Publications

Rotorcraft flight simulation models require high levels of fidelity to be suitable for use in support of life cycle practices, particularly vehicle and control design/development, system certification, and training qualification. More rigorous and systematic practices for fidelity assessments and enhancements could pay significant dividends in reducing life cycle costs for both military and civil rotorcraft. The AVT-296 Research Task Group has examined a range of rotorcraft simulation fidelity improvement methods and assessment metrics. Seven different model update methods, from simple to more complex, for improving the fidelity of a flight simulation model have been presented using eight comprehensive flight test databases made available through this working group. Fidelity assessment metrics in the time- and frequency-domains are considered, including those in current use by simulator qualification authorities (Qualification Test Guide, QTG) and others widely used in the research community for specific applications such as vehicle design improvement, development of handling-qualities requirements, and flight control design/evaluation. The benefits and limitations of the various methods/metrics for different engineering applications have been reported and recommendations made for future activities. The methods and metrics presented herein will find use in military and civilian applications to set criteria that will underpin the use of modelling and simulation in certification to accelerate development and acquisition and reduce the cost of new rotorcraft systems and legacy system upgrades. The criteria may also set standards for training devices to support the expansion of synthetic environments for training to offset the high costs of flying hours.