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Hardware variation remains a challenge for modular platform solutions

2014-04-29

Despite the burgeoning success of highly effective single platform modular solutions, hardware variation is not falling, warns BWI Group global technology executive Olivier Raynauld.

Article

Maintainers design a $400 maintenance fixture to save the U.S. Air Force $500k per year

2019-04-30

A cowling, or engine cover, is a critical airframe component that reduces drag and directing airflow into the engine. For the E-8C JSTARS, an aircraft with four massive Pratt and Whitney JT3D-based TF33-102C turbofan engines, each set of engine cowling components can cost up to $80,000 per set. Even a slightly warped cowling renders the entire housing unsafe and unserviceable.

Article

GE Aviation debuts Affinity, first civil supersonic engine in 55 years

2018-10-29

GE Aviation engineers have completed the initial design of the first supersonic engine purpose-built for business jets. GE’s Affinity turbofan engine class integrates proven military supersonic experience, commercial reliability, and advanced business jet engine technologies.

Article

Northrop Grumman tests, qualifies Orion launch abort motor for flight in cold conditions

2018-12-14

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC), NASA, and Lockheed Martin engineers brought the Orion spacecraft one step closer to its first flight atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), and enabling humans to explore the moon, Mars, and other deep space destinations beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO). The team achieved a milestone in the program with a ground firing test of the abort motor for NASA’s Orion spacecraft launch abort system (LAS), designed to enhance spaceflight safety for astronauts, at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Promontory, Utah.

Article

Additive manufacturing is transforming mobility engineering, driving the factory of the future

2018-12-27

Two new installments in the burgeoning SAE International Podcast Series cast a spotlight on additive manufacturing, which is fueling innovation, greater efficiencies, and the future of mobility engineering. Additive manufacturing continues to advance and transform mobility engineering, as aerospace and automotive firms increasingly adopt and invest in 3D printing technologies, which are becoming more capable and cost-effective.

Article

Goodfellow Corporation offers graphene variant produced through a new “metal-free” methane process

2019-04-11

Goodfellow’s process involves breaking methane gas – a very potent greenhouse gas – into hydrogen and elemental carbon atoms in a plasma reactor. The carbon atoms recombine into graphene sheets in the hydrogen atmosphere.

Article

Collins Aerospace taps Wind River Helix virtualization platform to future-proof avionics

2019-04-19

Future airspace will be filled with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones, commercial aircraft, helicopters, and more. Several prototypes are currently targeting urban air mobility (UAM) platforms, such as air taxis, and revolutionary aircraft models like next-generation commercial supersonic aircraft. Add to this autonomous swarm technologies, enabling manned-unmanned teaming, and systems for future vertical lift and it’s clear that the technology wave can easily become overwhelming.

Article

“The Grid” promises to be the most advanced electric propulsion laboratory in the aerospace industry

2019-04-08

Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (UTC), has laid out its plans for what is calling “The Grid” – an 25,000-square-foot advanced electric power systems laboratory for designing and testing next-generation, more-electric aircraft technologies for commercial, military, and business aviation.

Article

Next-generation Honeywell turboshaft engine could power Sikorsky-Boeing’s Future Vertical Lift family

2019-04-15

The latest version of Honeywell Aerospace’s seven-stage axial compressor T55 turboshaft engine is nearing the final phase of development. Designed with next-generation technology to increase reliability, power, and fuel economy, the Honeywell T55-L-71X will find a home onboard the medium-lift Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant compound helicopter demonstrator.

Article

Sensuron enables real-time structural health monitoring onboard NASA’s X-56 UAV

2019-04-04

In contrast to the stiff, rigid wings found on most commercial aircraft, flexible wing technology is considered essential to next generation, fuel efficient aircraft. However, flexible wings are susceptible to “flutter,” or highly destructive aeroelastic instability. To better understand and mitigate flutter, engineers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) equipped the X-56 with fiber optic sensing (FOS) technology.

Article

Bye Aerospace’s Sun Flyer is now the “eFlyer”

2019-04-11

“We originally thought solar cells would be standard on the airplane’s wings,” says George E. Bye, founder and CEO of Bye Aerospace Bye. “However, with eFlyer’s primary markets being flight training and air taxi services, it makes more sense to make the price of the airplane as reasonable as possible.”

Article

AVIC subsidiary Continental Aerospace will power the upcoming Diamond DA50, expands into electric propulsion

2019-04-12

Continental Aerospace Technologies is partnering with Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH of Austria to provide a new powerplant for the DA50 general aviation aircraft. Continental also recently expanded its portfolio with a “cash and in-kind contribution” investment in Ampaire Inc., an electric aircraft and propulsion company.

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Industry veteran and SAE member shares a lifetime of aerospace experience, from bombers to space suits

2019-08-08

Benjamin Franklin Jones III, an SAE committee member and recent centenarian spoke with SAE International and reflected on his career and contributions to the society of mobility engineering at large. His notable experiences include helping to develop the first space suit for the Mercury and Apollo astronauts.

Article

Viziblezone enables vehicle-to-pedestrian collision avoidance through technology already in our cell phones

2019-07-10

Viziblezone Ltd.’s vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) solution to autonomous vehicles or “self-driving cars” is now capable of detecting pedestrians at distances of up to 150 meters (nearly 500 feet) – even when those pedestrians are standing behind objects that block line-of-sight.

Article

UAV Turbines designs purpose-built microturbine engine for Class 3 and 4 UAVs

2019-05-02

UAV Turbines, Inc. has developed a new microturbine, turboprop engine designed for defense and commercial Group 3 and 4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or “drone” applications. UAV Turbines’ Monarch RP is designed to operate reliably, quietly, and powerfully on various qualities of heavy fuel and outperform conventional reciprocating engines.

Article

Bell incorporates bird-deterring lights as standard equipment on Bell 407 helicopters

2019-08-05

Helicopter manufacturer and Textron Inc. subsidiary, Bell Flight, is adding a new piece of standard equipment to its Bell 407GXi single-engine, civil utility helicopter program: bird-deterring, pulsing lights.

Article

New Boeing facility will improve V-22 quality, safety

2019-08-06

Outside of Philadelphia, a 350,000-square-foot facility has been transformed into a modern factory where the Boeing Company will build fuselages for the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey aircraft. The updated plant will also modernize current MV-22 aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps fleet.

Article

Look behind-the-scenes at Acura’s Performance Manufacturing Center, home of the Acura NSX

2019-07-31

Acura’s latest video gives a look into what it takes to manufacture the second generation Acura NSX hybrid supercar at its Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio.

Article

Israeli startup REE reinvents the wheel with a modular approach to future EV design

2019-07-11

By integrating all of the drivetrain components normally found under the hood of a car into the wheel of an EV, the platform optimizes freedom of design, multiple body configurations on a single platform, reduced vehicle size and weight, and increased energy and operational efficiency.

Article

Like a good neighbor, Impossible Aerospace flew over to a nearby construction fire to help locate hotspots for first responders

2019-07-08

When a four-alarm fire started burning at a Santa Clara, California construction site down the street from Impossible Aerospace Corporation, the startup sent one of its US-1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone equipped with thermal and optical sensors to help ground crews battle the blaze.