This proposal describes procedures for measurement of actual loads during flight operations of navy aircraft by attaching transducers to sensitive components of the nose and main landing gear. Strain gages are the anticipated tansducers; however, inductive, capacitive and other resistive transducers shall be evaluated for use in this system. Procedures are outlined to determine the optimum locations for transducers by evaluating the design stress analyses and aircraft drop tests performed by the manufacturer. An electronic data acquisition and recording system shall be designed to obtain these loading signals. Electronic components and transducers shall be chosen which can withstand the extreme environmental conditions imposed on the naval aircraft and produce no undesirable effects on other aircraft systems. Two data measuring and processing methods are presented which can separate the loading on the landing gear in to separate force components (bending, tension, and axial). A final report shall be written to document the best type and location of transducers, design of the measurement system, specific functions of the electronic components and failure modes of the systems.
