This paper analyzes the effects of the helicopter dynamics on pilots’ learning process and transfer of learned skills during autorotation training. A quasi-transfer-of-training experiment was performed with 14 experienced helicopter pilots in a moving-base flight simulator. Two types of helicopter dynamics, characterized by a different autorotative index, were considered: “hard,” with high pilot compensation required, and “easy,” with low compensation required. Two groups of pilots tested the two types of dynamics in a different training sequence: hard-easy-hard (HEH group) and easy-hard-easy (EHE group). Participants of both groups were able to attain adequate performance at touchdown in most of the landings with both types of dynamics. However, a clear positive transfer effect in terms of acquired skills is found in both groups from the hard to the easy dynamics, but not from the easy to the hard dynamics, confirming previous experimental evidence. Positive transfer is especially observed for the rate of descent at touchdown. The two groups differed in the control strategy applied, with the HEH group having developed a more robust control technique. During the last training phase the EHE group aligned its control strategy with that of the HEH group.@en

Training has the potential to inject a “safety vaccination” into the rotorcraft community by reducing the number of accidents. The term training should not be intended only in a strict sense, i.e., as pilot technical skills training, but more broadly as risk avoidance and safety culture training. As in the case of vaccination, where immunity is created only when applied on a large scale, helicopter accidents will not be eradicated until every player in the rotorcraft community is involved in the safety enhancement process. In particular, as outlined by accident and safety reports, a reduction in the helicopter accident rate cannot be accomplished disregarding pilots’ training and the contribution that _ight simulators can provide to both training and certi_cation. This paper provides an overview of the research into simulator training for helicopter pilots conducted as part of the European Joint Doctorate NITROS (Network for Innovative Training on Rotorcraft Safety). An approach that requires an in-depth analysis of the actual training task is adopted for two different maneuvers, namely hover and autorotation. This approach enables the training developer to understand what are the aspects of the actual training situation that should be reproduced in the simulated training situation to avoid ineffective training and negative transfer of skills. Moreover, such an approach allows to identify differences in terms of requirements between the training of basic and advanced maneuvers and between initial and recurrent training. The results of three different pilot-in-theloop experiments, performed to explicitly con_rm the effectiveness of developed training programs and to understand whether certain elements of the simulation can foster the development of superior _ying skills, are summarized in this paper. @en

Autorotation is a flight condition whereby the engine of a helicopter is no longer supplying power to the main rotor system, which is driven solely by the upward flow of the air moving through the rotor. For helicopters, autorotation is a common emergency procedure performed by pilots to safely land the vehicle in the event of a power failure or tail-rotor failure. In the classic analysis of dynamic stability of helicopters in powered flight, it is common practice to neglect the effect of variation of rotor angular velocity, as the rotorspeed is constant. However, this assumption is no longer justified in case of autorotative flight. Therefore, the rotorspeed becomes an additional degree-of-freedom in autorotation, giving rise to a new stability mode that couples with classical rigid-body modes. The present paper aims at understanding the role of the rotorspeed degree-of-freedom in modifying the stability characteristics in autorotation of rotor systems with different autorotative flare indexes. Results show that the helicopter dynamics are considerably affected in autorotation as a consequence of the fact that the rotorspeed degree of freedom couples with the heave subsidence mode. Therefore, autorotation requires a different control strategy by the pilot and should not be mistakenly considered only as an energy management task. Furthermore, the autorotative flare index, used to characterize the autorotative performance during the preliminary design phase of a new helicopter, provides only energy information. Indeed, this paper demonstrates that high values of this index, representative of good autorotative performance in terms of available energy over required energy, may lead to degraded stability characteristics of the helicopter in autorotation.

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Today, simulators are achieving levels of complexity and cost that are comparable to those of the aircraft they should replace. For this reason, questions have been raised, in both the technical and training communities, on the required level of simulation 1delity for effective pilot training. Computer Based Trainers (CBTs) are not currently considered in regulatory standards, because it has not been proven yet whether they can replace or complement actual 2ight training hours. The aim of this paper is to better understand to what extent the low-level hover skills developed on a CBT are effectively transferred to a more realistic simulation environment. To achieve this goal, a quasi-Transfer-of-Training (qToT) experiment with task-naïve participants was performed in the CyberMotion Simulator (CMS) at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. Twenty-four subjects, divided in two groups, were trained to perform the hover maneuver controlling an identi1ed model of a Robinson R44 civil light helicopter. The 1rst group (the “experimental” group) was trained in a CBT and then transferred to the realistic setting in the CMS. The second group (the “control” group) received the entire training in the CMS. At the end of the experiment, the two groups were found to show comparable performance. This suggests that, even for the training of low-level 2ying skills, CBTs may be a valid alternative to high 1delity simulators, if supported by a suitable training program. @en