The art and science of rotary wing data correlation

This paper presents an overview of the correlation of helicopter rotor performance and loads data from various tests and analyses. Information is included from U.S. Army-sponsored tests conducted by Bell Helicopter Company for free-flight full-scale tests in the NASA-Ames 40 x 80 wind tunnel, one-fifth scale tests in the NASA-Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel, and small-scale tests of a rotor in air. These test data are compared with each other, where appropriate, and with calculated results. Typical examples illustrate the state of the art for correlation and indicate anomalies encountered. It is concluded that a procedure using theoretical analyses to aid in interpretation and evaluation of test results is essential to developing a science of correlation.