NEW HELICOPTER FLIGHT TEST METHOD AWARDED AT THE SFTE-EC SYMPOSIUM

A new flight test technique (FTT) for the determination of cruise performance of a helicopter has been disclosed at the 36th Annual Symposium of the Society of Flight Test Engineers - European Chapter (SFTE-EC) on June 4-6, 2025, in Prague, Czech Republic.

In the paper entitled "Level Acceleration Flight Test Methodologies for Helicopter Performance Evaluation" by Irene Salmoiraghi, Andrea Castelli, Christopher Hyder (all from Leonardo Helicopters) and Lorenzo Trainelli , Associate Professor of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology at the Politecnico di Milano (DAER), the new FTT exploiting non-steady flight conditions is shown to be accurate and capable of flight-time savings over 80% compared to the traditional FTT.

The contribution was received with praise, earning the "best paper" award at the symposium.