AH-1Z Initial Flying Qualities Development

Abstract

The United States Marine Corps' H-1 Upgrades program has been developed to produce advanced aircraft to replace the aging fleet of AH-1W and UH-1N helicopters. The new AH-1Z and UH-1Y are near total redesigns of the baseline aircraft to provide the Marine Corps with flexible and powerful attack and utility helicopters for the 21st century. The first AH 1Z is a structural and aerodynamic demonstrator, and it is currently in the initial stages of Development and Envelope Expansion flight testing as a part of Engineering and Manufacturing Development. Some of the upgrades that are being evaluated on the first AH-1Z are the new four bladed composite main and tail rotor systems, new drive systems, new wet wings, new landing gear, new hydraulics and flight controls, and strengthened structure. New advanced Integrated Avionics and Weapons Systems are included in the H-i Upgrades program but are not installed on AH-1Z #1. This paper will briefly outline the course of development and envelope expansion to date and then highlight several lessons learned during this initial testing.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA393523

Entities

People

  • Gregory Shimp
  • Herb Moran

Organizations

  • Naval Air Warfare Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircrafts
  • Airfoils
  • Airframes
  • Altitude
  • Control Systems
  • Engineering
  • Flight Control Systems
  • Flight Testing
  • Helicopters
  • Horizontal Stabilizers
  • Landing Gear
  • Lessons Learned
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Tail Rotors
  • United States
  • Utility Aircraft

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Coastal and Marine Engineering/Sediment Transport/Hydraulic Engineering
  • Software Engineering