A Comprehensive Approach for Tracking Helicopter Transmission Power Usage

This paper describes the development and implementation of a power usage metric designed to accurately track the usage of rotorcraft power train systems. Utilization of this power usage metric is believed to be more accurate than the traditional approach that uses flight time for scheduling the overhaul of rotorcraft transmissions. As such, the result of this study may help the industry develop engineering processes that include a power usage algorithm for establishing the intervals between inspections of transmissions in helicopter powertrains. The feasibility of this metric was subjected to a two-year operator's demonstration program. The results of this program showed that the rate of power usage for each aircraft could be tracked accurately and reliably. Furthermore, it showed that this power usage algorithm could be combined with mechanical diagnostic indicators to form a reliable prognostic model.