463L – The common designation for a family of air cargo handling equipment. The 463L system consists of separate, but interdependent, equipment families, including terminals, on-board aircraft cargo handling systems, ground handling equipment, pallets and nets. The pallets with nets are used as an unitisation module and are loaded into the aircraft on roller conveyors. A 463L equipped aircraft has roller conveyor assemblies and restraint rails with integral locks. A pallet/net assembly is secured into the aircraft by these locks. [AL]
Aerial Delivery – The act or process of delivering cargo by air transport, air drop or external lift. [General]
Air drop – Delivery of personnel or cargo from aircraft in flight. There are four current methods of air drop: free drop, low velocity drop, high velocity drop and precision air drop. [AD]
Air Land Transport – Delivery of personnel or cargo from point to point in which the cargo is delivered by air landing. [AL]
Air Land Trial (Load Trial) – A trial evaluating loading of an item(s) to an aircraft (or simulated aircraft) for air transportability certification. Test loadings are normally limited to cases where the characteristics of items are such that analytical means alone are judged insufficient to determine an item’s air transport eligibility. Because of the expense and work effort involved, test loadings are normally only performed only with recommendation, approval and support of AMTDU. Generally test loadings require the development and documentation of special procedures for handling and/or restraint. [AL]
Air Transport (Air Land Transport) – The airborne delivery of personnel or cargo from Air Land location to Air Land location by aircraft. [AL]
Air Transport Weight – The weight of the load item in the configuration that it is to be air transported in.
Attachment Points – An integral part of an item, tie down eye, fixture, or attachment for which serves as the primary means of connecting a lashing to the primary load item for restraint purposes during shipment. Attachment points are also referred to as ‘tie down provisions’, ‘supplementary tie down provisions’ or ‘tie-down points’ in foreign country standards. [General]
Design Limit Load (Limit Load) – The applied force, or maximum probable force, that a lifting or restraint point, including its connecting structural members, is to be able to withstand without permanent deformation occurring. The design limit load is to be used for proof load analysis. [General]
Design Proof Load – The maximum load that a structure is designed to withstand without deformation. It is the product of the design limit load and the proof factor. A proof factor is not typically applied in this standard and is therefore equal to 1.0. [General]
Design Ultimate Load (Ultimate Load, Ultimate Strength) – The force that a provision, including its connecting structural members, can sustain without breaking, rupturing, or otherwise becoming unusable. The DUL is used in the design/testing context. [General]
Dual Point External Load – A single load Item which is simultaneously suspended from two aircraft cargo hooks. [EL]
Energy Dissipater – A device used for absorbing or dissipating the kinetic energy experienced by an air drop load during impact. [AD]
Energy Dissipating Material - As used in this standard, a crushable material (paper honeycomb) used to dissipate kinetic energy during impact. This material is to conform to MIL-H-9884. [AD]
External Lift Live Trial (External Lift Flight Test) – A flight trial in which a load item is rigged in its External Air Transport configuration and flown through specific aerial manoeuvres by ADF rotary wing aircraft in order to determine external air transport suitability. This test is used to verify stability during flight; as well as indicating the load item can withstand the dynamic forces induced by transportation by air. [EL]
External Lift Simulated Trial (Simulated Lift Test – External Lift) – A test where the rigged item is lifted by crane or hoist in order to verify the proposed rigging configuration and determine associated sling forces, as well as identify clearance problems. This is also referred to as a ‘static lift test’ by US MIL-STDs. [EL]
Extracted Weight – The total weight of the air drop item plus the weight of all items of air drop equipment required to rig and deliver the air dropped load including the parachute. [AD]
Extraction Provisions – An integral fitting on the load item used for attaching the extraction system for air drop applications. The preference is for the extraction provision on the Type V air drop platform to be used. This is defined as a platform extracted load. [AD]
Frame Members (Primary Structure) - Key structural components of a load item (e.g. main chassis beams, cross members) specifically designed to carry the main forces applied to the load item during its operation (such as weight, driving loads, operating loads, working loads). [General]
General Cargo – Cargo without special or hazardous properties that does not require extra precautions or special handling for air transport and does not exceed published aircraft limits. [AL]
Hazardous Materials – A substance or materiel which has been determined and designated by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and/or the AAP 3631.002
Dangerous Goods – Transport by Service Air to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported. Included are explosives, articles such as flammable liquids and solids and other dangerous oxidizing materials, corrosive materials, compressed gases, poisons and irritating materials, etiologic agents and radioactive materials. [General]
Lifting Provisions – An integral part of the load item, commonly called a padeye, lug, eye, ring, or attachment. A lifting provision provides a means of attaching a sling to the load item for safe lifting. [EL]
Load Item Designer – The party responsible for design of the military equipment (the load item) for delivery to the CoA.
Multi Point External Load – Two or more load items, suspended individually from separate aircraft cargo hooks. [EL]
Multipurpose Provision – A single provision that meets the requirements of this standard for both lifting and load item tie down. [General]
Pallet – A simple unit load device used for consolidation of cargo for efficient handling. Within the RAAF, pallets fall into the following basic groups. [AL]
Warehouse Pallet: Generally a wood pallet 40 inches x 48 inches x 6 inches, weighing 75 to 100 lb.
463L HCU-6E Pallet: The pallet used within the military air cargo handling system and is also compatible with commercial air cargo systems. (104 in length x 84 in width x variable height. Height is determined by aircraft type)
463L HCU-12/E Pallet: A pallet used within the military cargo handling system (88 in length x 54 in width x 76 in height).
Permanent Deformation – Any visible permanent irreversible change in the original dimensions or shape of the provision or connecting structure resulting from an applied force. [General]
Rigged Configuration – The completed load as presented to the aircraft ready for air drop. [AD]
Secondary Cargo Tie down Provision – A padeye, ring, shackle, fixture, or attachment integral to the cargo areas of trucks and trailers, flatbed trailers, or flat-racks (used as a demountable truck or trailer bed for securing secondary cargo or accessories). This is referred to as ‘cargo tie down provisions’ or ‘large cargo tie down provisions’ in US MIL-STDs. [General]
Shoring – Material, typically timber, used as a loading or transport aid. Both plywood and dimension lumber are commonly used for shoring purposes. Shoring includes:
Approach Shoring (Step-Up Shoring): Approach shoring is used to reduce the ramp angle that a vehicle must traverse during aircraft on/offloading. Reduction of the ramp angle becomes necessary to avoid interference problems where there are minimal underside, overhead, or overhang clearances. Approach shoring requires large amounts of lumber and is not a preferred alternative to designing to have adequate clearances. [AL]
Parking shoring: Shoring that is required under the wheels or tracks of vehicular cargo to distribute loads for inflight conditions. [AL]
Roller Shoring: Shoring that is required to protect the aircraft ramps and cargo compartment floor from damage during on/ offloading and flight of tracked vehicles or vehicles with wheels that have lugs, cleats studs, metal rolling surfaces or small diameters. [AL]
Sleeper Shoring: Sleeper shoring is used to prevent the movement of a vehicle due to gust and flight manoeuvre load conditions where tyres or the suspension system cannot withstand these loads without failure or depression producing slack in lashings. This type of shoring is placed between the aircraft floor and a structural part of the vehicle such as the frame. [AL]
Single Point External Load – A single load item which is suspended from one aircraft cargo hook. [EL]
Suspended Item – The rigged item suspended without the recovery parachute system attached. [AD]
Suspended Weight – The extracted weight less the weight of the parachute system. [AD]
Suspension Provision – An integral fitting on the load item or the air drop platform used to attach the suspension system and the retardation parachute system. The suspension system may also include the parachute release. [AD]
Tandem Load – A load consisting of two separate load items, which are connected or prepared together in tandem. An example of a tandem load is a vehicle and trailer combination. Tandem loads are typically prepared and transported via a Dual Point Sling Load method. [EL]
Tie down Devices and Lashings – Chain or strap with integral attaching hardware used to restrain load items by means of connection between the load item attachment point and the platform or aircraft floor Tie down fitting. [AL, AD]
Tie down Fitting (Floor Ring) – Ring type cargo restraint fittings which are part of the aircraft floor. [AL]
Treadways – This is strengthened area of the cargo compartment floor especially designed to support vehicle traffic in C130/C-27 and CH-47 aircraft. [AL]
Ultimate Load Factor – A factor applied to the DLL to obtain the DUL. The ultimate load factor is equal to 1.5. [General]
Working Limit Load (Safe Working Load, Working Load) – The maximum load that can be applied to a device in the operational context. This load is inclusive of the relevant safety, flight load, material or other design factors. This is the ‘rating’ provided to operational users of the load item. [General]
Yield Load – The force at which a provision, including its connecting structural members, exhibits permanent deformation after the force is removed. The yield load must be greater than the design limit load. [General]