Helicopter Performance Stability And Control

Flight dynamics create important research problems in the process of helicopter design. They involve advanced design ideas and engineering technology theories. This book concerns flight theory and research methods for helicopter flight science and technology. The contents include the fundamentals of rotor aerodynamics, helicopter trim, helicopter stability and control, and helicopter performance analyses. The book also lokks at the kinematics, dynamics, control, and aerodynamics of the helicopter during maneuvering flight. With an emphasis on the physical concepts, the characteristics of rotor flapping, theoretical analyses and numerical simulation methods for helicopter flight mechanics are detail described in detail. The book is primarily intended for senior undergraduates and postgraduates who major in aerospace engineering. It is also a good reference book for helicopter engineers interested design and operational engineering. It lays a foundation for the study of helicopter aeromechanics.

Written by an internationally recognized teacher and researcher, this book provides a thorough, modern treatment of the aerodynamic principles of helicopters and other rotating-wing vertical lift aircraft such as tilt rotors and autogiros. The text begins with a unique technical history of helicopter flight, and then covers basic methods of rotor aerodynamic analysis, and related issues associated with the performance of the helicopter and its aerodynamic design. It goes on to cover more advanced topics in helicopter aerodynamics, including airfoil flows, unsteady aerodynamics, dynamic stall, and rotor wakes, and rotor-airframe aerodynamic interactions, with final chapters on autogiros and advanced methods of helicopter aerodynamic analysis. Extensively illustrated throughout, each chapter includes a set of homework problems. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students, practising engineers, and researchers will welcome this thoroughly revised and updated text on rotating-wing aerodynamics.

Although a number of texts on helicopter aerodynamics have been written, few have explained how the various theories concerning rotorborne flight underpin practical flight test and evaluation. This book combines theoretical information on aerodynamics, stability, control and performance with details of evaluation methodologies and practical guidance on the conduct of helicopter flight tests. For each topic the relevant theory is explained briefly and followed by details of the practical aspects of testing a conventional helicopter. These include: * safety considerations * planning the tests * the most efficient way to conduct individual flights Where possible typical test results are presented and discussed. The book draws on the authors' extensive experience in flight test and flight test training and will appeal not only to professionals working in the area of rotorcraft test and evaluation, but also to helicopter pilots, rotorcraft designers and manufacturers and final year undergraduates of aeronautical engineering

Basic Helicopter Aerodynamics is widely appreciated as an easily accessible, rounded introduction to the first principles of the aerodynamics of helicopter flight. Simon Newman has brought this third edition completely up to date with a full new set of illustrations and imagery. An accompanying website www.wiley.com/go/seddon contains all the calculation files used in the book, problems, solutions, PPT slides and supporting MATLAB® code. Simon Newman addresses the unique considerations applicable to rotor UAVs and MAVs, and coverage of blade dynamics is expanded to include both flapping, lagging and ground resonance. New material is included on blade tip design, flow characteristics surrounding the rotor in forward flight, tail rotors, brown-out, blade sailing and shipborne operations. Concentrating on the well-known Sikorsky configuration of single main rotor with tail rotor, early chapters deal with the aerodynamics of the rotor in hover, vertical flight, forward flight and climb. Analysis of these motions is developed to the stage of obtaining the principal results for thrust, power and associated quantities. Later chapters turn to the characteristics of the overall helicopter, its performance, stability and control, and the important field of aerodynamic research is discussed, with some reference also to aerodynamic design practice. This introductory level treatment to the aerodynamics of helicopter flight will appeal to aircraft design engineers and undergraduate and graduate students in aircraft design, as well as practising engineers looking for an introduction to or refresher course on the subject.

Aerodynamic characteristics were determined of three cylindrical shapes representative of tail boom cross sections of the AH-64, UH-60, and UH-1H helicopters. Forces and pressures were measured in a wind-tunnel investigation. Data was obtained for a flow incidence range from -45 to 90 deg and a dynamic pressure range from 1.5 to 50 psf. These ranges provided data representative of full-scale Reynolds numbers and the full range of flow incidence to which these helicopter tail boom shapes would be subjected at low flight speeds. The effects of protuberances such as tail rotor drive-shaft covers and spoilers were evaluated. The data indicate that significant side loads on tail booms of helicopters can be generated and that the addition of spoilers can beneficially alter the side loads. Although an increase in vertical drag occurs, the net effect through reduction of tail rotor thrust required can be an improvement in helicopter performance. Keywords: Rotorcraft; Aerodynamics; Stability and control; Helicopters; Tail booms.

This is a collection of the Ray Prouty's columns in Rotor and Wing and American Helicopter Society's Vertiflite magazine from 1992 to 2004.