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Specialized thermoplastics improve sensor performance and packaging, at reduced cost.

The Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant (stylized as “SB>1 DEFIANT”) compound helicopter flew for the first time at Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach, Florida facility. Unlike current rotorcraft, the SB-1 Defiant’s propulsion system includes a rear-mounted pusher propulsor in addition to two coaxial main rotors. This unique setup allows the Defiant to reach speeds and a service range far beyond that of modern helicopters.

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.

The National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) of Wichita State University (WSU) is partnering with SAE International to develop globally harmonized aerospace material and process specifications for advanced composites and non-metal additive manufacturing (AM) materials in the aerospace and air transport industries.

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.

Engineers from the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Manufacturing Technologies Division successfully demonstrated the capabilities of a new multi-purpose maintenance and manufacturing robot at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

The 3D printing materials market will experience high double-digit growth in the aerospace industry through 2024, as manufacturers of aircraft and spacecraft vehicles and components increasingly adopt and reap the benefits of additive manufacturing, market analysts at Frost & Sullivan in Mountain View, California, predict.

Jun 13, 2018 - The Aerospace Material Specification committee on Additive Manufacturing (AMS-AM) at SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, has released its first suite of Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS) additive manufacturing materials and process specifications. The new aerospace technical standards, now available from SAE, support the certification of critical aircraft and spacecraft parts, providing both a framework to protect the integrity of material property data and traceability within the aerospace supply chain.

The Auto-Tracking Antenna System, a new portable, ground-to-air antenna from Persistent Systems LLC in New York, incorporates aircraft into the Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET) to boost connectivity, communications, and distribution of critical sensor data, including full-motion video, on the networked battlefield. The precisely aimed tracking system works with the MPU5 radio and Wave Relay MANET to optimize connectivity and reliable communications to enable manned and unmanned aircraft to communicate further than ever before, officials say.

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.

Even at the early stages of this new era of urban air mobility, there is already a scramble amongst well-known aerospace giants, as well as start-ups, to develop and evaluate the civil VTOL market. And this all starts with air-taxi concepts.

Aerospace systems, subsystems, and components must continue to operate as intended when exposed to fire, rather than going up in flames and ceasing to work altogether. Fire and flammability testing is an all-important prerequisite to airworthiness, and the focus of a new technical standards committee that SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, is forming in response to a request from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials in Washington.

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.

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.

AeroVonics LLC, an aerospace startup based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification for its initial launch product: a two-inch, twelve-function flight avionics instrument for light general aviation aircraft.

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.

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.

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.

To maximize H130 safety, Dart Aerospace Limited (Dart) has acquired supplemental type certificate (STC) approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for a newly developed emergency float system (EFS) for unexpected water landings.

To better inform and equip mobility engineers dealing with these challenges, SAE International has released a new book series from Juan R. Pimentel that explores automated vehicle safety concepts and technologies.