Structural Flight Test of an AC-130A Gunship Empennage

Abstract

An AC-130A aircraft empennage was instrumented with electrical- resistance strain gages and flight test data was obtained for antiaircraft evasive maneuvers, 20mm General Electric Vulcan cannon firings, and 40mm Bofors gun firings. Complete descriptions of the test instrumentation, test conditions, strain gage locations, and results are contained in the report. Strain gages were located in the aircraft empennage area based on minimum margins of safety as found in the original Lockheed stress analysis. Results show that those stresses caused by gun firing, either 20mm or 40mm, are quite small and that the sum of the stresses due to the left hand orbit maneuver and the gun firing is well below design limits. Stresses produced by antiaircraft evasive maneuvers were also found to be well below design limits.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0737350

Entities

People

  • John J. Russell

Organizations

  • United States Air Force Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Colorado
  • Electrical Resistance
  • Fuselages
  • Gun Mounts
  • Instrumentation
  • Level Flight
  • Measurement
  • Mounts
  • Power Supplies
  • Recording Systems
  • Shear Stresses
  • Strain Gages
  • United States
  • United States Air Force Academy

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering/Mechanics of Materials.
  • ballistics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers