Off-the-shelf procurement of civil aircraft for use by the military services is a tradition dating back to the earliest days of aviation. This relieves the military of the responsibility for development costs, takes advantage of civil designs already in existence, and has resulted in the development of many capable military aircraft. However, while civil aircraft missions have remained relatively unchanged for over half a century, new military mission have continued to evolve. Yet, the military services still procure civil certified aircraft to accomplish these demanding missions. In the United States, Federal Aviation Regulations 23 and 25 and their predecessors are the certification standards for civil aircraft. The primary objective of these regulations is to insure a minimum standard of airworthiness. Flying qualities requirements make up only a small portion of these regulations, and address primarily static stability characteristics. This has sometimes led to undesirable flying qualities when attempting to perform demanding military mission with civil certificated aircraft. The unique military missions are addressed in the U. S. military flying qualities specification, MIL-STD-1797A, and its predecessors (MIL-F-8785 series). These military specification requirements are compared to the civil requirements to substantiate their applicability to off-the-shelf procurement. Specifically, where military and civil missions differ, military flying qualities requirements should be invoked. To illustrate this, several examples are examined. Finally, the future of off-the-shelf procurement is contemplated, some implications discussed, and recommendations made.
Do Civil Flying Qualities Requirements Address Military Missions for off-the-Shelf Procurement
1991
8 pages
Report
No indication
English
Flying qualities requirements for military aircraft
Engineering Index Backfile | 1946
|Requirements for satisfactory flying qualities
Engineering Index Backfile | 1949
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