The search for ever-lower emission technology for future generations of aircraft engines is actively progressing on both sides of the Atlantic. Tucked away on a modest-size stand at this year’s Farnborough International Airshow was a highly varied collection of unconventional engine technology displays – a clear indication of radical innovation already being investigated as a part of Ultimate, the European Horizon 2020 research and innovation project.
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.
On Sept. 12, NASA will conduct the first test flight of its latest heatshield, the Adaptable Deployable Entry Placement Technology (ADEPT) mechanically deployable semi-rigid aeroshell entry system.
This week, Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. (UTC), announced the establishment of GatorWorks, a newly formed prototyping arm that will focus on the rapid and agile development of dependable, lower cost military engines.
AKG of America’s research and development center at its Mebane, North Carolina, facility hosted a grand opening in February that features a new water/glycol thermal shock test stand for product validation.
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.
Hardware and software engineers at AVIO, a global aerospace company engaged in the construction and development of space launchers and solid and liquid propulsion systems for space travel, with facilities in Italy, France, and French Guyana are actively enhancing the design of the Vega space launcher, with a focus on evolving the design with enhanced avionics and propulsion technologies while also maximizing subsystem reuse and reorganizing production processes for a more efficient production chain.
Software engineers engaged in the construction and development of space launchers and solid and liquid propulsion systems for space travel at AVIO – a global aerospace company with five facilities in Italy, France, and French Guyana – are leveraging the GNAT Pro Assurance and GNATemulator from AdaCore, a provider of software development and verification tools, with headquarters in Paris and New York to develop and expedite testing of safety-critical, on-board software for the Vega C launcher.
Designers are envisioning new looks for vehicle interiors, as in-vehicle connectivity and electrified powertrains usher in the autonomous driving age. As more EVs enter the marketplace with battery packs housed underneath the cabin floor, the door opens to a new era of interiors.
The AS2 industry team – comprising Aerion in Reno, Nevada; Lockheed Martin in Bethesda, Maryland; GE Aviation in Evendale, Ohio; and Honeywell in Morris Plains, New Jersey – has finished the conceptual design phase and launched the preliminary design phase, slated to conclude in June 2020, of the Aerion A2 supersonic business jet.
Aerion Supersonic in Reno, Nevada, and Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix are collaborating on a revolutionary, connected cockpit for the Aerion AS2, regarded as the first supersonic business jet in history.
Engineers at AeroMobil in Slovakia have developed a special edition of the company’s personal aerial vehicles targeted exclusively at the rapidly growing personal air transportation market in China. AeroMobil has unveiled two Sky Dragon roadable aircraft or flying car concepts, specifically designed for China, based on the AeroMobil 4.0 short takeoff and landing (STOL) and 5.0 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft.
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.
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.