3607. Proposal For An Update To SAWE-RP8A For Rotorcraft

Paper

Abstract

In the 1950s two U.S. weight and balance data reporting forms were developed: – MIL-STD-254 (ASG) (Issue 26 August 1954)Weight and Balance Data Reporting Forms for Aircraft and – MIL-STD-451 (ASG) Weight and Balance Data Reporting Forms for Rotorcraft In the 1960s the design offices of different aircraft- and rotorcraft companies were working on advanced/novel configurations, e.g. V/STOL aircraft, winged rotorcraft, tiltwings (propeller), fan-in-wings and lift-fans in fuselage, so it was very difficult to decide which standard form should be used.Therefore mass property specialists from different companies began working on a combined reporting form for aircraft and rotorcraft. The result was: – MIL-STD-1374 (31 March 1972) Weight and Balance Data Reporting Forms for Aircraft (including Rotorcraft) On September 30, 1977, the U.S. Department of Defense issued MIL-STD-1374A, ‘Weight and Balance Data Reporting Forms for Aircraft (including Rotorcraft)’. It thereby became the latest in a series of U.S. Military Standards that provided specific formats and accompanying instructions for reporting the weights of heavier-than-air flight vehicles and their constituent elements. Due to reorganisation and cost reduction efforts in the U.S. Department of Defence all the mass related standards were shifted to the Society of Allied Weight Engineers. So the BoD (Board of Directors) of the SAWE then became responsible for issuing mass standards. Europe used many different mass reporting forms: – West Germany LN 9020 (Issue 1962) Mass Breakdown for Aircraft Heavier than Air – U.K. AvMIN Form2492 (Issue 1964) Aircraft Mass Properties and Design Data – France Air 2001/C (Issue 15 December 1959) Devis De Poids (Avions) – Russia Characteristica Massa Camoleta National standardization panels of three countries; West Germany, U.K. and France have updated the individual mass standards to: – West Germany LN 9020 (Issue October 1983) Mass Breakdown for Aircraft Heavier than Air – U.K. CA(PE) Form 76 (Issue September 1981) Aircraft Mass Properties and Design Data – France Air 2001/D (Issue 10 December 1984) Devis De Masse des Avions The English version of the German Standard LN 9020 was submitted by AECMA as a proposal for a common European Standard but finally it was not issued. On September 1, 1995, the Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) adopted MIL- STD-1374A as a Society Recommended Practice, SAWE RP8 for new system design. On June 1, 1997, the SAWE approved a revision to RP8, identified as revision A to RP8. On July 18, 2005, MIL-STD-1374A was cancelled by the U.S. Department of Defense in favor of SAWE-RP8 for future acquisitions. Although in MIL-STD-1374A and in SAWE-RP8A it is always explicitly mentioned that the standards can be used for rotorcraft, both standards are more focused on fixed wing aircraft than on rotorcraft. In the meantime, especially at the 71st SAWE Conference 2012 in Bad Gögging and Manching, the Standard & Practice Session was discussing several revisions on the reporting form and the issue of SAWE-RP8, revision B. Nevertheless it was found, that this revision B does not include all the new design features of modern rotorcraft design. Therefore the proposal for an update of SAWE- RP8B to include modern rotorcraft design was made, with the aim that all the leading worldwide rotorcraft companies would comment on this proposal, and a modern SAWE-RP8C-Form would result. This paper gives a rationale for why the current RP8A can be used only partly for rotorcraft. It will identify some items which cannot be used and other items which are missing. In addition it will be shown that some items are only applicable to conventional (outdated) but not modern rotorcraft! The purpose of this paper is to achieve awareness that for rotorcraft a separate RP will be necessary. Therefore this paper should act as an initiator to develop a new RP – ‘Weight and Balance Data Reporting Forms for Rotorcraft’.