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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Piloting Vertical Flight Aircraft: A Conference on Flying Qualities and Human Factors

This document contains papers from a specialists' meeting entitled "Piloting Vertical Flight Aircraft. A Conference on Flying Qualities and Human Factors." The conference was co-sponsored by the American Helicopter Society--San Francisco Bay Chapter, and the NASA Ames Research Center. It was held January 20-22, 1993 at the Sheraton Hotel Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California. Vertical flight aircraft, including helicopters and a variety of Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) concepts, place unique requirements on human perception, control, and performance for the conduct of their design missions. The intent of this conference was to examine, for these vehicles, advances in: (1) design of flight control systems for ADS-33C standards; (2) assessment of human factors influences of cockpit displays and operational procedures; (3) development of VTOL design and operational criteria; and (4) development of theoretical methods or models for predicting pilot-vehicle performance and mission suitability. Recognizing that human capabilities and limitations form an integral aspect of the operations for these classes of vehicles, a secondary goal of the conference was to provide an initial venue for enhanced interaction between human factors and handling qualities specialists.

Helicopter↗
NASA NTRS1983

Vertical flight path steering system for aircraft

Disclosed is a vertical flight path angle steering system for aircraft, utilizing a digital flight control computer which processes pilot control inputs and aircraft response parameters into suitable elevator commands and control information for display to the pilot on a cathode ray tube. The system yields desirable airplane control handling qualities and responses as well as improvements in pilot workload and safety during airplane operation in the terminal area and under windshear conditions.

Lambregts, Antonius A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Vertical flight training: An overview of training and flight simulator technology with emphasis on rotary-wing requirements

The principal purpose of this publication is to provide a broad overview of the technology that is relevant to the design of aviation training systems and of the techniques applicable to the development, use, and evaluation of those systems. The issues addressed in our 11 chapters are, for the most part, those that would be expected to surface in any informed discussion of the major characterizing elements of aviation training systems. Indeed, many of the same facets of vertical-flight training discussed were recognized and, to some extent, dealt with at the 1991 NASA/FAA Helicopter Simulator Workshop. These generic topics are essential to a sound understanding of training and training systems, and they quite properly form the basis of any attempt to systematize the development and evaluation of more effective, more efficient, more productive, and more economical approaches to aircrew training. Individual chapters address the following topics: an overview of the vertical flight industry: the source of training requirements; training and training schools: meeting current requirements; training systems design and development; transfer of training and cost-effectiveness; the military quest for flight training effectiveness; alternative training systems; training device manufacturing; simulator aero model implementation; simulation validation in the frequency domain; cockpit motion in helicopter simulation; and visual space perception in flight simulators.

Alderete, Thomas S.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Concepts for generating optimum vertical flight profiles

Algorithms for generating optimum vertical profiles are derived and examined. These algorithms form the basis for the design of onboard flight management concepts. The variations in the optimum vertical profiles (resulting from these concepts) due to variations in wind, takeoff weight, and range-to-destination are presented. Further considerations for mechanizing two different onboard methods of computing near-optimum flight profiles are then outlined. Finally, the results are summarized, and recommendations are made for further work. Technical details of optimum trajectory design, steering requirements for following these trajectories, and off-line computer programs for testing the concepts are included.

Sorensen, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Second Annual Transformative Vertical Flight Concepts Workshop: Enabling New Flight Concepts Through Novel Propulsion and Energy Architectures

On August 3rd and 4th, 2015, a workshop was held at the NASA Ames Research Center, located at the Moffett Federal Airfield in California to explore the aviation communities interest in Transformative Vertical Flight (TVF) Concepts. The Workshop was sponsored by the AHS International (AHS), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and hosted by the NASA Aeronautics Research Institute (NARI). This second annual workshop built on the success and enthusiasm generated by the first TVF Workshop held in Washington, DC in August of 2014. The previous Workshop identified the existence of a multi-disciplinary community interested in this topic and established a consensus among the participants that opportunities to establish further collaborations in this area are warranted. The desire to conduct a series of annual workshops augmented by online virtual technical seminars to strengthen the TVF community and continue planning for advocacy and collaboration was a direct outcome of the first Workshop. The second Workshop organizers focused on four desired action-oriented outcomes. The first was to establish and document common stakeholder needs and areas of potential collaborations. This includes advocacy strategies to encourage the future success of unconventional vertiport capable flight concept solutions that are enabled by emerging technologies. The second was to assemble a community that can collaborate on new conceptual design and analysis tools to permit novel configuration paths with far greater multi-disciplinary coupling (i.e., aero-propulsive-control) to be investigated. The third was to establish a community to develop and deploy regulatory guidelines. This community would have the potential to initiate formation of an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) F44 Committee Subgroup for the development of consensus-based certification standards for General Aviation scale vertiport capable flight systems. These standards need to accommodate novel fixed wing concepts that do not fit within the existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rotorcraft certification framework (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Chapter I, Subchapter C, Part 27). The fourth desired outcome was to launch an information campaign to ensure key U.S. Government agencies understand the potential benefits and industry interest in establishing new vertiport capable flight markets. This record of the Workshop proceedings documents Workshop activities and products including summaries of the video recorded technical presentations, overviews of three breakout sessions (Missions Operational Concepts, Prioritized Technical Challenges, Regulatory Roadmap), and a preliminary draft roadmap framework for TVF.

V/STOL↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Overview: Vertical Flight Research

An overview of NASA Aeronautics new structure, the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project, with particular emphasis on vertical lift propulsion technology research areas.

Susan A Gorton↗
NASA NTRS1987

Integrated control and display research for transition and vertical flight on the NASA V/STOL Research Aircraft (VSRA)

Results of a substantial body of ground-based simulation experiments indicate that a high degree of precision of operation for recovery aboard small ships in heavy seas and low visibility with acceptable levels of effort by the pilot can be achieved by integrating the aircraft flight and propulsion controls. The availability of digital fly-by-wire controls makes it feasible to implement an integrated control design to achieve and demonstrate in flight the operational benefits promised by the simulation experience. It remains to validate these systems concepts in flight to establish their value for advanced short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft designs. This paper summarizes analytical studies and simulation experiments which provide a basis for the flight research program that will develop and validate critical technologies for advanced STOVL aircraft through the development and evaluation of advanced, integrated control and display concepts, and lays out the plan for the flight program that will be conducted on NASA's V/STOL Research Aircraft (VSRA).

Foster, John D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Integrated control and display research for transition and vertical flight on the NASA V/STOL Research Aircraft (VSRA)

Results of a substantial body of ground-based simulation experiments indicate that a high degree of precision of operation for recovery aboard small ships in heavy seas and low visibility with acceptable levels of effort by the pilot can be achieved by integrating the aircraft flight and propulsion controls. The availability of digital fly-by-wire controls makes it feasible to implement an integrated control design to achieve and demonstrate in flight the operational benefits promised by the simulation experience. It remains to validate these systems concepts in flight to establish their value for advanced short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft designs. This paper summarizes analytical studies and simulation experiments which provide a basis for the flight research program that will develop and validate critical technologies for advanced STOVL aircraft through the development and evaluation of advanced, integrated control and display concepts, and lays out the plan for the flight program that will be conducted on NASA's V/STOL Research Aircraft (VSRA).

Foster, John D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Computer programs for generation and evaluation of near-optimum vertical flight profiles

Two extensive computer programs were developed. The first, called OPTIM, generates a reference near-optimum vertical profile, and it contains control options so that the effects of various flight constraints on cost performance can be examined. The second, called TRAGEN, is used to simulate an aircraft flying along an optimum or any other vertical reference profile. TRAGEN is used to verify OPTIM's output, examine the effects of uncertainty in the values of parameters (such as prevailing wind) which govern the optimum profile, or compare the cost performance of profiles generated by different techniques. A general description of these programs, the efforts to add special features to them, and sample results of their usage are presented.

Sorensen, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Generation and evoluation of near-optimum vertical flight profiles

The overall objectives of this research effort have been to develop and evaluate algorithms and flight management concepts for minimization of fuel or direct operating costs. These concepts are to be used for flight planning or for on-board computation and steering of turbojet transport aircraft in the vertical path. Within this research context, a computer program, called OPTIM, has been developed to use these algorithms to generate near-optimum vertical reference profiles. OPTIM contains control options to examine effects of various flight constraints on cost performance. A companion program, called TRAGEN, was developed to simulate an aircraft flying along a given vertical reference profile. TRAGEN is used to verify OPTIM's output , to examine the effects of parameter value uncertainty (such as prevailing wind), and to compare cost performance of profiles generated by different techniques. This paper describes OPTIM and TRAGEN and presents examples of the programs utility.

Sorensen, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Historical Contributions to Vertical Flight at the NASA Langley Research Center

The NASA Langley Research Center has had a long and distinguished history in powered lift technology development. This research has formed the foundation of knowledge for the powered lift community worldwide. From aerodynamics to structures, aeromechanics, powered lift, acoustics, materials, stability & control, structural dynamics and human factors, Langley has made significant contributions to the advancement of vertical lift technologies. This research has encompassed basic phenomenological studies through subscale laboratory testing, analytical tool development, applied demonstrations and full scale flight-testing. Since the dedication of Langley in 1920, it has contributed to the understanding, design, analysis, and flight test development of experimental and production V/STOL configurations. This paper will chronicle significant areas of research through the decades from 1920 to 2015 with historical photographs and references.

Hodges, William T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Functional integration of vertical flight path and speed control using energy principles

A generalized automatic flight control system was developed which integrates all longitudinal flight path and speed control functions previously provided by a pitch autopilot and autothrottle. In this design, a net thrust command is computed based on total energy demand arising from both flight path and speed targets. The elevator command is computed based on the energy distribution error between flight path and speed. The engine control is configured to produce the commanded net thrust. The design incorporates control strategies and hierarchy to deal systematically and effectively with all aircraft operational requirements, control nonlinearities, and performance limits. Consistent decoupled maneuver control is achieved for all modes and flight conditions without outer loop gain schedules, control law submodes, or control function duplication.

Lambregts, A. A.↗