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Weber Metals Inc., a division of Otto Fuchs KG of Germany, unveiled a new, $180 million, 60,000-ton press at its 2.5-acre facility in Paramount, California, southeast of Los Angeles. It sets a record as the highest tonnage hydraulic forging press in the Americas and the largest privately funded forging press investment in the world.

The four-year Clean High-Efficiency Diesel Engine (CHEDE) program is using a variety of new technologies and research findings to progress to a super-efficient, low-emitting heavy-duty diesel engine system with 55% brake thermal efficiency.

Last month, AeroVironment, Inc. began accepting orders for their new Puma 3 UAS. As an “all environment” UAS, Pumas have operated effectively in some of the harshest climates on Earth.

Hundreds of aerospace executives, engineers, scientists, and academics are gathering in London this week for Aerospace Systems and Technology Conference (ASTC) 2018 from SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania. Discussions during the three-day industry event center on the theme of innovating air mobility. Aerospace thought leaders are at ASTC discussing current challenges, the latest enabling technologies, and future opportunities, including those related to urban air mobility (UAM) and supersonic aircraft.

Aircraft orders exceed $95 billion in value and are complemented by roughly $3 billion in aircraft engine and engine service agreement contracts announced in the first two days of the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. “The future starts at Farnborough; our exhibition halls are full of innovation that will shape how we fly, enabling us to go further, faster, and with less environmental impact,” says Farnborough International Commercial Director Amanda Stainer.  

Demand for high-performance plastics (HPPs) is up across the aerospace industry, driven by such key trends as growing performance requirements, increased use of additive manufacturing or 3D printing, supply chain globalization, and tightening environmental regulations. Growing passenger traffic coupled with the need to reduce emissions – being accomplished through lightweighting, engine downsizing, and vehicle electrification – present opportunities for HPPs, research analysts at Frost & Sullivan in San Antonio, Texas, explain.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. is using an integrated fuel tank structure to maximize fuel offload for the company’s proposed MQ-25 design for the U.S. Navy. The Navy plans to deploy one of three potential MQ-25 designs by the early- to mid-2020s.

Rolls-Royce in London is unveiling a concept electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) vehicle, including civil and military variants, that could take to the skies as soon as the early 2020s. The flexible design – able to be adapted for a variety of applications, including personal transport, public transport, logistics, and defense – is based upon technologies currently in use and under development.

AeroVironment revealed its critical role in collaborating with NASA JPL to build the “Mars Helicopter” for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Program officials plan to have the Mars Helicopter flying on Mars in less than three years.

Standards development teams at SAE International in Warrendale, Pa., have issued 11 new technical documents and revised or reaffirmed another 54 technical reports focused on mobility engineering across the aerospace, automotive, and commercial transportation communities. The new documents, issued throughout June 2018, cover a variety of technical subject areas, including: diagnostic link connector security, mitigation strategies against illumination effects, data dictionary for quantities used in cyber physical exams, requirements for production of metal powder feedstock for use in additive manufacturing of aerospace parts, and laser powder bed fusion process.

The Global 7500 business jet from Bombardier Inc. in Montreal appears to be on the fast track to entering service, thanks in large part to high-tech engineering design, simulation, and test tools. Bombardier engineers and officials are crediting the program’s extensive use of proven engineering tools, digital simulation, innovative ground testing systems for helping to ensure: a mature aircraft at the start of flight testing, an efficient flight validation program, test aircraft that exceed original performance goals, and completion of one lifetime of simulated flights, which exceeds the requirements at time of certification.

In April, NASA took another major step toward reintroducing supersonic flight with an award to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company to design, build, and test a supersonic aircraft to reduce sonic boom.

The X-59 utilizes a long and slender airframe to achieve supersonic speeds without causing a high decibel sonic boom. The unconventional design precludes the use of a forward-looking window or viewport. Collins Aerospace is providing a dual multi-spectral enhanced vision system to give pilots a forward view of the airspace.

The test was conducted to better understand the dynamic forces on an aircraft and its passengers during a crash landing. Findings form the event will support a new FAA performance-based rule that will simplify aircraft certification by eliminating or minimizing the use of special conditions.

Engineers at Boeing and NASA are collaborating on a lightweight, ultra-thin Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) concept, designed to be more aerodynamic and fuel efficient than current designs, as part of the Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) program focusing on innovative aerospace concepts that reduce noise and emissions while enhancing performance.

The modified Chengdu J-10B was spotted in Zhuhai ahead of a performance at at 2018 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. During the Zhuhai exhibition, the aircraft demonstrated the Pugachev’s Cobra maneuver.

In part two of a two-part series, Richard Gardner discusses various aerospace propulsion innovations and continued work by aerospace engineers and scientists to advance aircraft engine technologies to increase efficiency and lower emissions.

Airshow China is the country’s go-to event for debuting the their latest military and aerospace hardware. One those aircraft debuts – which might look familiar to engineers at Northrop Grumman – is the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Cai Hong 7 unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV).

SAE International, a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for mobility engineering, is bringing together subject-matter experts from across the globe for the first SAE International Aerospace Japan Symposium, held November 29 and 30 in conjunction with Japan International Aerospace Exhibition 2018 at Tokyo Big Sight convention center in Tokyo.

While GAC member companies have led the industry in introducing alternative propulsion technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the GAC supports “de-carbonizing” transportation, the organization says that there has been no modelling done to gauge the impact on the Canadian automotive sector.