Info: Sea Knight planned to crash aug 28

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NASA Media advisory M13-138

Aug. 21, 2013

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-9886/757-344-8511
kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov
MEDIA ADVISORY M13-138
NASA Crashes Helicopter to Study Safety

NASA researchers will drop a 45-foot-long helicopter fuselage from a height of about 30 feet to test improved seat belts and seats and advance experimental techniques and crashworthiness data.

News media representatives are invited to observe the drop test, scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Aug. 28, at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. U.S. media members must email Kathy Barnstorff at kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov or call 757-864-9886 for credentials no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27. Researchers will be available for interviews after the test.

NASA is collaborating with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Federal Aviation Administration on the Transport Rotorcraft Airframe Crash Test Bed full-scale crash tests at Langley's Landing and Impact Research Facility.

"We have instrumented a former Marine helicopter airframe with cameras and accelerometers," said lead test engineer Martin Annett. "Almost 40 cameras inside and outside the helicopter will record how 13 crash test dummies react before, during and after impact."

During the test, onboard computers will record more than 350 channels of data as the helicopter is swung by cables, like a pendulum, into a bed of soil. Just before impact, pyrotechnic devices release the suspension cables from the helicopter to allow free flight. The helicopter will hit the ground at about 30 mph. The impact condition represents a severe but survivable condition under both civilian and military requirements.

For the first time ever in any test, technicians installed a video game motion sensor in the helicopter. "We want to see if it is useful as an additional way to track the movements of the dummies," said test engineer Justin Littell.

The outside of the fuselage also is new for this test. Technicians painted one entire side in black polka dots over a white background -- a photographic technique called full field photogrammetry. Each dot represents a data point. High-speed cameras filming at 500 images per second track each dot, so after over the drop researchers can plot and see exactly how the fuselage buckled, bent, cracked or collapsed under crash loads.

Another crash test of a similar helicopter equipped with additional technology, including composite airframe retrofits, is planned for next year. Both tests are part of the Rotary Wing Project in the Fundamental Aeronautics Program of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

The Navy provided the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter fuselages, seats, crash test dummies and other experiments for the test. The Army contributed a litter experiment with a crash test dummy. The Federal Aviation Administration provided a side-facing specialized crash test dummy and part of the data acquisition system. Cobham Life Support-St. Petersburg, a division of CONAX Florida Corporation, also contributed an active restraint system for the cockpit.

NASA will use the results of both tests in efforts to improve rotorcraft performance and efficiency, in part by assessing the reliability of high performance, lightweight composite materials. Researchers also want to increase industry knowledge and create more complete computer models that can be used to design better helicopters.

The ultimate goal of NASA rotary wing research is to help make helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing vehicles more serviceable -- able to carry more passengers and cargo -- quicker, quieter, safer and greener. Improved designs might allow helicopters to be used more extensively in the airspace system.

The following address for a live-stream will be activated just prior to the test:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/NASA-lrc

For more information about NASA Aeronautics research, go to:

http://aeronautics.nasa.gov

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If interested: mind to add 6 hours to convert EDT into CET

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http://www.nasa.gov/aero/chopper_drop_s ... h9XNX-f7wk

Dummies strapped into their seats. Check.

Instrumentation and cameras hooked up. Check.

Helicopter fuselage ready for lift. Check.

After more than two years of preparation and collaboration between NASA, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Federal Aviation Administration, the day had finally come.

Thirteen instrumented crash test dummies and two un-instrumented manikins stood, sat or reclined for a potentially rough ride – the Transport Rotorcraft Airframe Crash Testbed full-scale crash test at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

"Three, two, one, release," said engineer Richard Boitnoitt on the loudspeaker at NASA Langley's Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) facility. With that countdown the 45-foot-long former Marine helicopter fuselage smacked into a bed of soil, its 15 occupants violently jolted all in the name of research to try to make helicopters safer.

"We designed this test to simulate a severe but survivable crash under both civilian and military requirements," said NASA lead test engineer Martin Annett. "It was amazingly complicated with all the planning, dummies, cameras, instrumentation and collaborators, but it went off without any major hitches."

Cables hauled the helicopter fuselage to a height of about 30 feet and then swung it to the ground, much like a pendulum. Just before impact, pyro-technic devices released the suspension cables from the helicopter to allow free flight. In "engineer speak," the chopper travelled at "35 feet per second horizontal and 26 feet per second vertical." In everyday language, it hit the ground at about 30 miles an hour.

Almost 40 cameras inside and out, and onboard computers with 350 data channels, recorded every move of the 10,300-pound fuselage and its "passengers." Even the helicopter's unusual black-and-white-speckled paint job contributed to the data collection. It was for a photographic technique called full field photogrammetry.

"High speed cameras filming at 500 images per second tracked each black dot, so after everything is over, we can plot exactly how the fuselage deformed or reacted under crash loads," said NASA test engineer Justin Littell.

The fuselage appeared to survive better than some of the occupants. The data will take months to analyze but initial observations indicate many of the dummies suffered what would have been severe injuries if they were humans.

The goal of the drop was to test improved seat belts and seats, to collect crashworthiness data and to check out some new test methods. But it was also to serve as a baseline for another scheduled test in 2014.

A crash test of a similar helicopter airframe equipped with additional technology, including composite airframe retrofits, is planned for next summer. Both tests are part of the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Fundamental Aeronautics Program Rotary Wing Project.

NASA will use the results of the crash experiments to try to improve rotorcraft performance and efficiency, in part by assessing the reliability of high performance, lightweight composite materials. Researchers also want to increase industry knowledge and create more complete computer models that can be used to design better and safer helicopters.

The Navy provided both CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter fuselages. For this first test it also contributed seats, five crash test dummies, one manikin and other experiments. The Army provided a manikin and a crash test dummy that was lying much like a patient in a medical evacuation litter. The FAA provided a side facing specialized crash test dummy and part of the data acquisition system. Cobham Life Support-St. Petersburg, a division of CONAX Florida Corporation, also contributed a retracting restraint system for the cockpit. NASA Langley added six of its own dummies as well as lead technical expertise and the LandIR facility and crew.

LandIR, a 240-foot high, 400-foot long gantry, has an almost 50-year history. It started out as the Lunar Landing Research Facility, where Neil Armstrong and other astronauts learned to land on the moon. Then it became a crash test facility where engineers could simulate aircraft accidents. And recently it added a big pool where NASA is testing Orion space capsule mock-ups in anticipation of water landings.

Kathy Barnstorff
NASA Langley Research Center

Crash test dummies inside a full-scale helicopter fuselage dropped from a height of 30 feet at NASA's Langley Research Center had a rough ride. Data from the crash test will take a while to analyze, but engineers say from preliminary observations had some of the occupants been human they might not h

Photo of the former Marine helicopter after the test drop.
Researchers say that, while the former Marine helicopter doesn't look very damaged from the outside, a number of the 13 instrumented crash test dummies and two un-instrumented manikins got tossed around pretty violently.
Following the drop test, personnel peer inside the helicopter to check the status of its "passengers."
Images Credit:
NASA Langley / David C. Bowman

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NASA press release 13-271:

Aug. 28, 2013

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-9886 / 757-344-8511
kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov
RELEASE 13-271
NASA Helicopter Test a Smash Hit

Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., dropped an old Marine CH-46E helicopter fuselage filled with 15 dummy occupants from a height of about 30 feet Wednesday to test improved seats and seatbelts and gather data on the odds of surviving a helicopter crash.

They used cables to hoist the helicopter fuselage with its mock passengers into the air and swing it to the ground, much like a pendulum. It was traveling at 30 mph when pyrotechnic devices separated the cables and let the fuselage hit the soil at Langley's Landing and Impact Research Facility.

"We designed this test to simulate a severe but survivable crash under both civilian and military requirements," said NASA lead test engineer Martin Annett. "It was amazingly complicated with all the dummies, cameras, instrumentation and the collaborators, but it went well."

The test was a collaboration between NASA, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Federal Aviation Administration.

The fuselage hit hard. Thirteen instrumented crash-test dummies and two un-instrumented manikins had a rough ride, as did some of the 40 cameras mounted inside and outside the fuselage. Preliminary observations indicate good data collection, which will take months to analyze.

Researchers used the cameras as well as onboard computers, which data from 350 instrumentation points, to record every move of the 10,300-pound aircraft and its contents. The helicopter's unusual black-and-white-speckled paint job -- a photographic technique called full field photogrammetry -- also aided in the data collection effort.

"High speed cameras filming at 500 images per second tracked each black dot, so after everything is over, we can plot exactly how the fuselage reacted structurally throughout the test," said NASA test engineer Justin Littell.

This was the first of two planned tests using Navy-provided CH-46E Sea Knight fuselages. A similar helicopter equipped with additional technology, including high-performance, lightweight composite airframe retrofits, will be used in a crash test next summer. Both are part of the Rotary Wing Project in NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

NASA will use the results of both tests in efforts to improve rotorcraft performance and efficiency. Researchers also want to increase industry knowledge and create more complete computer models that can be used to design better and safer helicopters.

The ultimate goal of NASA's rotary wing research is to help make helicopters and other vertical take-off and landing vehicles more serviceable -- able to carry more passengers and cargo -- quicker, quieter, safer and greener, and lead to more extensive use in the airspace system.

For this test, Langley used six of its own crash test dummies. In addition to the fuselage, the Navy contributed seats, crash test dummies, a manikin and other elements of the test. The Army provided a manikin and a crash test dummy that simulated a patient lying in a stretcher. The Federal Aviation Administration provided a side-facing specialized crash test dummy and part of the data acquisition system. Cobham Life Support-St. Petersburg, a division of CONAX Florida Corporation, contributed an active restraint system for the cockpit.

Video of the test will be available on the NASA TV video file and images will be posted on Langley's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50196521@N03/

For more information about NASA Aeronautics research, go to:

http://aeronautics.nasa.gov

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