Project Kahu Manufacturing at PAC 1986-1989

[phil]

Mar 27, 2010 0:27:58 GMT 12 Calum said:

Mar 14, 2010 20:18:32 GMT 12 skyhawkdon said:

The first Kahu prototype (NZ6254) flew on 2 June 1988 and the last production airframe (NZ6202) was delivered back to 75 Sqn in June 1991. 21 airframes were upgraded in 3 years, not a bad effort for a small RNZAF/Safe Air team! I'm sure the current C-130 and P-3 upgrade project teams are green with envy!

With the certification BS we have to deal with know , something like Kahu would never happen in that timeframe these days.

I know how "hard" it is to develop a simple design change today (thats my current job) and we (the ADF) would never be able to do something like Kahu.....

The RNZAF would be no different today, I beleive they are basically following the RAAF's airworthiness system.

Completely agree. I work in the same area (Technical Air worthiness, managing engineering changes) and even the simplest thing is bogged down in process.

[oj]

This is not PAC, but A Project Kahu question nevertheless:

When we were doing the Kaku manufacturing at PAC, we learned that the former constant-speed-drive generators were being replaced with direct-drive frequency-wild alternators with complex electronic "synthesising" to achieve the same output form.

We also heard that the early versions gave a lot of problems during the Kahu work-up and prototype testing.

What was the problem and was it successfully resolved?

What was the final generator configuration and reliability like?

[Barnsey]

Ahhh, the CFG a'la the Constantly Failing Generator - Don's nemesis! I think vibration of the cards and heat played a large part?

From an aircrew perspective, it failed regularly right to the end of A4 ops and we got used to deploying the RAT and returning with only a UHF radio, TACAN, head down flight instruments, and manual trim and speedbrake (which was interesting when it happened at the bottom of the South Island and all the air traffic control freqs are VHF and the nearest TACAN is at Ohakea).

[raymond]

I can remember working on the prototypes trying to figure out where the looms in the fuse were to be routed, lots of fun. AS I recall we worked with the original A4 assembly drawings to enable us to write down the P clip locations of where the looms were going.

[skyhawkdon]

Mar 23, 2011 19:55:38 GMT 12 oj said:

This is not PAC, but A Project Kahu question nevertheless:

When we were doing the Kaku manufacturing at PAC, we learned that the former constant-speed-drive generators were being replaced with direct-drive frequency-wild alternators with complex electronic "synthesising" to achieve the same output form.

We also heard that the early versions gave a lot of problems during the Kahu work-up and prototype testing.

What was the problem and was it successfully resolved?

What was the final generator configuration and reliability like?

I have devoted the CFG quite a few pages in the book, but basically it was an unrelaible POS! Barnsey is right about vibration being the main problem. It was so bad the CFG frames cracked and had to be replaced, as did many of the electronic components on the circuit cards inside.

My last job in 2001 was looking at ways we could reduce the vibration. We looked at all sorts of ideas including relocating the converter (it had no moving parts) part of the CFG into another part of the aircraft (if we still had the humps that would have been perfect!) and mounting a mechanical vibration damper between the engine and generator. We had a prototype made and were about to do a trial when Helen did the dirty on us...

[Calum]

The best thing about the CFG was that it was a Aircraft trade's job to change it.

One of their better decisions insisting that it was their job to fit/remove it

[oj]

I thought it worth re-surfacing this thread after 13 years since the last posts.
In the intervening period I have had quite a few questions from various work colleagues about what I did in the aviation industry.
I describe my zenith as having been a small part of Project Kahu and often send them this thread-link as an appetiser.
Trusting your indulgence with this action. OJ

[Dave Homewood]

Good idea, I am sure there are a lot of members who joined since 2011 and had not see it.