Adaptation and Corroboration of the Theoretical Requirements for a Whole Aircraft Fighter Fatigue Test

The steps for a whole fighter aircraft fatigue test definition are identified. The relevant aspects are considered for a good test representation of the actual life aircraft behaviour in such a way to minimize the discrepancy of the detected failures in the test and in service.

It is shown, by an example, that the damage calculation (or the life consumption) should be done considering the internal load spectra instead of the load factor at aircraft center of gravity spectrum because the last one may be too conservative (in the case of the presented example).