ExpP-RW Flight Mechanics Rev0

MECH 3901 R/C Rotorcraft Laboratory Tests Carleton University
1

MECH 3901:
Radio Controlled (R/C) Rotorcraft Laboratory Tests

D. Feszty
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Carleton University
Ottawa, ON

5 January 2013

1. OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of this laboratory is to demonstrate that despite the very complex nature of
helicopter aerodynamics which is dominated by 3D flows, blade flapping and wake interference effects,
- simple Momentum Theory can be used to predict helicopter performance with acceptable engineering
accuracy. Momentum Theory is studied by Carleton engineering students in the 2
nd
year Fluid Mechanics
I course, so they should have sufficient background to complete this laboratory exercise.

2. INTRODUCTION

Helicopters are an invaluable tool for many civilian and military missions because of their unique ability to
hover, take-off and land vertically. Although helicopters are much slower in forward flight than fixed-wing
aircraft (the max. speed of a helicopter is typically between 250 km/h 400 km/h, while fixed-wing aircraft
can easily reach 550-900 km/h), the hover and VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) capability makes
them irreplaceable in many missions.

The heart of a helicopter is the main rotor, which generates thrust via rotating wings the rotor blades.
For this reason, vehicles with rotating wings are termed as rotary-wing aircraft, or in short: rotorcraft.
There are actually four types of rotorcraft, of which only one is the helicopter. Their common feature is
that they all generate thrust via rotating wings.

TASK 1: Perform a quick literature review to understand the differences between the
various types of rotorcraft, i.e. between :
o Autogyro
o Tilt-rotor aircraft
o Tilt-wing aircraft
o Helicopter
Show a picture of each of them (with proper reference to the source of the picture) and
explain in max. 5 lines that how do they work, specifically that how do they take-off, fly
forward, hover (if they can) and land.

The aerodynamics of rotating wings is very complex, especially in forward flight. It is said that in this flight
regime, all known aerodynamic phenomena occur within one revolution: time-varying freestream and
angle of attack, 3D flow, dynamic stall, shock waves and blade-vortex interaction, just to name a few.

2

Despite the very complex nature of rotary-wing aerodynamics, the overall characteristics of the rotor
such as the shape of the wake, rotor power and rotor torque can be surprisingly well predicted by
Momentum Theory, which students are familiar with from 2
nd
year Fluid Mechanics I.

The purpose of this lab is therefore to demonstrate the power of Momentum Theory by comparing
theoretical results to actual measurements on a radio-controlled (R/C) helicopter in a wind tunnel.

3. BACKGROUND

This section explains the basics of helicopter control so that students have enough background to control
the R/C helicopter to be used for the experiment.

3.1. Rotor blades vs. rotor disc

The circular area covered by the tips of the rotating blades is called the rotor disc. The thrust generated
by the rotor is always perpendicular to the rotor disc. One can already suspect, that by changing the
direction and/or the magnitude of the thrust force, one can control the direction of flight of the helicopter.

Fig.1. Rotor disc. (Source: www.avsim.com)
.

3.1. Main rotor torque
When the main rotor rotates, it generates a torque (the so-called main rotor torque). This needs to be
counteracted somehow, otherwise the helicopter fuselage would spin around rotor in the opposite
direction than the rotor. On a conventional helicopter, this is achieved by the tail rotor, which thrust
Thrust
3

essentially acts as a sideforce on a moment arm (the distance between the main rotor shaft and the tail
rotor shaft). The resultant moment is used to counteract the main rotor torque (Fig. 2).

Fig.2. The role of the tail rotor is to counteract the main rotor torque.
Without this, the fuselage would spin around the rotor. (Source: www.faasafety.gov)
The magnitude of the tail rotor thrust is controlled by the pilot. By this, the pilot can control the heading (or
yaw angle) of the helicopter. For all tests within this laboratory exercise, the helicopter will be fixed to a
stationary frame and therefore the control of the tail rotor will not be used.

3.2. Main rotor frequency
Helicopter rotors differ from propellers in the way how they change the magnitude of their thrust.
Propeller blades have fixed geometry (i.e. pitch angle) and thus a propellers thrust can only be varied by
varying the rotational frequency (RPM). On the other hand, helicopter rotors have a constant rotational
frequency (RPM) to avoid resonance with other parts of the drive system, and so their thrust can only be
varied by changing the blade pitch angle. In other words, a propellers thrust is controlled by the pilot by
varying the RPM of the propeller, while a helicopter rotors thrust is controlled by the pilot by varying the
blade pitch angle of the main rotor blades.
Of course, applying more thrust means the need for more shaft power, i.e. the throttle setting of the
engine driving the main rotor has to be constantly adjusted as the pilot varies the blade pitch angle. In the
past, this was done manually by the pilot. Nowadays, it is done electronically via a closed-loop control
system.
You will notice that on the R/C helicopter used for this lab, you are able to control the blade pitch angle
only, but not the rotor RPM. The latter one is controlled by an electronic circuit mounted on the engine.
This varies the throttle setting automatically to meet the varying power requirement of the rotor, as the
pilot changes the rotor thrust.

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3.3. Collective vs. cyclic control

As mentioned above, the main rotor thrust for helicopters can be controlled by controlling the pitch angle
of the main rotor blades.

The blade pitch angle can be varied both collectively and cyclically by the pilot. The former one
controls the magnitude of the main rotor thrust, while the latter one controls the tilt of the main rotor thrust.

By employing collective control, the magnitude of the rotor thrust can be changed, i.e. we can control
whether the helicopter will ascend or descend (Fig. 3).

By employing cyclic control, the tilt of the rotor thrust vector can be changed. When the rotor thrust
vector is tilted, the vertical component of this force will support the weight of the aircraft, while the
horizontal component will act as the propulsive force. In other words, cyclic control controls the direction
of flight. Note that the rotor thrust vector can be tilted in any direction (forward aft, left-right), thus an
additional advantage of a helicopter is that it can fly sideways or even backwards!

a) Climb b) Forward Flight

Fig. 3. Collective control changes magnitude of the rotor thrust and thus climb/descent (a),
while cyclic control changes the tilt of the rotor thrust vector and thus the direction of flight (b).

3.4. The swashplate

Note that the mechanism, through which the pilot employs collective and cyclic controls of the blade pitch
angle is the swashplate (Fig. 4): when it is moved up/down, the blade collective pitch is changed, when
it is tilted, the blade cyclic pitch is changed.

Task 2: With the help of your TA, identify the swashplate on the R/C helicopter and
observe its motion under collective and cyclic inputs. Repeat this with the rotor being
stationary and rotating as well. Note that whichever direction you tilt the swashplate, that
direction will tilt the rotor disk too.

Therefore, the main difference between a fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter is that while on a fixed-wing
aircraft the generation of lift and propulsive force are separated (lift is generated by the wing, propulsive
force by the propulsion unit), on a rotorcraft lift and propulsive force are generated by the same element:
the main rotor.

Thrust in HOVER
Thrust in CLIMB
Thrust in HOVER
Thrust in
FORWARD FLIGHT
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a) Collective control (climb/descend)

b) Cyclic control (forward flight)

Fig. 4. Swashplate.

4. MOMENTUM THEORY FOR HELICOPTERS

This section provides the theoretical background required for completing this laboratory exercise. It
describes the physical features of the flow around the helicopter as well as how Momentum Theory can
be applied to predict its key parameter.

4.1. The flowfield in hover
The flowfield around a helicopter main rotor in hover is depicted in Fig. 5a. The rotor generates a
contracting wake, which can be viewed as a streamtube. The term streamtube was introduced in Fluid
Mechanics I and it is essentially a virtual tube, which walls are created by streamlines (i.e. fast moving
air) instead of solid walls. The flow within the streamtube behaves exactly the same way as inside a
conventional tube or pipe. Accordingly, just outside the streamtube, the velocity is zero (i.e. we have
quiscent flow), whereas a few millimeters inside the streamtube, the velocity is non-zero, i.e. there is
indeed a virtual for our eyes invisible wall to the streamtube, formed by the streamlines.

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a) flowfield b) velocity distribution c) pressure distribution

Fig. 5. Key features of the flowfield in hover.

The pressure distribution along the streamtube is represented in Fig. 5b. The pressure far above the rotor
(at point 0) and far below the rotor (at point ) is equal to atmospheric pressure. The pressure just
above the rotor disk (p
1
) will be less than atmospheric pressure (i.e. there is suction over the rotor disk,
since the blade upper surfaces will generate suction), whereas the pressure just below the rotor disk (p
2
)
will be higher than atmospheric pressure. The difference between the two pressures yields a pressure
jump over the rotors disk:

from which one can calculate the thrust generated by the rotor as:

where T is the thrust generated by the rotor and A is the rotor disk area.

The velocity distribution through the streamtube is illustrated in Fig. 5c. Note that the velocity at plane 0
is zero (v
0
= 0), at the rotor disk is v
1
= v
2
= v
i
and far below the rotor is
. The variation of these

velocities is governed by the Continuity Law, i.e.

where v
i
stands for induced velocity (since this is is generated, or induced by the rotating wakes) and
w for wake velocity. According to Continuity Law, the wake velocity will be larger than the induced
velocity by the inverse of the contraction ratio:

)

Where the inverse of the 2
nd
term, (
), is the contraction ratio. The contraction ratio is obviously less

than unity.

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Finally, note that since energy is added to the system at the plane of the rotor disk, Bernoulli equation can
only be used either above or below the rotor disk, but not through the rotor disk itself! In other words, one
can employ Bernoulli equation between points 0-1 and 2-, but not between 1-2.

On the other hand, if a Control Volume embracing the entire streamtube is chosen, the Conservation
Laws of Fluid Mechanics can be applied to the entire system and the following fundamental results can
be obtained for a rotor in hover:

From conservation of mass:

(eq. 1)

with: - mass flow rate through the rotor

From conservation of momentum:

( ) (eq. 2)

with: - rotor thrust

From conservation of energy:

(eq. 3)

(eq. 4)

With:
- shaft power (time rate of change of shaft work)

Combining the above two equations leads to:

(eq. 5)

i.e. the velocity in the far wake is exactly twice the induced velocity at the rotor disk!
Backsubstituting the above result to eq. 1 yields:

(eq. 6)

i.e. the streamtube radius in the wake (plane ) should be:

(eq. 7)

Note that the above result is obtained by assuming ideal (no viscosity, swirl, or 3D
effects) 1-D flow. It has been observed that due to viscous effects and 3D flow, the wake
radius in real life is somewhat larger, but still surprisingly close to the above result, about
0.78R. One of your tasks will be to measure this radius in this laboratory exercise.

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4.2. Induced velocity: its meaning and importance

A key feature of the flowfield in hover is that the rotating blades will generate or induce - flow through
the rotor disk, which is called induced velocity (v
i
, Fig. 5b). The distribution of induced velocity can be
uniform (i.e. constant along the blade) only if the blades are twisted in a special manner. In this case, i.e.
when v
i
is constant along the blade radius, the power required to generate the prescribed thrust is
minimized, hence such twist distribution is called ideal twist. For all other twist distributions deviating
from ideal twist, the induced flow distribution will be non-uniform. Note that the blades of the R/C
helicopter used for this lab are untwisted, hence, the induced velocity distribution will be non-uniform for
this R/C helicopter.

Knowledge of the inflow velocity distribution is the single most important point in predicting
helicopter aerodynamics and performance. If the distribution of v
i
is known, all features of the
rotor (thrust, torque, power, etc.) can be accurately predicted. Without this, all results will have
inaccuracies.

It will be your task to measure the inflow velocity distribution for the R/C helicopter and to compare it to
calculations. The theoretical value of the induced velocity can be predicted from eqs. 1, 2 and 5 as:

(
(eq. 8)

From which one can express the (theoretical) induced velocity as:

(eq. 9)

with
being the induced velocity in hover. This is an important parameter, because we will relate to this
the safe speeds for climb and descent. There is no set formula to determine the distribution of v
i
for
forward flight, therefore we usually use measurement based empirical relations (curve fits) for these. This
is one reason why prediction of rotor aerodynamics in forward flight is a matter of research nowadays.

Note that in the above expression, we assume that the induced velocity distribution is uniform. This is
often not the case in real life even for hover. However, we can always replace real-life distributions with
an equivalent uniform distribution for comparison purposes. This is what will be one of your tasks in this
laboratory exercise.

Task 3: Based on the information in this section, which one of the choices below would
yield uniform distribution of the induced velocity over a blade?
a) untwisted blades
b) linearly twisted blades (linear distribution of twist)
c) ideally twisted blades (hyperbolic distribution of twist)

4.3. Rotor thrust, power and torque in hover

The thrust, power and torque of the rotor in hover can be determined theoretically according to the
following formulas.

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Rotor thrust:

Rotor thrust is denoted by the variable T and is essentially equal to the weight of the aircraft, i.e.

T = W (eq. 10)

Rotor power:

a) Ideal power, defined as the shaft power required to push air with density and velocity v
i
through the rotor disk if non-ideal effects (such as viscous effects, 3D effects, swirl, etc.) are
neglected. It can be obtained by combining eq. 4 and 9 as:

(eq. 11)

b) Induced power, defined as the shaft power required to push air with density and velocity v
i
through the rotor disk if non-ideal effects are considered. For this, we multiply the ideal power
by the so-called induced power correction factor, , which is typically around 1.10-1.15.

(eq. 12)

c) Profile power, defined as the shaft power required to overcome blade drag:

(eq. 13)

In the above expression, N
b
is the number of blades, the rotational frequency in [rad/s], c
the blade chord, c
d0
the blade parasite drag coefficient (typically around 0.01) and R the
rotor radius.

d) Total shaft power:

is the sum of induced power and profile power, i.e.

(eq. 14)

Rotor torque:

Knowledge of the torque generated by the rotor is crucial for designing the tail rotor of a
helicopter. Once the total shaft power of the main rotor is known, it can be calculated as:

(eq. 15)

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In the present laboratory exercise, we will actually measure the main rotor torque (Q) and main
rotor rotational frequency (W) via a special test stand, from which we will be able to determine the
actual shaft power (P) consumed by the main rotor.

4.4. Climb

In climb, the flowfield is largely similar to hover, as shown on Fig. 6. The only difference is that to each
velocity along the streamtube we have seen before (i.e. v
0
, v
i
, w) , we have to add the climb velocity, v
c
.

Fig. 6. Key features of the flowfield in climb.
(Source: Leishman, G.J..,Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics, Cambridge University Press, 2005.)

Then, by employing Momentum Theory to the Control Volume surrounding the streamtube generated by
the rotor, would lead to the following key results on thrust

T = 2 A (v
c
+ v
i
) v
i
(eq. 16)

which is an analogy to eq. 8 shown earlier for hover. The induced velocity, v
i
, in the above equation is the
induced velocity in climb, which can be calculated from the induced velocity in hover, v
h
, as:

(eq. 17)

Then, the shaft power required to climb can be calculated as:

P
ideal,climb
= T v
i
(eq. 21)

P = P
ideal,climb
+ P
0
(eq. 18)

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Note that within this laboratory exercise, we will not conduct any climb tests. We will only do descend test,
for which the required background will be described in the next section.

4.5. Descend

Vertical descend is a difficult maneouver for helicopters, which should be completed with special care.
Depending on the descend speed, the flowfield during descend can be very violent and can lead to
dangerous flight conditions.

Depending on the descend speed, there are 5 modes of descent (Fig. 7):

1) Normal working state of the rotor (safe way to descend)
v
D
= (0 ~ 0.5) v
h
v
i
= (1 ~ 1.5) v
h

2) Vortex ring state (lots of vibration: avoid this mode)
v
D
= (0.5 ~ 1.85) v
h
v
i
= (1.5 ~ 2.3) v
h

3) Autorotation (rotor rotates freely, without adding power - equivalent to glide for fixed-wing
aircraft, important safety feature for power loss)
v
D
= (1.85 ~ 1.9) v
h
v
i
= (1.7 ~ 1.8) v
h

4) Turbulent wake state (rotor disk acts like a flat plate)
v
D
= (1.85 ~ 2) v
h
v
i
= (1 ~ 1.8) v
h

5) Windmill brake state (rotor extracts power from the airflow, just like a windmill)
v
D
= (2 ~ 4) v
h
v
i
= (0.3 ~ 1) v
h

Note that Momentum Theory only works for modes 1 and 5, the other three modes are too far from ideal
flow assumptions and hence cannot be predicted by Momentum Theory. For these, we typically use
experimental results or empirical relations.

For mode 1, however, we can use eqs. 16-18 with a negative sign for the climb speed, v
D
, = -v
c ,
i.e.

(eq. 19)

T = 2 A (-v
c
+ v
i
) v
i
(eq. 20)

P
ideal,descend
= T v
i
(eq. 21)

P = P
ideal,descend
+ P
0
(eq. 22)

The most important point from the above is, that the safe mode of descend for helicopters is in the
normal working state of the rotor (mode 1 above) and at very low rate of descend (about half of the
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induced velocity in hover). Any faster descend will lead to the helicopter reingesting its own rotor wake,
causing very violent flow regimes with lots of vibration and dangerous flight conditions.

Fig. 7. Key features of the various flight regimes in descent. The pictures on the left show the tip vortex patterns in a wind tunnel.
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Sandwiched among these violent flight regimes is mode 3, autorotation, which is a very narrow
window in the descend speeds, during which the rotor works as a windmill, and allows to land the
helicopter even in the case of an engine failure. In other words, the rotor is freely rotating in this mode,
just like a windmill. All helicopter pilots are trained to fly in this mode in the case of emergency. However,
note that this very important mode of descend can only be entered by passing through one of the violent
flight regimes, either the vortex ring state or the turbulent wake state.

It will be your task to determine the descend speeds at which these modes occur and to qualitatively
observe them in the laboratory experiments.

4.6. Forward flight

In forward flight, the rotor is tilted forward so that the rotor thrust force which is always perpendicular to
the rotor disk - generates a forward pointing component of this force. This will act as the propulsive force
for the helicopter (Fig. 8). A major difference between a fixed-wing aircraft and a rotorcraft is therefore
that while for a fixed-wing aircraft the generation of lift and propulsive force is separated (lift is generated
by the wings, propulsive force by the propulsion unit) for helicopters these two forces are generated by
the same component: the rotor.

As it was explained in Sec. 3.3, the rotor disk is tilted via applying cyclic control by the pilot.

Fig. 8. The forces acting on the helicopter in forward flight.

Again, applying simple Momentum Theory would yield to the following key results:

Drag (force) of the helicopter fuselage: D
f

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Equivalent flat plate area of helicopter (area of a fictitious flat plate with a drag coefficient of C
D
= 1.0,
which would yield the same drag force as the helicopter):

(eq. 22)

Rotor tilt angle:
(eq. 23)

Forward flight speed for minimum power, corresponding to rotor tilt angle above:

)
]
(eq. 24)

Your task will be to setup a forward flight condition (i.e. a combination of rotor tilt and wind tunnel speed)
at which the two key conditions of horizontal level flight, i.e.:

T = W (eq. 25)

D = F
x
(eq. 26)

are both met at the same time. As you will see in the next section, you will have to develop an iterative
method to solve this problem.

Fig. 9. Shows the power curve of a helicopter in forward flight. Note from this that another - rather
interesting - fact about helicopters is that the power in forward flight is actually less than that in hover!
You will have a chance to observe it yourself on the measurements.

Fig. 9. Typical variation of power with forward flight speed. Note that the power in forward flight (for example at 70 kts) is LESS than
in hover (0 kts)! (Source: Leishman, G.J..,Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics, Cambridge University Press, 2005.)

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5. APPARATUS

The laboratory experiment comprises of a Walkera-Heli-HMV400D02-Devo7 radio-controlled (R/C)
helicopter (Fig. 10) installed in the open-loop wind tunnel in room ME 2195. The test section of this wind
tunnel has a cross-sectional area of 1.66 m (width, B) x 1.12 m (height, H). The maximum wind speed in
the tunnel is approximately 17 m/s. The main rotor diameter of the helicopter is D = 0.635 m and its
takeoff weight is 0.510 kg. It comes with a 6-channel transmitter, through which the collective, cyclic and
yaw inputs can be controlled.

More details of the helicopter are shown in Fig. 10 and Tab. 1.

Fig. 10. The Walkera-Heli-HMV400D02-Devo7 radio-controlled helicopter.

Tab. 1. Main parameters of the R/C helicopter to be used for the laboratory tests.
SKU Walkera-Heli-HMV400D02-Devo7
Manufacturer Walkera
Channels 6 Channels
Transmitter WK-Devo 7 (6 Channels 2.4GHz )
Gyro 3 Axis Gyro
Motor Main Motor : 380PF
Main Rotor Mechanism Flybarless
Main Rotor Diameter 635 mm
Tail Rotor Mechanism Tail Motor-Driven
Tail Rotor Diameter 136 mm
All-Up Weight (with battery) 510 g
Overall Length (mm)
650 (note: this is the fuselage length with the tail
rotor only)

16

Notice that on the transmitter of the helicopter, collective, cyclic and yaw can be controlled by the stick
motions shown on Fig. 11.

Fig. 11. Collective, cyclic and yaw control on the Walkera R/C helicopter used for the labs. Note that the pilot cannot change the
rotor RPM, it is kept nearly constant automatically by an electronic circuit mounted on the motor. Also note that in order to allow
measurememt of main rotor torque (and thus power), the yaw (or tail rotor) control has been disengaged for this laboratory.

The helicopter is attached to a test stand featuring a load cell capable of measuring thrust, drag and main
rotor torque. In addition to these, the main rotor RPM is measured too. Note that the tail rotor must be
disengaged to measure the main rotor torque. From the torque and RPM data, one can determine the
shaft power applied to the rotor in any given flight configuration, by using eq. 15.
The test stand allows the helicopter to be turned by 90 deg, i.e. perpendicular to the flow, so that descend
cases can be simulated in the wind tunnel.
In addition to this test stand, a movable Pitot tube is used to measure the velocity just below the rotor and
in the wake (far below the rotor). The Pitot tube can be moved along the radius of the rotor in 2 inch
increments. Also, a stripe is attached to the head of the Pitot tube to allow visualization of the edge of the
streamtube created by the rotor.

COLLECTIVE

LATERAL CYCLIC
(left-right)

YAW

LONGITUDINAL CYCLIC
(forward-aft)

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6. TEST PROGRAM
The tests should comprise of taking measurements in three flight regimes: hover, descend and forward
flight.

6.1 Hover tests
The main goal of these measurements is to determine the induced velocity in hover (v
h
) through the
rotor disk. This is required because all other configurations (such as climb, descend, autorotation) are
related to this value. In other words, in order to predict for example the autorotative rate of descend, we
need to know v
h
first. In addition to this, the experimental and theoretical wake contraction ratio as well as
the power will be compared.
a) Calculation of v
h
, w, P
ideal
:
Based on the equations shown in Sec. 4, determine the theoretical values of v
h
, w, P.
b) Measurement of v
h
,

w, contraction ratio, and P:
1) Rotate helicopter to 90 deg position do not switch on the wind tunnel, this test will mimic hover.

2) Switch on helicopter and set up thrust equaling the takeoff weight (0.510 kg).

3) Measure induced velocity just below the rotor at 5 points along the radius (since it is not constant
if the blades are not ideally twisted). Plot the data.

4) Calculate the average from the 5 measurement points and compare this average to v
h
from
above.

Note: the average shall not simply be the average of the four data you collect, but an area
average, i.e. the (likely trapezoidal) area covered by the actual data should be equal to the
rectangular area defined by the average value!

5) Measure the induced velocity far below the rotor disk (e.g. at least one diameter below the rotor
disk) and again calculate the area-based average as in point 4) above.

6) Determine the wake contraction ratio.

7) Measure the torque, rotational frequency and shaft power applied to the rotor.

8) Compare all above results (i.e. v
h
, w, wake contraction ratio, Q, , P) with the theoretical results
from point a). Discuss that which results match the theory, which dont and why.

9) Note that the power of Momentum Theory is that it does not care about the complexity of the flow
inside the Control Volume. Why?

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6.2. Descend tests
Simply said, a helicopter cannot descend too fast, otherwise it will encounter dangerous modes of
operation because of reingesting its own wake. This leads to excessive vibration and lots of discomfort
to the passengers. The goal of these measurements is to illustrate the various modes of descend.
There are five modes of descend:
Depending on the descend speed, there are 5 modes of descent:

1) Normal working state of the rotor (safe way to descend)
v
D
= (0 ~ 0.5) v
h
v
i
= (1 ~ 1.5) v
h

2) Vortex ring state (lots of vibration: avoid this mode)
v
D
= (0.5 ~ 1.85) v
h
v
i
= (1.5 ~ 2.3) v
h

3) Autorotation (rotor rotates freely, without adding power - equivalent to glide for fixed-wing
aircraft, important safety feature for power loss)
v
D
= (1.85 ~ 1.9) v
h
v
i
= (1.7 ~ 1.8) v
h

4) Turbulent wake state (rotor disk acts like a flat plate)
v
D
= (1.85 ~ 2) v
h
v
i
= (1 ~ 1.8) v
h

5) Windmill brake state (rotor extracts power from the airflow, just like a windmill)
v
D
= (2 ~ 4) v
h
v
i
= (0.3 ~ 1) v
h

We want to take measurements in modes 1, 3, 5 and to illustrate modes 2, 4.
a) Measurement of power in the Normal Working State (Mode 1)
1) Choose a wind tunnel speed between v
D
= 0.5 v
h
. Use the experimental induced velocity for v
h
.
Do not switch on the tunnel yet: read point 2!
2) The wind tunnels minimum test section speed is 3 m/s. This is already in the Vortex Ring State.
Therefore, we cannot reproduce the Normal Working State in the wind tunnel. This, however,
illustrates, that the safe descend speed for a helicopter is extremely low.
b) Illustration of Mode 2: Vortex Ring State
1) Switch on the wind tunnel to the speed corresponding to Mode 2, i.e. to v
D
= 1.5 v
h
. Use the
experimental induced velocity for v
h
.
2) Switch on helicopter and set collective to produce the same thrust as in hover (510 grams).
3) Take a note of the RPM of the rotor.
4) Try to notice any violent vibration.
5) Visualize the flow just below the rotor. You will notice that the flow is opposite to what it was in
hover, i.e. the rotor reingests its own wake!
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c) Measurement of power in the Autorotative State (Mode 3)
1) Switch on the wind tunnel to a speed close to v
D
= 1.9 v
h
, Use the experimental induced velocity
for v
h
.
3) Switch off the motor the rotor should rotate by itself!
5) Monitor the motor power generated, it should be zero!
d) Illustration of Mode 4: Turbulent Wake State
1) Switch on the wind tunnel to the speed corresponding to Mode 2, i.e. to v
D
= 2 v
h
. Use the
experimental induced velocity for v
h
.
4) Try to notice any violent vibration.
e) Measurement of power in the Windmill Brake State (Mode 5)
1) Switch on the wind tunnel to a speed around v
D
= 2.8 v
h
. Use the experimental induced velocity
for v
h
.
3) Switch off the motor the rotor should rotate by itself!
4) Take note of the RPM of the rotor. It should be larger than for Autorotation
5) Measure the rotor power generated (!!) by the motor, it should be about 2 ~ 3 times the power
measured in hover.
6) Visualize the flow through the rotor (via a stripe, perhaps), it should be in the opposite way than it
was in hover! (Also, the wake shape is opposite to hover, i.e. more narrow above the rotor and
wider below the rotor.)
Questions to be answered:
1) Why not to use the windmill brake state for emergency landing? This has larger window, easier to
catch.

2) This is not a question, but rather a comment: notice that in order to reach the safe heaven in
emergency situations autorotation the pilot must go through either of the most dangerous
flight modes, Vortex Ring State or Turbulent Wake State.

6.3. Forward flight tests
The objective of this test is to mimic a realistic forward flight case in the wind tunnel. Recall from Sec. 4.6.
that in forward flight the rotor is tilted forward so that the horizontal component of thrust acts as though a
propulsive force. The key condition of forward flight is therefore that the vertical component of thrust
equals weight, while the horizontal component of thrust equals drag.
20

The big challenge for the wind tunnel experiment is to predict the correct combination of flights speed and
tilt angle. Since these two and the associated drag are interconnected, an iterative procedure needs
to be employed.
Your task will be to determine these parameters (flight speed v
y
and the corresponding rotor tilt
TPP
)
iteratively and then to verify that this is indeed the correct combination by flying the helicopter, i.e.
proving that for these conditions
T cos(
TPP)
= W
T sin(
TPP
)

= D

Methodology:
1) Choose a reasonable wind tunnel speed, v (between 6 ~ 12 m/s).
2) Switch on the wind tunnel with this speed, and measure the drag force generated by the
helicopter at this speed. SWITCH ON THE ROTOR to get correct results!
3) Calculate for the drag force from Step 2 the equivalent flat plate area of the helicopter, f (Sec.
4.6)
4) Calculate for this equivalent flat plate area the corresponding forward flight speed, v
y
from the
expression in Sec. 4.6.
5) Check whether the speed for which drag was measured (v) is equal to the speed for which this
drag was applied (v
y
). If yes, continue to Step 6. If not, return to Step 1, choose another wind
speed and iterate.
6) Calculate the rotor tilt angle from the expression in Sec. 4.6.
7) Set this as helicopter tilt.
8) Fly helicopter, i.e. achieve T cos(
TPP)
= W & T sin(
TPP
)

= D simultaneously. Note that the
latter condition will appear as D = 0 on the test stand load cell, since that measures the
RESULTANT horizontal force.
9) Once equilibrium is achieved, read the RPM, torque and power of the helicopter. Since the power
data appears to fluctuate, calculate the actual shaft power from RPM and torque. Compare the
power in forward flight to the power in hover. It should be less than the power in hover!

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MECH 3901 R/C Rotorcraft Laboratory Tests Carleton University

. The variation of these

), is the contraction ratio. The contraction ratio is obviously less

- shaft power (time rate of change of shaft work)

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