In helicopter crashes, a potential source of injury is crewmember impact with the cyclic control stick. This program sought to alleviate that hazard through the development of a crashworthy cyclic control stick retrofittable to the UH-60A Black Hawk and AH-1S Cobra helicopters. Concepts examined for this application included those employing frangible, deformable, telescoping, collapsing, and separating sticks, as well as the cutters. The selected design was a slip joint separating stick, with an energy absorber, activated by crewmember impact. Four prototypes were fabricated and tested, both statically and dynamically. The newly designed sticks were shown to withstand specified emergency loads, while separating at crash impact loads of 1/2 to 1/3 that of conventional sticks. Further, the energy-absorbing capacity of the stick prevents completion of stick delethalization motion for loads of very short duration and thus minimizes the risk of inadvertant separation. (Author)
Crashworthy Cyclic Control Stick
1983
78 pages
Report
No indication
English
Aeronautics , Transportation Safety , Control sticks , Joints , Crashworthiness , Energy absorbers , Separation , Aviation safety , Retrofitting , Impact , Loads(Forces) , Helicopters , Attack helicopters , Crashes , Hazards , Aviation injuries , Rigidity , Emergencies , Airworthiness , Flight crews , Tolerances(Physiology) , Survival(Personnel) , H-1 aircraft , AH-1S aircraft , H-60 aircraft , UH-60A aircraft , Cyclic control sticks , Impact loads , Slip joints
An Improved Concept for a Crashworthy Cyclic Control Stick
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