Gem Cyclic Life Control: A Smarter Maintenance Item within the Royal Netherlands Navy

Abstract

As part of a general Smarter Maintenance policy, the Royal Netherlands Navy has implemented the so-called Cyclic Life Control concept for the engines of its Westland Lynx helicopters. The aim is to have an autonomous, cost-effective and simple way to decrease costs on hard time maintenance. Cyclic Life Control allows the Royal Netherlands Navy to benefit from helicopter engine usage severity that is considerably lighter than is being assumed by the engine manufacturer, i.e. assumed exchange rates turn out to be conservative by a factor of up to 2. This paper shortly addresses some major topics within the current Royal Netherlands Navy maintenance policy and describes the newly adopted Cyclic Life Control concept in more detail. The paper focuses on the operator's view on system implementation and cost benefit analysis, and illustrates how a relatively small operator greatly benefits from an individual maintenance policy. Paper presented at the American Helicopter Society 52nd Annual Forum, Washington, D.C., June 4-6, 1996.