University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-2005 Managing the Remaining Service Life of the T-34C Aircraft John Howard Rousseau University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Aerospace Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Rousseau, John Howard, "Managing the Remaining Service Life of the T-34C Aircraft. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2005. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2288 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by John Howard Rousseau entitled "Managing the Remaining Service Life of the T-34C Aircraft." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Aviation Systems. R. B. Richards, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Ralph Kimberlin, George Masters Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by John Howard Rousseau entitled “Managing the Remaining Service Life of the T-34C Aircraft.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Aviation Systems. R. B. Richards Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Ralph Kimberlin George Masters Accepted for the Council: Anne Mayhew Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Studies (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) MANAGING THE REMAINING SERVICE LIFE OF THE T-34C AIRCRAFT A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville John Howard Rousseau December 2005 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wife Kimberley Adair, whose love, support, and faith have been instrumental in my life and critical to any success I have experienced. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to the faculty and staff at the University of Tennessee Space Institute and the United States Test Pilot School for their help in pursuit of this degree. I would like to thank the T-34C and T-6A teams at NAVAIR and PMA-273 for their dedication to our country. Their work has a direct impact on the safety and success of Naval Aviation on a daily basis. To my parents, Howard and Carol Rousseau, I cannot adequately express my appreciation for their guidance throughout my life. Lastly, I would like to thank my children Regan Elizabeth, Jack Emory and Grant Andrew who make every day a joy and a blessing. iii ABSTRACT The T-34C Airplane has been the primary trainer aircraft of the United States Navy for more than twenty-five years and is reaching the end of its service life. The Navy has delayed the procurement of the replacement T-6A Texan II aircraft for five years, yet does not expect the future training requirements to diminish. This delay in T-6A procurement along with recent observed increases in primary trainer aircraft usage have resulted in the need for the Navy to pay considerable attention to the remaining service life of the T-34C aircraft. This thesis will discuss the methodology used to determine future primary trainer aircraft requirements and projected aircraft availability. With analysis of these results it is the author’s opinion that there will be a projected shortage of over 60 primary trainer aircraft in the coming years. In order to alleviate that shortfall a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) is recommended for the T-34C aircraft. In support of a SLEP for the T-34C aircraft it is recommended that the main wing spars and carry through structure be replaced instead of conducting a time consuming and costly Damage Tolerance Analysis (DTA) on those components. Replacement of these parts and an increased inspection interval on other airframe components on sixty-three aircraft will alleviate the projected shortfall until the T-6A is delivered in sufficient numbers to maintain the primary training requirement of our future Naval Aviators. iv PREFACE A portion of the information contained within this thesis was obtained from a Naval Air Systems Command sponsored program from the Raytheon Aircraft Company. Some of these data are derived from a proprietary algorithm so only the data will be discussed and not the methodology used to obtain it. The research, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations presented are the opinions of the author and should not be construed as an official opinion of the United States Department of Defense, the United States Navy, the Naval Air Systems Command, the Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems program office, or the Raytheon Aircraft Company. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM...................................................................... 5 DESCRIPTION OF THE T-34C AIRPLANE .......................................................5 DESCRIPTION OF THE T-6A AIRPLANE ......................................................... 7 DESCRIPTION OF PRIMARY PILOT FLIGHT TRAINING ............................. 8 CHAPTER II. PRIMARY TRAINER TRANSITION PLANNING .......................... 9 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................9 CNATRA PRIMARY TRAINER REQUIREMENTS ........................................10 T-6A BUY AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE.........................................................11 T-34C AVAILABILITY ......................................................................................12 FATIGUE LIFE EXPENDED.................................................................. 12 FAST REPORT DATA ............................................................................ 14 INCREASED FLE USAGE RATES........................................................ 16 CHAPTER III. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS .............................................................18 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................18 ACCELERATE PURCHASE AND DELIVERY OF T-6A ................................ 20 REDUCE T-34C FLE ACCRURAL RATE......................................................... 21 CNATRA USE OF SATELITE SITE T-34C AIRPLANES ................................23 T-34C FLE EXTENSION THROUGH SLEP...................................................... 24 CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF T-34C SLEP ..........................27 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................. 27 SAFE LIFE ............................................................................................... 27 FAIL SAFE ...............................................................................................29 DAMAGE TOLERANT........................................................................... 29 PROPOSED SLEP METHODOLOGY.................................................................30 ORIGINAL T-34C FATIGUE TESTING ................................................31 SLAP .........................................................................................................31 PLAN FORWARD ................................................................................... 32 SCHEDULE AND FUNDING................................................................. 34 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................36 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................36 RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................... 36 vi REFERENCES ................................................................................................................38 APPENDICES................................................................................................................. 40 APPENDIX A: FIGURES ....................................................................................41 APPENDIX B: TABLES...................................................................................... 48 VITA................................................................................................................................. 52 vii LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: T-34C Cost Per Flight Hour and RFT Rates ....................................................7 TABLE 2: Projected Navy T-6A Delivery Schedule and Availability............................ 11 TABLE 3: CNATRA Projected T-34C Availability ....................................................... 15 TABLE 4: T-6A Historic Unit Cost................................................................................. 20 TABLE B-1: CNATRA Projected Flight Hour