| Abstract | The Flight Research Laboratory (FRL), of the National Research Council of Canada owns and operates a Bell 412 research helicopter that is essentially the same type aircraft as the Canadian Department of National Defense (DND) Griffon. DND has a major research thrust involving the improvement of aerodynamic and simulation models of this aircraft. In collaboration with DND, FRL has recently performed flight testing of the Bell 412 in support of this effort. In addition to the already extensive suite of inertial and engine data collected on a regular basis, the aircraft was instrumented with 256 static pressure transducers located at various positions around the fuselage, engine cowls and tail boom. Rotor flapping, lead-lag and strain quantities were also instrumented. Data was acquired in many different flight re- gimes throughout the aircraft envelope, including hover, cruise flight, climbs and descents and autorotation. Data was also collected in the hover both in front of a hangar face and in a field clear of obstacles in two different wind conditions, with a set of ground based anemometers to collect air wake data. This extensive data set is intended to serve as validation data for compu- tational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of the aircraft and to extend the knowledge base of the characteristics of airflow around a helicopter in flight. The data will also allow a better under- standing of the effects of buildings on the air wake of a helicopter, an important consideration for ship dynamic interface. This paper describes the instrumentation set up, flight testing con- ducted and provides samples of the flow field data collected. |
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