Vpa Report 2002-12-05
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UNCLASSIFIED NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER AIRCRAFT DIVISION PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND TECHNICAL REPORT REPORT NO: NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 REVIEW OF THE CARRIER APPROACH CRITERIA FOR CARRIER-BASED AIRCRAFT PHASE I; FINAL REPORT by Thomas Rudowsky Stephen Cook Marshall Hynes Robert Heffley Melvin Luter Thomas Lawrence CAPT Robert Niewoehner Douglas Bollman Page Senn Dr. Wayne Durham Henry Beaufrere Michael Yokell Albert Sonntag Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. UNCLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER AIRCRAFT DIVISION PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 REVIEW OF THE CARRIER APPROACH CRITERIA FOR CARRIER-BASED AIRCRAFT - PHASE I; FINAL REPORT by Thomas Rudowsky Stephen Cook Marshall Hynes Robert Heffley Melvin Luter Thomas Lawrence CAPT Robert Niewoehner Douglas Bollman Page Senn Dr. Wayne Durham Henry Beaufrere Michael Yokell Albert Sonntag NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED Technical Report November 1999 – October 2001 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER N/A Review of the Carrier Approach Criteria used in the Prediction of Approach 5b. GRANT NUMBER Speed for Carrier-Based Aircraft - Phase I; Final Report 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER Thomas Rudowsky, Stephen Cook, Marshall Hynes, Robert Heffley 5e. TASK NUMBER Melvin Luter, Thomas Lawrence, CAPT Robert Niewoehner, Douglas Bollman, Carroll Senn, Dr. Wayne Durham, Henry Beaufrere, Albert Sonntag 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER Michael Yokell 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER Naval Air Systems Command 48110 Shaw Road, Unit 5, Suite 1320B NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 Patuxent River, Maryland 20670-1906 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) Naval Air Systems Command NAVAIRSYSCOM, PEO(JSF) 48110 Shaw Road, Unit 5, Suite 1320B 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) Patuxent River, Maryland 20670-1906 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT The approach speed criteria used in the design and development of carrier-based aircraft was investigated. This report provides a historical review, analysis of requirements, and an analysis of legacy aircraft relative to the approach speed criteria. The relevancy and adequacy of the carrier approach speed criteria are assessed. Recommendations for future investigations and assessment are presented. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Carrier Approach Speed, Design Criteria 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES Tom Rudowsky a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code) Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified SAR 301-342-8526 i NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 SUMMARY The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program Office sponsored a study to review the existing Carrier Approach Criteria (CAC). These criteria are also commonly referred to as the Approach Speed Criteria or Vpa Criteria. The study’s motivation was based on questions surrounding the applicability of the CAC, which have evolved over the past 30+ years, as design tools for the prediction of approach speed. With significant technological advancements during this period, it was questioned if the criteria’s assumptions and application were still valid for design purposes. It is clear that these criteria considerably affect the design space of Naval carrier-based aircraft and reduce the flexibility of the designer for satisfying other mission critical requirements. For these reasons, it is imperative that the Navy have a full understanding of the design impact of these criteria and can clearly justify their application in predicting Vpa. The Joint Service Specification Guide (JSSG) criteria definitions were used as the basis of this study. The CAC include the glide slope transfer (popup) maneuver, small and large throttle response, field of view (FOV), Level 1 flying qualities (FQ) (primarily roll control and flightpath stability), stall margin, and flight control limit speed. Waveoff and bolter performance were also considerations in the Vpa definition and are included as part of the CAC. The results documented in this report represent the first of several planned phases. The focus of this phase was to research and analyze the assumptions behind the JSSG criteria. It is recognized that a variation of the JSSG definitions was used for the JSF Joint Model Specification and those variations are discussed. It was the intent of this phase to identify shortcomings with the existing criteria, conduct analysis and research for criteria development for low risk, high payoff areas that were clearly seen as inadequate, and identify areas for future research and assessment. It was not the intent to emerge from this phase with a new set of criteria. However, with the background information provided, the designer and the acquisition community are in a better position to make informed program decisions relative to the criticality of the individual criteria. It is intended that further investigation will yield new and/or improved criteria. The study developed formal definitions to rate the adequacy and relevancy of each of the criteria. In general, the criteria were found to lack traceability to the approach task. Based on these definitions, the FOV criterion was found to be adequate. The stall speed margin, GS transfer (popup) maneuver, and small throttle response were rated as inadequate. The remaining criteria were rated as marginally adequate. Significant conclusions from this phase of the investigation are: a) Many of the existing criteria are not well-founded. The majority of the criteria are based on empirical data from aircraft designs that are in some cases 40 years old. b) Current application of the CAC (to define Vpa) is not consistent with the intent of early pioneers of CAC development. iii NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 c) Analysis of Naval Safety Center data from January 1980 through May 2001 concluded that there is no longer a credible correlation between mishap rate and Vpa within the scope of aircraft reviewed and therefore should not be used as an indicator of safety. d) Because Naval aircraft programs almost always involve competition between two or more design concepts, it becomes extremely difficult from an industry perspective to fail to satisfy any of the CAC to meet the Vpa requirement prior to System Development and Demonstration (SDD). Therefore, the criteria, although not specifically defined as requirements, in practice become “hard requirements” to the designer. e) The practice of separately defining a limit Vpa, arresting gear limit speed, and the wind over deck limit overspecifies the problem, which leads to incompatible requirements. The key recommendations from this phase of the investigation are: a) A Phase II investigation should be conducted to develop criteria that are traceable to the approach task. b) NAVAIRSYSCOM should define a process for periodic review and assessment of the CAC that includes both government and industry representatives. c) Further analysis of Key Performance Parameter (KPP) selection should be conducted in a Phase II study. Further discussion between the program manager, requirements community, and engineering should address KPP selection if it is desired that a KPP is warranted for the approach task. iv NAWCADPAX/TR-2002/71 Contents Page No. Summary......................................................................................................................................iii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................xiii List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. xv Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................xvii Introduction...................................................................................................................................1 Background .............................................................................................................................1 Purpose....................................................................................................................................3 Scope.......................................................................................................................................3