Aviation is an important and growing industry around the world — in fact, global commercial helicopter sales were predicted to reach about $5 billion in 2017 alone. But aircraft haven’t always been this popular and commonly used. The world of aviation has undergone a lot of changes over the years, particularly regarding aircraft propellers. And…
What is Field Balancing? Field balancing is a method that aircraft mechanics use to balance a rotating part without removing the part from the machine it belongs to. Some of the advantages of field balancing are obvious: saved time by not removing the part that rotates and ensuring that the rotating part is balanced as…
Problem Are you experiencing issues performing a track and balance using your ACES Analyzer with a TraX? You may have a blade offset problem.  Unfortunately, blade offset issues cause erratic readings due to the analyzer misinterpreting Blade #1 as another blade on the aircraft. Blade Offset Setting Overview The ACES TraX can compensate for Main…
The aircraft industry has been taking flight in recent years, with global helicopter sales in 2017 expected to amount to almost $5 billion. This massive investment also requires an attention to maintenance for aircraft, which often involves using field balancing equipment. Use this comprehensive field balancing checklist to keep your jobs on track and in…
Helicopter vibration can be a serious safety concern and cause mechanical issues. Vibration in aircraft occurs when spinning objects become unbalanced, meaning one side is heavier than the other. The extra weight on one side throws off the center balance, making the rotation lopsided. The lopsided weight travels around in a circle when the propellers…
This month we look into the different types of cables and connectors used in vibration analysis. When conducting vibration analysis in aviation maintenance using any of the ACES Systems analyzers such as the Cobra II and the Viper II, the weakest link in the chain is in the cables and connectors.  Find out why and what…
We take a closer look at how vibration and rotation is measured As we learned in the previous Fundamentals Series post, titled “What is Vibration?”, vibration occurs when spinning objects become unbalanced and a lopsided weight causes a wobble in that rotation. This video is designed to explore the speed-sensing and vibration-sensing devices that record…
Going back to the basics to answer one of the main questions:  What is Aviation Vibration? Wherever there are spinning parts, there’s going to be vibration. And in aviation, there are lots of spinning parts: propellers, gearboxes, rotors, and crankshafts. But what is vibration? How do we measure it? When is it bad? What happens…