A Study of the Stability of a Plate-Like Load Towed beneath a Helicopter

Recent experience has shown that a plate-like load suspended beneath a helicopter moving in horizontal forward flight has unstable characteristics at both low and high forward speeds. These findings have prompted a theoretical analysis to determine the longitudinal and lateral dynamic stability of a suspended pallet. Only the longitudinal stability is considered here. Although it is strictly a non-linear problem, the usual assumptions have been made to obtain linearized equations of motion. The aerodynamic derivative data required for these equations have been obtained, where possible, for the appropriate ranges of Reynolds and Strouhal number by means of static and dynamic wind tunnel testing. The resulting stability equations (with full aerodynamic derivative information) have been set up and solved, on a digital computer, to give direct indication of a stable or unstable system for a combination of physical parameters. These results have indicated a longitudinal unstable mode for all practical forward speeds. Simultaneously the important stability derivatives were found for this instability and modifications were made subsequently in the suspension system to eliminate the instabilities in the longitudinal sense.

Throughout this paper, all metric dimensions are given approximately.