Initial Results from the Vibration Management Enhancement Program for Army Cargo Helicopters

The technology developed as part of the Vibration Management Enhancement Program (VMEP) is currently being demonstrated on the US Army CH-47D and MH-47G Cargo Helicopter platforms as part of a Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) demonstration. The goal of CBM is to monitor aircraft component health and predict their remaining useful life enabling maintenance scheduling, mission planning, and proactive parts acquisition. The VMEP/MSPU systems for H-47 series helicopters perform all legacy vibration-related tasks such as rotor smoothing and recurring vibration checks, monitor the condition of the drive train, and also record the Cruise Guide Indicator (CGI) signals. Initial results are discussed for the first year of the program on 5 CH-47D aircraft.