the analytical and qualitative standpoints needed for handling qualities analysis and design of fixed-wing aircraft. Although there are several texts on stability and control, until now none has provided insight into the piloting concerns that have affected the success of recent fly-by-wire aircraft developments.

This report is a codification in two parts of conventional aircraft handling qualities criteria. The results of this effort are to serve as an intermediate design guide in the areas of lateral-directional oscillatory and roll control. The roll handling qualities portion of this report uses as a point of departure the concept that control of bank angle is the primary piloting task in maintaining or changing heading. In the lateral oscillatory portion of this effort, in defining requirements for satisfactory Dutch roll characteristics, a fundamental consideration is the fact that the motions characterizing this mode are ordinarily not the pilot's chief objective. That is, he is not deliberately inducing Dutch roll motions in the sense that he induces rolling and longitudinal short-period motions. A worthwhile approach to establishment of Dutch roll damping requirements is to first establish the basic level, and then to study the varied influences of the disturbance parameters. This approach provides the basis for the material contained in this report.

This book supplies the engineering background required to understand the flying qualities of todays fixed-wing aircraft, and lays the essential groundwork for control law designers. " Aircraft Handling Qualities" leads from the full mathematical model of the airframe to the linear models that are useful for both insight and control law design, and discusses the more common flying qualities criteria. The author has good practical experience of flying and handling qualities--results of such experience are not generally available. He combines excellent industrial experience with a teaching post at the University of California, Los Angeles. Final year undergraduates and postgraduates of aeronautical engineering and new entrants to the aeronautical industry will find this text valuable. Includes 200 line illustrations and 10 photographs. Copublished with Blackwell Science Ltd. Outside the United States and Canada, order from Blackwell Science Ltd., United Kingdom, tel 44 1865 206 206.

A study has been undertaken to define hand-ling qualities criteria for V/STOL aircraft. With the current military requirements for helicopters and airplanes as a framework, modifications and additions were made for conversion to a preliminary set of V/STOL requirements using a broad background of flight experience and pilots' comments from VTOL and STOL aircraft, BLC (boundary-layer-control) equipped aircraft, variable stability aircraft, flight simulators and landing approach studies. The report contains a discussion of the reasoning behind and the sources of information leading to suggested requirements. The results of the study indicate that the majority of V/STOL requirements can be defined by modifications to the helicopter and/or airplane requirements by appropriate definition of reference speeds. Areas where a requirement is included but where the information is felt to be inadequate to establish a firm quantitative requirement include the following: Control power and damping relationships about all axes for various sizes and types of aircraft; control power, sensitivity, d-amping and response for height control; dynamic longitudinal and dynamic lateral- directional stability in the transition region, including emergency operation; hovering steadiness; acceleration and deceleration in transition; descent rates and flight-path angles in steep approaches, and thrust margin for approach.