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.