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HUMS By Paul Seidenman W 34 ROTOR 2020 Q3


HAT IF AN OPERATOR COULD TELL— just by looking at a computer screen—that a particular bearing on an aircraft was showing signs of premature wear? How would that change how maintenance is planned and conducted?


Heavy civil and military helicopter operations have had that capability


for decades through onboard HUMS (health and usage monitoring systems), but adoption of that technology by operators of smaller aircraft had stalled. But that’s changing, as the next generation of HUMS equipment is evolving to meet the needs of the light and medium rotorcraft markets.


Early Challenges for HUMS “Te core of HUMS is probably component-vibration monitoring and maybe engine monitoring,” explains Nick Mayhew, industry cochair of the US Helicopter Safety Team (USHST). “But some systems include rotor track and balance (RTB), and other systems build in both RTB and flight-data monitoring [FDM]—specifically, the ability to pull flight parameters off the aircraft.” Mayhew calls HUMS “a great concept” but concedes that the original


products had challenges. “In the early days, the technological building blocks just weren’t there yet. On the shipboard side, sensors, cables, and computers were heavy and didn’t have the horsepower to do acquisitions fast enough. Wi-Fi and cellular were in their infancy, so


Not Just for Heavy Iron Anymore


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