The principles and practical application of helicopter inverse simulation

Inverse simulation is a technique whereby the control actions required for a modelled vehicle to fly a specified manoeuvre can be established. In this paper the general concepts of inverse simulation are introduced, and an algorithm designed specifically to achieve inverse simulation of a single main and tail rotor helicopter is presented. An important element of an inverse simulation is the design of the input functions i.e. manoeuvre definitions, and the methods used are also detailed. A helicopter mathematical model is also discussed along with the validation and verification of the inverse simulation. Finally, the applicability of the method is demonstrated by illustration of its use in two flight dynamics studies. 0 199X Elsevier Science B.V.