WAM Se oS i; wR PL, . oP re aterm ae Pe ~ ee em me te a ., etm me ew te + tw Me we aw weet at Fm at aM eh Meh gO Le TAME MM ETE SY CHAPTER6 wi DISCUSSION 6.1 GENERAL Since it is not economically feasible to obtain sufficient empirical data to permit accurate prediction of structural loads for the vardety of parameters that must be considered in the operational planning of a nuclear strike, it is necessary to employ analytic methods, the reliability of which has been adequately demonstrated by actual flight testing. The data presented in this report were obtained primarily for the verification of a technique for calculating gust~induced loads in aircraft flying in the vicinity of a nuclear explosion. Because of the spread between maximum probable and most probable yield for the experimerital devices being tested, and the necessity of positioning on the basis of the maximum probable yield, the peak loads realized were gener— ally well celow design limit. Further, on two ef the three shots, the aircraft were positioned at blast inputs lower than the maximum allowable because thermal criteria were controlling. Nevertheless, reliable blast response data were obtained which should prowe adequate for the correlation, verification, and if necessary the revision of the present blast/load theory. ‘ The direct application of these data to the blast/load theory is beyond the scope of this report. Therefore, the discussion presented here has been confined to a rather general survey of the re~ sults, intended primarily to establish the validity and limitations of the data presented. Since the data presented on the B47 aircraft are limited to four measurements, the discussion will refer to the measure~ ments made of the B~36 aircraft, unless specifically stated otherwise, Although the data presented in this report were gathered under adverse environmental conditions, it is believed instrumentation procedures were such that climatic and other effects did not appreciably influence instrumentation accuracy. For the overseas tests, the aircraft was com pletely calibrated before and after the operation, Comparison of the post-test calibration with the pre-test calibratiom afforded an excel- lent check on the stability of the instrumentation. That over~ell instrumentation precision was well within the standard accuracy limitations generally attributed to the type of instrumentatiom employed is adequately cemonstrated by the excellent agreement between measurements of the hori- ~