Evaluation of the Design Requirements of the H-1 Upgrades Blade Fold Racks

Author

Funk, Matthew D.

Author_Institution

NAVAIR, Lexington Park, MD

fYear

2008

fDate

1-8 March 2008

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

15

Abstract

The United States Marine Corps contracted Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. (BHTI) to develop and field new versions of the aging UH-1N and AH-1W helicopters. As part of the development effort of the H-1 upgrades, BHTI was tasked with development of a folding rotor system and the associated equipment necessary to support main rotor folding operations. The blade fold equipment (BFE) was constrained throughout the development process by a list of conflicting requirements. The requirements for commonality, versatility, simplicity, light weight, rapid application, and durability, while each was generally reasonable, could not be satisfied with one set of equipment. The resulting BFE was ineffective for everyday use.

Keywords

aerospace engineering; blades; design engineering; helicopters; military aircraft; rotors; AH-1W helicopters; UH-1N helicopters; United States Marine Corps contracted Bell Helicopter Textron Inc; blade fold racks; folding rotor system; Aerospace engineering; Aging; Aircraft; Biographies; Blades; Design methodology; Helicopters; Manufacturing; Rivers; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Aerospace Conference, 2008 IEEE

Conference_Location

Big Sky, MT

ISSN

1095-323X

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-1487-1

Electronic_ISBN

1095-323X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/AERO.2008.4526554

Filename

4526554