Biodynamic Pilot Modelling for Aeroelastic A/RPC

This work discusses the identification and the modeling of the biomechanics of fixed and rotary wing aircraft. The study is conducted within the European Commission 7th Framework Programme ‘Aristotel’ to understand the potential impact of involuntary pilot activity on the stability and the handling qualities of the vehicle, and to develop the capability to assess the proneness of the vehicle to adverse aircraft and rotorcraft pilot couplings. Transfer function identification from experimental results and multibody modeling of pilot biomechanics are used to provide an insight into the problem and to devise quantitative results that can be used in coupled bioaeroservoelastic analysis. Their application to stability assessment is discussed, and a novel criterion to estimate handling quality degradation as a consequence of adverse aircraft pilot coupling is outlined.