Tiltrotor analytic flight test and training support

Flight testing is used to determine basic air vehicle performance, handling qualities, avionics, and weapons suitability, as well as special mission applications like shipboard compatibility. Although basic flight testing is a required part of the acquisition cycle, it can be expensive and it may require a highly instrumented aircraft, plus a large test support team. The test team has limited capability to analyze aircraft characteristics early in the acquisition cycle. Aircraft in a grounded status for extended periods also make it difficult for test team members to get answers to specific questions relating to flight test applications. Tiltrotor models are available, but may have only a limited flight test support capability in specialized flight test scenarios. This paper reviews a generic model structure application to tiltrotor vehicle support for flight testing and training and presents some initial low speed model data applications. The generic model structure could also be used as the starting point for integrating a group of related technologies to greatly enhance future air vehicle acquisition, testing, and training.