Current Standards of Fatigue Test on Strike Aircraft.

The major fatigue test constitutes one of the most important aspects in almost all modern tactical aircraft designs. Within NATO, where numerous different tactical aircraft are employed, and where several user nations may operate an aircraft built by a different nation, it is important that the major fatigue test be performed in such a manner that the results can be interpreted and used by the various countries concerned. At present, within NATO, there is a very wide variation in the manner in which major fatigue tests are conducted and in the information sought and recorded during these tests. There is a need for a set of guidelines that all NATO nations might follow which will make any major fatigue test performed on any new NATO aircraft a better test and make the data derived from it more universally usable by the NATO member nations. This advisory report, therefore, presents a statement of the objectives of a fatigue test, a list of essential steps needed to achieve the objectives, a summary of recommendations of the way the steps should be carried out and a review of the background philosophy behind the recommendations.