Practical Measurement of Aircraft Electrostatic Charging

As part of risk assessment for helicopter hoisting operations a measurement campaign for practical evaluation of charge voltage and energy of an aircraft was performed. An electrostatic field meter setup was developed and tested using a drone setup and a helicopter setup. The measurement capability of the setups was demonstrated as being useable. The conversion factor between static field meter reading and the helicopter to ground potential as function of distance (height above ground) for the test setup has been derived and showed an inverse square root proportionality. This allowed for a helicopter potential measurement system without conductive wires between the helicopter and ground. The generation of electrostatic charging for a helicopter was confirmed using the developed test setup although weather conditions only allowed retrieval of one data series.