Search Results

The 60th Maintenance Squadron at Travis Air Force Base is the first field unit in the United States Air Force to produce approved nonstructural aircraft parts using 3D printing – an additive manufacturing technique. The first parts: latrine covers on the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy strategic airlifter.

After wrapping up a wing swap on 173 Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support attack aircraft, the Boeing Company was awarded with another Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) sustainment contract award from the U.S. Air Force to continue re-winging the rest of the A-10 fleet.

Arctic vehicle automation

Officials at an as-yet-unnamed airline in the U.S. is assessing a new hydrophobic coating developed by GKN Aerospace materials science and engineering specialists in Garden Grove, Calif., for cockpit windows on its commercial passenger aircraft. GKN Aerospace debuted the new materials science technology, which Airbus engineers are also flight-trialing on the airframe manufacturer’s flight-test aircraft, during Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, England, in July 2018.

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.

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 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.

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.

NASA officials and engineers are prepping to fly the agency’s F/A-18 research aircraft over Galveston, Texas, using a “quiet thump” technique designed to reduce loud sonic booms typically associated with supersonic flight. This week’s test flight sets off a series of quiet supersonic research flights off the coast of Texas to test ways to measure supersonic aircraft sound levels and the community’s response to the supersonic acoustic experience.

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.

To ensure safe aircraft takeoffs and landings, one of the most vital areas to inspect for possible fatigue cracking and heat damage is the wheel bead seat. Comprehensive examination of this critical area, where the rubber edge of a tire contacts the wheel, requires having the right wheel inspection equipment on hand for the job – and not all maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities do.

US Army officials and engineers continue work to modernize the defense organization’s fleet of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with a more modern digital cockpit, conducting a Limited User Test with two prototype aircraft at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. They selected for a Limited User Evaluation (LUE) a Crew Mission Station (CMS) aligned with The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) technical standard that combines Core Avionics & Industrial Inc.’s (CoreAVI’s) compositor and graphics suite, Avalex smart display, Intel hardware, Wind River operating system, and Presagis server.

SAE International in Warrendale, Pa., has published AS13006: Process Control Methods, a new standard with guidance material to support specific aerospace engine applications, with a focus on the practical application of control methods for many different situations, to improve process control, process capability, and product quality, benefiting both the organization applying it and its customers.

A team of engineers from NASA and Dallas-based Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. successfully completed the eighth and final test of the Orion spacecraft Capsule Parachute Assembly System at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Ariz.

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.

Adhesive joining of structural components will assume an increasingly important role in designing and manufacturing lightweight structures for aerospace platforms. The latest book from SAE International, Adhesive Joining of Structural Components: New Insights and Technologies explores recent advancements in adhesive bonding, used in the manufacture of primary aircraft fuselage and wing structures since 1945.

Pratt & Whitney was awarded the contract modification by the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center for the Adaptive Engine Transition Program. Through AETP, Pratt & Whitney was tasked with designing, fabricating, integrating, and testing complete, flight-weight adaptive engines – the contract modification allocates funding for “risk reduction” activities related to adaptive engine development.

While the pandemic continues, aerospace companies are rising to embrace new and emerging challenges at a time when there’s so much innovation. This innovation can be seen in the emergence of urban air mobility (UAM), the rebirth of supersonic flight, the drive towards a “zero emission” aircraft, and the continued use of autonomous drones for delivery, freight, search & rescue, and defense. There are exciting new developments in space as companies are developing products for commercial exploration and space tourism, and new ways to launch satellites. A new generation of engineering is also emerging in the defense sector and its development of not only aircraft, but also ships, tankers, and even flight trainers.

After 2020 the number of ‘new’ engine family introductions will decline, as industry switches its investment over to e-propulsion. Suppliers need to be prepared for this shift.