Richard L. Perry, P.E., Manager Airworthiness Assurance Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, MS-0615 Albuquerque NM 87185-0615. In 1991, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established an Airworthiness Assurance NDI Validation Center (AANC) at Sandia National Laboratories. Its primary mission is to support technology development, validation, and transfer to industry in order to enhance the airworthiness and improve the aircraft maintenance practices of the U.S. commercial aviation industry. The Center conducts projects in a myriad of engineering disciplines. The results are placed in the public domain so that the industry at-large can reap the benefits of FAA-funded Research and Development efforts. To support the Center's goals, the FAA/AANC has set up a hangar facility at the Albuquerque International Airport which contains a collection of transport and commuter aircratl as well as other test specimens. The facility replicates a working maintenance environment by incorporating both the physical inspection difficulties as well as the environmental factors which inffluence maintenance reliability. Sandia's charter with the FAA includes a wide array of airworthiness assurance disciplines such as nondestructive inspection, structural mechmics, engines, landing gear, crashworthiness, computer science, tire safety, and advanced materials. In its existing role with the FAA, Sandia's Airworthiness Assurance NDI Validation Center works with researchers, aircraft manufacturers, and airlines to foster new technologies associated with civil aircraft maintenance and structural repair. The basic goal is to support the development and evaluation of new technology. The AANC can support customers in numerous technical disciplines. AANC'S main role in each technical discipline would be validation and the integration of new technology into FAAIAir Force/NASA laboratories, Department of Defense (DoD) maintenance and logistics centers, and commercial aircraft maintenance depots as appropriate. The sections below discuss AANC'S background in aircraft industry technology that can support the goals of government and industry customer programs.
Technology Development, Validation, and Transfer Via the FAA Airworthiness Assurance Validation
1999
3 pages
Report
No indication
English
Final Airworthiness Validation Plan
NTIS | 2021
|X-57 Maxwell Airworthiness Validation Plan
NTRS | 2023
|Structural Validation Testing for X-57 Airworthiness
NTIS | 2023
|