NASA Langley Impact Dynamics Facility

This paper describes the NASA Langley Impact Dynamics Facility that will be used to crash test full-scale light aircraft under the Joint FAA/NASA General Aviation Crashworthiness Program. The aircraft are crashed into the ground as free bodies, using a pendulum swing method to obtain desired flightpath angles and velocities. The aircraft are unrestrained during impact to obtain realistic reactions. Accelerations and strains of the aircraft structure are measured during impact. The crash sequence and structural deformations are obtained by external and internal camera coverage.