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Aviation History
1982
1982 - 1780.PDF
produce the units, far fewer than with stringer designs. A honeycomb core com bined with very thin, strong materials produces a structure some 10 per cent lighter than those produced by other methods. Only one major jig is needed for con struction of the fuselage, which has a constant cross-section. Fuel will be tanked under the floor, and flotation bags will be positioned under the sides. Vibration isolation for the floor will be achieved in a similar way to that for the Commercial Chinook. Tests with 23mm rounds produced holes which can be re paired with a field kit. The fuselage is totally modular, with wiring and hydraulic systems built on panels before assembly. It is conceivable that a whole cockpit unit could be changed in the field. When Flight visited BV's plant last month, photographing of the 360 fuselage was not permitted. A tricycle undercarriage is retracted with just one actuator (one double wheel at the front and two at the back a la GH-46), and the system will drop under gravity in the event of a failure. Boeing VertoFs intention seems to be to out-do the Acap contenders at their own game and then ask for some govern ment money. It is not clear how far BV will go with the 360 before external funding becomes critical, but the com pany points out that CH-46 and CH-47 development was completely company- sponsored to the point of a worldwide demonstration tour before the US government opened its purse. A great deal of 360 work is expected to be in corporated in any BV JVX or LHX pro posal. In related developments, BV hopes to secure a $13 million contract over four years to develop an advanced rotor blade for the Bell XV-15. VertoFs wind- tunnel has a 20ft square working section and can run up to 230kt. The company has the facility to build and to fully instrument test blades, but they are not cheap—around $100,000 apiece. Bearingless main rotor (BMR) tests The HLH rotor hub and components are of impressive size HLH fiy-by-wire actuators are under development Development of the combiner is the subject of a $2-8 million Army contract. The three engine inputs, rotor brake, and aft rotor output can be seen have restarted with the rotorhead which BV flew on a BO105. It was developed in conjunction with the Army between 1976-78 and accumulated 35hr of flight testing before the project was stopped. The rotor is now flying in Nasa Ames' 40ft x 80ft windtunnel, and should reach 185kt this year. Boeing Vertol is proposing an advanced BMB to the Army. It will have most of the flexible coupling within the rotor blade to re duce drag. An advanced digital optical control system (Adocs) contract worth $20 million has been won by BV, and the four-year contract will involve the de velopment of side-arm controllers, with four axes, to accommodate yaw, pitch, roll, and collective control in one unit. It is by no means clear if this is the best solution to freeing a pilot's hands for other jobs, and BV is also looking at the possibility of keeping one or more con trol axes separate (the anti-torque pedals, for example). Early results indi cate that the force-only controllers are not as good as those that incorporate some movement into the handgrip. To test systems, BV has virtually built its own simulator. At first sight the method seems somewhat old-fashioned, with TV cameras moving over a model 1684 FLIGHT International, 26 June 1982
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