DLR and Airbus test electric nose wheel in taxiing test at Hamburg airport
07.07.2011
On July 1st 2011, DLR’s A320 ATRA (Advanced Technology Research Aircraft) taxied around Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport propelled by an electric nose wheel. In the taxiing tests, researchers and engineers from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), Airbus and Lufthansa Technik demonstrated a fuel cell-powered electric nose wheel. [more...]
The non-touch innovation
30.06.2011
On board many Airbus passenger aircraft, you’ll find the lightest washstand the market has to offer. It achieves its lightness thanks to a bionic honeycomb design from Schüschke. The latest innovation from the company, which employs 50 members of staff and is managed by Uwe Schüschke, and its partner EME – Elektro-Metall Export, is a non-touch waste flap. [more...]
“Seat optimizers” are in great demand
30.06.2011
A comfortable passenger seat is more than just the physical connection between passenger and airplane. Ideally, it is also a connection between the passenger and the airline and inspires customer loyalty. Seat producers are facing a difficult task: They have to merge comfort, function, design and efficiency. Aerotec author Barbara Stumpp wanted to know how they manage to achieve this feat again and again and entered the world of “seat optimizers.”
The new seating systems for passenger planes are not only lighter, but also easier to handle. Both of these benefits will pay off for any airline. [more...]
More entertainment, more modules
30.06.2011
Airlines are competing for the favour of passengers by offering onboard atmosphere and interior outfitting. By conceiving new innovations aimed at making flights more enjoyable, also new In-Flight Entertainment Systems (IFE) could play an important role. These and other features installed in cabins for the benefit of passengers on request of the airlines are becoming increasingly modular in order to cope with the complexity of options. [more...]
Less noise means more money
30.06.2011
Vying for the growing business segment of turboprops, planemakers are trying to gain a competitive edge by overcoming one of the major drawbacks of turboprops – propeller noise. Hawker Beechcraft found a way to avoid the extremely expensive and time-consuming trial-and- error way of noise reduction by using LMS Virtual.Lab Acoustics technology. [more...]
Laserbeams keep control
30.06.2011
Quality is of the utmost importance to the aerospace industry. Small wonder then that leading engine manufacturers like MTU Aero Engines use a laser controlled optical measuring system on over 100 machines. The process stability which the laser system offers is helping to achieve the best possible manufacturing results. [more...]
“Made of creative energy”
30.06.2011
Since Ukrainian UL-aircraft company Aeroprakt has switched to CNC-machining, its productivity has been improved. Labour input was reduced by more than 40%. But to make the most of the company’s new CNC capability, the designers had to adjust their way of thinking; of conceiving and designing a part or component. Eventually, the entire aeroplane was reconceived. [more...]
“The system paid for itself in just six months”
30.06.2011
Finally Jakadofsky decided to invest into the so-called powRgrip tool clamping system by Swiss tool manufacturer Rego-Fix. Now production runs smoothly and the results lie well within the specified close tolerances. As Jakadofsky points out, the tools last much longer than with other holding systems on the market. As a result, Jakadofsky is making considerable savings in annual tool costs and has already recouped its investment in the powRgrip system twice over within the last 12 months. [more...]
Finally, honest answers to RFQs
30.06.2011
It’s a daily nuisance for buyers of aviation parts and services: You send a request for quote (RFQ) for an urgently needed part and never get an answer. Or a vendor promises to send you a part and it either doesn’t arrive or it arrives in poor condition. But improvement is announced by a new quality-rating system unveiled last month by fipart, a German startup firm that operates a trading and networking platform for aviation parts. [more...]
”It was the right decision”
30.06.2011
The German ADAC Luftfahrt Technik GmbH (ALT) stumbled upon their new corporate software in a rather unconventional manner: as current systems mapped out helicopter maintenance processes in an inadequate or complicated way, project managers simply made enquiries to similar companies. At Petroleum Helicopters (PHI) in the USA, they came across the integrated ERP system from the internationally established software company Ramco Systems and were impressed by its helicopter specialised functions and global references. Ramco Systems web solution has now greatly optimised ALT’s work and approval processes. [more...]
