Since the introduction of the F-16 weapon system in the RNLAFD, load monitoring has been carried out with a Mechanical Strain Recorder (MSR) in each aircraft and a Flight Loads Recorder (FLR) in one sixth of the fleet. From 1990 on, these recorders have been replaced by instrumentation which is capable of recording peaks and troughs in the signal of a strain gage at the location of the MSR. The new instrumentation has been installed in three aircraft per squadron and is discussed in the report. The result is a calculated severity per mission type per squadron. By using the mission type mixture, the severity per base, squadron or tail number can be established. Inspection schemes, based on the recently developed Fleet Structural Maintenance Plan for the RNLAF, can be changed accordingly. Mission type and take off configuration for each flight is available from the debriefing form. Besides the single channel measurement, supporting measurements with more channels have been carried out. In this way it was checked whether the load severity for the MSR location can be used for other structural locations.
Load Monitoring of F-16 A/B Aircraft of the RNLAF with a Smart Electronic Device
1991
24 pages
Report
No indication
English
Aircraft , Logistics Military Facilities & Supplies , F-16 aircraft , Inflight monitoring , Fatigue life , Aircraft structures , Aircraft maintenance , Data recording , Damage assessment , Loads(Forces) , Fracturing , Cyclic loads , Cracks , Fighter aircraft , Strain gases , Life(Durability) , Foreign technology