Eurocopter has demonstrated new landing procedures relying on augmented satellite guidance that can be tailored to improve compliance with the local environmental requirements.
These new landing procedures were validated with a Eurocopter EC155 during recent flight tests performed as part of the company’s participation in the Green Rotorcraft Integrated Technology Demonstrator program.
Eurocopter’s validation flights demonstrated significant reductions in the helicopter’s perceived sound footprint. They also confirmed that automated low-noise approaches could be tailored to local environmental requirements, particularly suited to highly sensitive environments.
The flight-testing involved the use of optimised noise abatement flightpaths compatible with Instrument Flight Rules operations. During the EC155’s landing approaches, vertical guidance was provided by the European Satellite-Based Augmentation System, with the helicopter’s Flight Management System coupled to the Automatic Flight Control System. This enabled the new approach profiles to be flown accurately, minimising the pilot workload with an automatic monitoring of speed profiles and ascent/descent rates.
“Improving the neighbour-friendly aspects of rotorcraft continues to be a priority for us, and these new tests underscore how advanced flight guidance systems can be brought together with the latest navigation technologies to reduce perceived sound,” said Yves Favennec, Vice- President of Research at Eurocopter.
