Proposed Yaw-Axis Target Acquisition and Tracking Handling Qualities Requirement Updates

A piloted simulation experiment was conducted in the NASA Ames Vertical Motion Simulator to investigate the effects of bandwidth, phase delay, attitude quickness, and maximum achievable rate on yaw-axis handling qualities in hover and forward flight. Two different aircraft were tested, representative of advanced scout-class rotorcraft. Five target acquisition and tracking Mission Task Elements were used in the study. Two of the tasks were modified versions of tasks used to determine the ADS-33E target acquisition and tracking yaw attitude quickness boundaries. Two of the tasks were modified versions of attitude capture and hold and sum-of-sines tracking previously used to evaluate pitch and roll axis handling qualities. The final task was a forward flight target acquisition task developed for this study based on a ground attack or strafing maneuver. Eight Army pilots participated in the study and evaluated 60 yaw-axis configurations. The results of the study suggest that the current yaw-axis hover/low-speed and forward flight bandwidth and hover/low-speed attitude quickness requirements for target acquisition and tracking are too low. Updated boundaries for these requirements are recommended.