22nd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Harrogate, UK, 28 August - 1st September, 2000
Paper ICAS 2000-4.3.3

THE FFA OPERATIONAL LOADS MONITORING PROGRAM - ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROBLEMS

T. J. Barnes
FAA Aircraft Certification Service, USA

Keywords: load monitoring, ffa

The basic concern being addressed by the FAA is that manufacturers design airplanes using structural design criteria established by the Regulatory Authorities, and fatigue/damage tolerance loads based on assumed utilization. After an airplane is in operation, the only feedback to the Regulatory Authority and manufacturer is the number of hours flown, and the number of landings made. With only this information and, of course, the service difficulty reports, it is not sufficient to validate the design criteria or the repeated loads spectrum.

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