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An investigation of Handley Page Jetstream handling during landing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

G. J. Mullen*
Affiliation:
National Flying Laboratory Centre, College of Aeronautics, Cranfield University, UK

Abstract

Handley Page Jetstream G-NFLC has for many years been used to complement the theoretical teaching material on undergraduate and postgraduate aeronautical engineering courses through a set of airborne laboratories designed to expose students to practical measurements in a realistic environment. It is suspected by some of the Cranfield test pilots that the aeroplane may be prone to pilot involved oscillations in pitch during the flare; the most likely causes are a deterioration in the short period dynamics at aft centre of gravity locations and adverse longitudinal stick force characteristics. To date however, no objective data has been available to support this hypothesis. This study reports upon an experiment designed to quantify these effects by identifying linear models of the short term dynamics from flight-test data, and assessing them against the Gibson drop-back and phase rate criteria. As expected, a rearward shift in the centre of gravity causes the airframe short period pitching oscillation (elevator deflection to pitch rate) to become more sluggish, thereby producing a significant reduction in dropback, which can be traced directly to the size of the static margin. The longitudinal stick force characteristics have a negative impact on the response, causing a reduction in dropback and a substantial increase in phase rate.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2001 

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