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BLADE BALANCING

When "Blade Balancing" is mentioned, the majority of helicopter maintenance engineers


will immediately think Track & Balance i.e. the Dynamic Balance. In the majority of
incidences this approach will suffice. The dynamic balance or Rotor Track & Balance
(RTB) will smooth the dynamic rotor system - generally.

There is however those inevitable occasions where the dynamic balance can never seem
to get a set of blades within acceptable limits or achieve a "smooth" ride. This problem
appears to be seen more often with increasing fleet age, size and mixing of rotor blades
between aircraft.

Rarely do people think of the ENTIRE balance problem when confronted with an RTB
exercise on any one aircraft.

By the ENTIRE balance problem, we are referring to BOTH the static and the dynamic
balance problem.

The entire helicopter (and fixed wing with composite propellers) industry, from
Manufacturer down to operator has focused purely on the dynamic balance problem in
the field and concentrated on developing modern technical solutions for solving the
dynamic RTB problem but has failed to address the static problem at operator level.

A static balance is something that is done rarely by most helicopter operators. This is
because blades can only be successfully statically balanced to obtain interchangeability,
by comparing them to a Master Blade. These are normally only held by certified blade
overhaul facilities and OEMs. The traditional see-saw or pivot balance of a teetering
head done on the hanger floor only compares one operational blade with another
operational blade i.e. one blade of unknown characteristics to another unknown blade it
does not compare an operational blade with a master blade or OEM specifications.
Most operators only Statically balance blades against a master blade when a blade is
sent to an overhaul facility or OEM for major overhaul or repair work.

The whole purpose of a STATIC BALANCE appears to be grossly misunderstood. The


reason for this neglect has been two fold:

1. No easy means of accurately statically balancing blades current


methodology requiring a master blade. This only provides a comparative
balance.
2. Lack of understanding of WHAT was important in the static balance. The
majority of people assume it is the equalization of mass. The critical
parameter is really the equalization of mass DISTRIBUTION i.e. control
of the Span CofG. In particular, the control of SPAN MOMENT ARM
within reasonable limits to ensure maximum dynamic adjustment remains for
the dynamic RTB.

There is now sufficient evidence to suggest that the industry has neglected this
misunderstood area at great cost to itself in terms of high Direct Operating Costs. These
excessive DOC's are created through horrendously high wasted man hours (maintenance
& flight crew), flight hours together with days of aircraft downtime or non-revenue hours
bought about by trouble shooting RTB problems and matching "sets" of blades which fly
together by trial & error techniques. Everybody experienced in helicopters will have
experienced a simple RTB exercise which should take 2-3 flights, blow out to a 5 day
plus exercise trying to get a set of blades to fly together and then ultimately swapping
blades in a hope that they will finally fly together. The man hour cost and wastage in one
of these exercises alone not to mention the aircraft down time, flight hours and non-
revenue time, adversely affects the DOCs by significantly adding to the maintenance
bill.

RWAS believes that when thinking about Blade Balancing, we need to think in terms of
both Static and Dynamic Balance. These two elements of Blade Balancing must be
bought together under a complete but simple blade management plan.

In order to understand the ENTIRE Balance problem, we need to look at the Rotor Blade
Adjustments that are available and the Blade Manufacturing Process. We will look at
how a generic rotor blade is made and adjustment facilities must be provided to allow a
blade to be successfully balanced and the purpose of each adjustment.

Blade Manufacturing Process


A rotor blade is normally manufactured around a spar surrounded by some composite
material or "filler" to provide the aerofoil shape. In modern blades this is normally either
a metal or nomex honeycomb or a foam cell filler material.

This is then protected by a hard skin made of either aluminium,fibreglass or carbon fibre
with protective metal abrasion strips bonded to the leading edges to provide protection
from particle erosion.
Typical Rotor Blade Construction

These blades for reason of lightweight construction have many "air cells" inside the blade
which can give rise to trapped water problems. This can be particularly common in
some blades more than others depending upon skin porosity, particularly when the blade
is at rest for extended periods and subjected to daily environmental changes. The
stretching and contraction of the blades skin (particularly woven reinforced composite
skins) due to the flex in the blade due to gravity while at rest, can exacerbate water
ingress into blade cores. Trapped Water has the potential to dramatically alter the RTB
characteristics of a blade - particularly those that are susceptible to the trapped water
phenomenon.
The nature of the construction requires a large element of hand made content. As much as
tolerances are adhered to, there will inevitably be variations in weight and distribution of
that weight across the blade - variations in CofG - both chord and span wise.

The composite nature of construction has also greatly increased the tolerance and
capability to repair a wide range of damage to rotor blades. This increased ability to
repair blades at operator level has also increased the need for maintaining the static
balance but in particular the Span Moment Arm. Up until now there has not been a
tool which could accurately re-reference rotor blades back to OEM specifications
efficiently at operator level.

To compensate for these small variations in Span and Chord CofG due to manufacture
and repair, scope for adjustment must be allowed for. This is done by allowing for
adjustment in both static span and chord moment arms. Mass is not supercritical but
obviously has prescribed limits within which it must fall or else there will be inadequate
adjustment for the span moment arm in particular. But the mass distribution especially
in Span, must be maintained within close limits to the original specification if you wish to
have all your rotor blades totally interchangeable with minimal time spent on RTB.

Once the blade is manufactured, it is statically balanced. This process measures mass,
Span CofG/moment arm and Chord CofG/Moment Arm. Till now, the tool used for this
purpose is a basic lever/fulcrum and pivot balance assembly device similar as the one
pictured.

Its principal of operation is not too different from the old kitchen scales used by our
grand parents. It is generally very cumbersome, sensitive to environmental changes
necessitating a dedicated environmentally controlled room, free from drafts or breezes,
and takes considerable time for the balance apparatus to stabilize after any adjustment in
order to achieve a successful result. In addition, it requires some master or reference
device against which to compare the blade mass, span & Chord CofG/moment arm in
question.

This master Reference device is known as the "Master Blade. This system requires an
entire environmentally controlled room to ensure wind, temperature and humidity
variations do not adversely effect the reference system and to ensure some degree of
repeatability of accuracy.

This process is generally very slow and labour intensive - often taking anywhere from 2-
8hours to measure and adjust one blade.

Blade Adjustments

Dynamic Blade Adjustments.


In simplistic terms, the following are blade adjustments which operators can currently
use.....
PCL Pitch Change Link or Rods. Are normally adjustable and a primary
adjustment for obtaining a flat track on the ground with flat pitch set on the
collective as the first criteria before commencing an initial RTB exercise. The
PCL is normally used to correct for track adjustments (1:1 rev vertical
vibrations)on the ground or track splits in the hover or low IAS.

Tab- Tab is generally used to correct for track splits or 1:1 vertical vibration
which increases with IAS. Some rotors have multiple tabs, some have very large
single tabs but with different zones which are bend at varying amounts depending
upon the flight regime in which the vertical vibration is felt. Some OEMs do not
like overuse of tabs as excessive use can work harden tabs causing cracking and
large angled deflections can progressively wash out with flight hours allowing
the vertical vibration to return. Some OEMs in the past have prohibited the use of
tab adjustment as they believed the pre-tracked blades from the factory did not
require field adjustment. This is discussed in RTB and Whirltower.

Weight Stations located normally close to or on the hub itself. Mass is used to
compensate for any DYNAMIC lateral imbalance condition which may be
uncounted when the rotor is turning and in flight. This is designed to compensate
for wear, normal engineering tolerances within the head, mast, transmission and
transmission mounts which may cause the rotating rotor system to be slightly out
of lateral balance.
Product Weight in SOME Helicopters - can be used to alter climb/dive
tendencies. The B412 has Product Weights which is effectively giving the
operator the ability to adjust the dynamic chord during an RTB exercise. This
adjustement is ONLY used when the blade track splits from falt pitch/ground to
hover flight regimes. This provides track control by DYNAMIC CHORD link to
Dynamic Chord Adjust) adjustment. The use of chord weight adjustment for track
control is discussed in Whirltower

Static/OEM Blade Adjustments


Traditionally the Static Chord and Span weight adjustments have only been able to be
adjusted by OEMs or approved blade repair facilities as these faculties were the keepers
of the Master Blades. This approach has required blades to be taken out of circulation
and returned to the facilities for a simple balance. Due to the high cost of both the balance
and the time taken which required aircraft downtime or additional blade stocks to cover
these events, it was rare (if ever) that blades were sent away simply for a static balance on
a routine basis until the blade became too heavy.

Reason for Restricting Adjustment

One of the main reasons for restricting chord/Span static weight adjustment was the
technology available for weighing the blades. Up until now the only system available
relied on a basic fulcrum/pivot based system of scales which required the direct
comparison to a Master Blade which had to be controlled by the OEM and returned on a
regular basis for calibration. Most operators could not afford the capital cost of a
dedicated room, set of scales and master blades for the occasional static balance.
Since this capability was not available to the operators, they tended to forget about the
static Chord and Span weight adjustment stations and rightfully limited themselves to the
dynamic adjustments which were available to them. Unfortunately as a by-product of this
neglect, an ignorance and misunderstanding of Span/Chord adjustment developed leading
to a gross underestimation into the importance of these adjustments.

Now with the availability of an accurate, portable digital weighing system called the
Universal Static Balance Fixture (USBF), there is no reason that the static balance and
adjustment of rotor blades should not return back to the operator just as he has been
doing with the Dynamic balance solution. This capability will result in significant
reduction in current cost of maintenance directly related to Rotor Track and Balance.
Static Span Adjustment
Static Span moment is critical to maintain close specifications if fleet wide blade
Interchangeability is desired to be maintained. If Span Moment arm is NOT maintained
within close tolerances, Span Moment Arm migration will occur. If the Span CofG
differs significantly between individual blades, the Angular Momentum will vary with
the distance from the mast for the same given localized change in mass (e.g. a repair,
extra paint or trapped water). A mismatch of blade CofG (Span Moment Arm) will
produce a significant lateral vibration which under our current blade management
practices, can only be corrected by adjustment of DYNAMIC weight adjustments by the
operator while conducting a RTB. If this difference in Span CofG (Span Turning Moment
or moment Arm) is corrected by adjusting the tip weights, this frees up the DYNAMIC
weight adjustment for use by the Dynamic RTB process.

Span moments are normally adjusted by weights located in the tip of the Blade.
Static Chord Adjustment
The purpose of Static Chord adjustment is to balance the blade in the chord wise
direction. If the CofG is located aft of ideal, the rotor blade would tend to climb since the
turning moment that the aft located CofG would produce would tend to make the nose
climb.

If the CofG is forward of the ideal CofG, the turning force created by the blade mass
distribution about the chord would be a nose down tendency, making the blade dive.

The static chord moment is done either at the hub or root end of the blade (UH1, B206,
B412/212,) or by changing the distribution of span adjustment weights together with
Chord weights located out at either the tip or the hub end (CH47, UH60) or combination
of both methods.
Dynamic Chord Adjustment
Dynamic Chord Adjustment is used to control blade track should blades split as pitch
(via the collective) is varied.

To take into account these variations and changes to climbing/diving tendencies with
increasing RPM or pitch changes, the distribution of the Static Chord weights will be
done to try and achieve blades which will fly the same track.

This can be done either on the aircraft (eg Bell 412 with Product Weights) or on a
Whirltower.

Reason for Restricting Adjustment


Most operators could not afford the capital cost of a dedicated room, set of scales and
master blades for the occasional static balance.

Now with the availability of accurate, portable digital weighing systems, there is no
reason that the static balance and adjustment of rotor blades should not return back to
the operator just as he has been doing with the Dynamic balance solution. This
capability will result in significant reduction in current cost of maintenance directly
related to Rotor Track and Balance.
STATIC BALANCING
The successful Static Balance consists of the ability to accurately measure and adjust
any a rotor blade by comparison to the OEM design specifications for any particular
blade for both mass, Span and Chord CofG & Moment Arm ie mass distribution.

This is down by using manufacturers Static Span Adjustment, or Static Chord


Adjustment.

A static balance is rarely done by most helicopter operators. This is because blades can
only be successfully statically balanced to obtain interchangeability by comparing them
to a Master Blade normally only held by certified blade overhaul facilities and OEMs.
This methodology has its own limitations as revealed in Avion/AMCOM Report

The traditional see-saw or pivot balance of a teetering head done on the hanger floor
has significant limitations. The main one being it only compares one operational blade
with another operational blade i.e. one blade of unknown characteristics to another
unknown blade. It does not compare an operational blade with a master blade or OEM
specifications. Therefore it cannot provide fleetwide interchangeability of blades - only
match sets of blades.

There is a widespread lack of understanding of WHAT is important in the static balance.


Most assume it is the equalization of mass it is really the equalization of mass
DISTRIBUTION in particular the control of the Span CofG or the control of SPAN
MOMENT ARM within reasonable limits to ensure maximum dynamic adjustment
remains for the dynamic RTB.

There is now sufficient evidence to suggest that the industry has neglected this
misunderstood area at great cost to itself in terms of high Direct Operating Costs. These
excessive DOC's are created wasted man hours, flight hours and aircraft downtime
bought about by trouble shooting RTB problems and attempting to match "sets" of blades
caused by Span Moment Arm migration.

To assist in understanding the importance of the Static Balancing process, it is important


to understand the Blade Manufacturing process and what Blade Adjustments are
available, the purpose of these adjustments and who traditionally has been responsible to
do these adjustments.

Master Blades
The golden master blade is simply a physical representation of the mathematical ideal
rotor blade i.e. ideal mass, Span CofG/Moment Arm(mass x Length) and ideal Chord
CofG/Moment Arm(mass x Length) nothing more.
How is a Master Blade made?

Master blades are hand made blades or sometimes even metal beams which have the
same mathematical key features (within certain tolerances) of the original engineering
specifications. These key features being Mass, Span CofG/Moment Arm and ideal Chord
CofG/Moment Arm. The Master blade does not have to by aerodynamically perfect or
capable of flying on a rotor head. The Master Blade is simply a Reference device by
which operational blades may be compared with to determine variation from the design
specification. It is the purpose is similar to that of the steel or brass counterweight used in
the old style scales-of-justice style of balance systems.

Master Blade Deviation

A study has been conducted into Master blade deviation with surprising results. This
study was carried out as a joint civil and US Army study. The results of this in itself
should be sufficient reason for the helicopter industry to seek and insist for an urgent
alternative to replace the current static blade balance methodology.

Master Blade Calibration

Master blades must be returned to the OEM periodically (every 2 years is common) for
calibration at a commensurate cost of course. The idea of the static balance is to get
the production blade as close to the original design specifications of Mass, Span
CofG/Moment Arm and Chord CofG/Moment Arm. Mass can easily be measured by load
cells and compared to the ideal specifications. The Moment Arm (Span or Chord) is
simply the Centre of Gravity (distance) x blade mass. These are all mathematical
quantities and can easily be done by any basic PC and accurate load sensing device with
the appropriate software. After all, this is how most aircraft have been weighed and
fore/aft & lateral CofG determined for some time. This is basically what the USBF does.

Three Point Balance System

LoadCells
The Whirl Tower

The whirl tower is only used by OEMs who believe in Pre-Track blades. This concept
can really only work if flying new or near new sets of blades. It will rarely work on blade
sets of mixed age due to Span Moment Arm migration so why pre-track to begin with?
Suffice to say that armed with a good digital static balance tool which can accurately
measure and quantify blade mass, Span CofG/Moment arm and Chord CofG/Moment
Arm, together with any reasonable commercially available RTB equipment, it is doubtful
if ANY blades need to be put on a whirl tower the helicopter is the whirl tower.

What is its Purpose?

The purpose of the whirl tower is to produce production blades which should
theoretically fly together with the absolute minimum - if any RTB (assuming a near
perfect transmission/head & hub assembly).

The Problem - is that this is only true generally for a helicopter which has a new rotor
head, transmission mounts, pitch change mechanisms and complete set of brand new
blades and installed on the same head. why is this so?

Dynamic Chord Moment Adjustment


Once a static balance is completed at the factory, the blade is then put on the whirl tower
and spun against a whirl tower master blade. The whirl tower master blade and the
production blade are spun up to operating RPM and pitch applied. Track is monitored for
splits. If the production blade flies higher than the master, the static chord weights are
adjusted forward to provide more nose-down moment of inertia to keep the blades flying
in similar track.

The reverse is true if the blade track dives against the master blade. This similar process
is used on the Bell 412 during a regular RTB exercise when adjusting the Product
Weights.
Ideal Dynamic Chord CofG Track remains relatively constant as collective is
increased i.e. angle of incidence increased.

Chord Weights
Blade Track
Pitch Change

Aft Dynamic Chord CofG - Nose climb tendency as collective is increased. Corrected
by moving some of the Chord CofG weights forward to move the CofG more forward.
This reduces the climbing tendency.

Forward Dynamic Chord CofG - Nose dive tendency as collective is increased.


Corrected by moving some of the Chord CofG weights rearward to move the CofG more
aft. This reduces the diving tendency.
Span Moment Arm Control
What is Span Moment Arm Control?
Span Moment Arm Control (SMAC) is the periodic monitoring and correction when
required, of the Static Span CofG of a rotor blade to ensure that maximum Dynamic
weight adjustment is made available to correct for any Dynamic 1 /rev vibration which
may reasonably develop during any one RTB exercise.

Span Moment Arm Control is essential if fleetwide interchangeable rotor blades is


desired with the minimum of time wasted on RTB. The importance of Span Moment arm
control has been known for some time.

Unfortunately, the importance of SPAN MOMENT ARM control has either been lost or
neglected over the years.

SPAN Moment

Spanwise balance is adjusted during manufacture by balancing


individual trailing edge skin section and by balance weights fitted at the
outboard end of the spar. The strict weight control and static and
dynamic balancing which the blades receive during manufacture permit
interchangeability of individual blades.

Ref: Principles of Flight, Helicopter AP3456A Dec 83

Causes of Span Moment Arm Migration

Master Blade Reference system variations as described below


Field or Unit Painting/Surface Finish
Field Repairs/Unauthorised Adjustments on Blades
Blade wear/ erosion
Water Ingress, Trapped water
Master Blade Reference Variations

Variations up to the equivalent of 85% dynamic adjustment authority

Field or Unit Painting/Surface Finish

Complete re-spray versus Touch-up Picture to show the accretion of paint by only
partially rubbing back paint and applying an even coat over entire blade
surfaceblade weight increases unevenly across blade surface and thus slowly
migrates Span CofG outboard toward the tip(relative the hub). To attempt to equalize
this effect, a new blade would be needed to have weight added to it to equalize the
Span CofG or tip weight removed off the old blade as the added weight of the
accumulating paint pushes the Span CofG outboard . Traditionally on teetering heads,
this weight is added in the Blade Retention bolts or the same adjustment point as the
DYNAMIC RTB balance uses to correct for laterals.

Field Repairs/Unauthorised Adjustments on Blades

Small mass change along the chord makes much less change in Chord moment
arm than does the same mass change if made along the span

Moment of Inertia/Angular momentum is related to the distance out from the


hub (Span) that the Span CofG is considered to act - chord has very little moment
arm. By comparison, the distance along the Span from the hub has a far greater
effect on Moment of Inertia and Angular Momentum than any repair or change
across the chord. The distance from the Chord CogG to any change in mass is far
smaller than any changes in the Span.
Blade wear/ erosion

Salt Water and heavy rain pitting on Bell blades, Sand and hard particle erosion in dry
desert environments.

Water Ingress, Trapped water

Through leaks and condensation. CH47 very susceptible due to surface finish. Has a
similar effect as a blade repair. This topic is worthy of further discussion and will be
elaborated on at a future time.

Typical Span Moment Arm Control Current Practice

If a set of new blades were added to the one head and flown for 1500 hours, chances are
all these same blades would undergo similar paint erosion, leading edge erosion, and re-
painting of the blades at major overhauls. It is highly likely that this set of blades are
dynamically well balanced but if one were to replace either of these blades after say
1500 hours of flying, we would generally find great difficulty in dynamically balancing
this new set of blades together. It may eventually be done successfully, but often it will
take several days and many flights often having to go back and start over again this is a
costly exercise. More often than not, the new blade is unable to fly with old blades and
must be removed and replaced with another (generally a blade with similar hours on it i.e.
similar layers of paint) before the set will successfully fly. The new blade now sits in
the corner of the hanger often called a Rogue blade. It is common to see blades
returned to overhaul simply to weigh against a master blade and more often than not,
simply to be sent straight back to the user with the ensuing cost of the static balance and
associated costs of transport, damage risk in travel, and increased number of blades
required in inventory to cover this needless removal from service of a perfectly
serviceable bladeDoes this sound familiar to your company or organization????

The Problem is not with the new blades it is with your fleet blade population or blade
inventory. Their Span Moment Arms have migrated to the point where they will fly
together as sets but will be impossible to fly with new blades which are bought in as
replacements.

The Solution is simple - implement a new blade management plan which incorporates
routine Span Moment Arm Control using an accurate, portable static balance tool the
USBF is the ONLY tool available capable of doing the job and with a proven track
record.
The Blade Problem is the undetected Span Moment Arm migration to the extent of
consuming a significant, if not the majority of Dynamic Lateral balance correction
weight capability. This is done in the effort to correct for a STATIC problem - but uses
the DYNAMIC correction adjustment to achieve the balance. Thus leaving little
DYNAMIC weight adjustment authority remaining to correct for legitimate Dynamic
vibration induced by serviceable engineering tolerances and wear limits in the rotor, hub,
mast, transmission and transmission mounts. Hence the Dynamic RTB has little chance
of success due to the Span Moment Arm migration which has taken place.

The Problem
The problem is simple. Span Moment Arm migration changes the Span CofG gradually
and continually over the life of an operational blade. If this Span Moment migration goes
undetected and uncorrected, it will deviate so much from the OEM specifications that any
new or reconditioned blade, will have insufficient DYNAMIC weight adjustment
capability to counter the STATIC span problem PLUS the Dynamic RTB Lateral
correction which the hub weights are designed to correct for the blades will be unable
to fly smoothly together. The rogue blade is born!

Operational Span Moment/Dynamic Authority

Below is the typical life cycle of in-service rotor blades demonstrating the gradual Span
Moment Arm Migration which the typical rotor blade will be subjected to during its in-
service use. It is divided into a teetering and articulated/semi or rigid head.

TEETERING Heads:

See-Saw Balance of Hub PLUS blades

Static Span Correction using DYNAMIC Adjustment

LESS Dynamic Lateral adjustment for RTB

Blades may not fly together

In-service migration of Span Moment Arm

RTB tries to compensate,

Ultimately blades will not fly together


When blades are statically balanced on the hanger floor using a pivot or ball balance, the
correction weight is added to the DYNAMIC lateral weight adjustment station. This
reduces the Dynamic weight adjustment available for legitimate Dynamic lateral
unbalance. Reduced Dynamic Weight capability increases likelihood of mismatched
blades - i.e. insufficient authority remaining to correct dynamic in-balance.

Undetected Span CofG migration since accurate measurement of Span Moment not done
at operator level.

Blades fleetwide will ultimately end up being quite diverse in Span Moment arm and
therefore not interchangeable from one aircraft to another they MAY fly as sets BUT
definitely will not be interchangeable fleetwide.

ARTICULATED/RIGIG/SEMI-RIGID Heads

Initial Static Balance against Master at factory or overhaul facility


Undetected in-service Span Moment migration
RTB tries to compensate using Dynamic Lateral adjustment (Hub weight)
RTB continues to compensate until insufficient Lateral adjustment remaining to
smooth the aircraft
Blades will not fly together

The PROBLEM :
Undetected migration of Span Moment Arm causes blades to become individual and not
inter-changeable:

SOLUTION:
Accurately measure, adjust and track Span Moment arms on blades at the lowest possible
level operator. The USBF is the ONLY tool capable of doing the job at operator level.
Static Span Balance Weights:
Till Now - only OEM or Depot adjustable.

Small weight change - has big effect on Span Moment arm.

B
B la d e

A
B la d e

Span imbalance across a head if individual blade Span CofG migrates inward (eg blade
repair performed on the inboard section of blade).

Bla d e A Bla d e B

Same imbalance if corrected by using the DYNAMIC adjustment stations at the hub
requires a lot of added mass to correct the STATIC imbalance.

Bla d e A Bla d e B

Same imbalance if corrected by using the Static Span Adjustment stations or Tip weights
requires far less weight, is more effective, and ensures 100% authority remains at the
DYNAMIC hub weight adjustment stations to correct for any Dynamic Lateral imbalance
which may arise during RTB.
Very accurate means of maintaining blade within original design specs:

Span Moment
Chord Moment
Mass - not a big issue

As indicated by existing aerodynamics text books, maintaining tight control on Span


Moment arms - maintains blade interchangeablity.

MASTER BLADE Comparative Balanced Blades.

The following is a summary of results taken from an official investigation conducted


jointly by Avion & US Army (AMCOM) of the accuracy of the Master Blade
technology. A full report is available as a FREE download.

Sampling was done on UH60 blades which had all been either freshly overhauled or
brand new blades. They therefore had all been weighed against various Master blades
at either approved overhaul venues or at the Manufacturer.

Problem UH60
New Blade 35,361 in-lbs
IAI Overhauled 35,345 in-lbs
IAI Overhauled 35,361 in-lbs
CCAD Overhauled 35,442 in-lbs
Manufactures Specification for Span Moment Arm 35,418 in-lbs

It can be seen from even this small sampling, that the largest deviation between
the lightest and heaviest blade is some 97 in-lbs.

UH60 - has only 117in/lbs of dynamic adjustment available i.e. if one blade had
no hub weight on the Lateral weight adjustment station and the directly opposite
blade had maximum weight installed, the maximum change would only be to
correct for a 117 in-lb imbalance.

Therefore under our current Blade management practices, we would have


consumed most of the DYNAMIC Lateral weight adjustment (97 in-lbs worth)
to correct for a STATIC problem (which the tip weights are designed to do).
Leaving only 20 in-lbs remaining to correct for any true DYNAMIC imbalance of
the rotor system.

The blades will NOT fly

together as a set until this Static Span imbalance is corrected.

The UH60 has potentially 85% of authority consumed between new blades straight out
of the box on the same head.

Blades tend to get heavier in service. Therefore the real problem arises when a New blade
out of the box is put against an existing blade which was known to be flying on the same
head before matched with the new blade.

Span Moment arm differences are manifested in the Dynamic balance when the lateral
(and sometimes the vertical) vibration is a large amplitude and cannot be reduced to an
acceptable level. This is caused by the older heavier blade trying to be flown with a
New, spec blade.

The first action by maintenance is to:


a. Replace new blade
b. Replace old blade???
Every one, every time elects to replace the New blade- because they know the older blade
was flying successfully before the replacement blade was put on.
In fact the U/S blade is the old blade - its span moment has migrated over time to be
widely divergent from the original design Specifications.

Similar results are seen across different aircraft types. The problem is universal.

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