CD-ROM DISCS TAKE THE PLACE OF HARD COPY MERLIN PUBLICATIONS

28 November 1998

CD-ROM discs will take the place of 25 metres of first-line maintenance and overhaul publications, for the Royal Navy's Merlin anti-submarine helicopter when it enters service next month. The first sets of discs, and the manuals were handed over at RNAS Culdrose today by Paul Mapletoft, Merlin Support Engineering Manager at Lockheed Martin, prime contractor to the Royal Navy for the helicopter.

At the hand-over Mr Mapletoft said: "The RN Merlin will be the first military aircraft in the UK to enter service using an Interactive Electronic Technical Publication (IETP) as its prime source of information. It is an instant reference system which will save time and speed up maintenance and repair both on shore and at sea."

All shore bases from where Merlin operates and each helicopter will have a disc set. For the first time, a military aircraft will be able to carry its entire set of Aircraft Maintenance manuals on board. Maintainers away from base will get the information they need using a laptop, suitably 'ruggedised' for military use. Back at base, standard PC's will be used.

The new system was produced by GKN Westland in a joint development programme with Lockheed Martin. It provides rapid data retrieval of all the details of any maintenance task or part, saving the Maintainer time of searching through a number of printed manuals as in the past.

Data contained in more than 20,000 Merlin Data Modules, covering all aircraft systems, some with over 50 pages of information, is held on the discs providing full technical descriptions, part numbers and illustrations, together with step-by-step instructions for maintenance, replacement an repair.

Development of the new electronic based manuals has taken two years.

Merlin IETP provides lateral access to systems maintenance tasks with instant reference eg, from the maintenance manual to the spare parts listings and to applicable wiring diagrams.

Eight training courses have been held at Culdrose for Royal Navy Maintainers with widely differing computer literacy skills. Mr Mapletoft reports: "This system has been welcomed by all who have used it so far. The information is presented in a format similar to the old manuals so it is familiar to Maintainers. It is accessed on a simple 'point and click' basis. In addition to the formal training, the IETP has its own in-built training and help routines." The laptops will be used in all climates and in addition to being toughened for service away from base, they have been fitted with extra large buttons for cold weather operation.

A total of 19 sets have been ordered to cover main bases and helicopters as they enter service.