Aerospace Manufacturing and Design welcomes all aircraft enthusiasts to join the fun and NAME THAT PLANE! Each issue, a new aircraft will be featured. Given a photo and a clue box, readers are encouraged to guess what plane is being described and submit their answers to www.AerospaceManufacturingAndDesign.com/Form/NameThatPlane.
Primary users: U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force
Specifications
Wingspan: 42ft 0" (12.81m)
Length: 29ft 0" (8.84m)
Height: 11ft 8" (3.57m)
Max. speed: 208mph (335km/h)
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 Wasp radial
June 2020 winner:
Ron Hart, Engineering Drafting Manager, ALOFT AeroArchitects, Georgetown, Delaware
How long have you been in the aerospace business? 35 years
How did you become interested in aircraft? As a kid, my dad was in the U.S. Navy, and I remember watching the B-52 bombers launching from Guam as they went to Vietnam.
What is your favorite aircraft and why? When I first joined the Air Force, the first aircraft I worked on was the F-4 Phantom. To me this aircraft was what a true fighter aircraft looked like. I remember looking up at a F-4 as it rumbled down the runway and lifted into the air. What a sight and what a feeling through your body from the afterburner.
Runners-up
Slip Merrell Manufacturing Engineer Schultz Steel Co. South Gate, California
Alexandria Bontrager Senior Gloucester High School Gloucester, Virginia
With a 20,000 lb capacity, CartMover XR features an enhanced ergonomic design that increases worker safety, a 4" lift range that allows carts to move over more surfaces and transitions, and a long-life lithium iron phosphate modular battery with on-board analytics.
Portable and maneuverable, CartMover XR can be used for long-haul and short moves. It fits most standard carts and can be equipped with engineered or custom hitches to connect to carts, bins, vehicles, or other wheeled loads and is customizable to specific material handling challenges.
The Noventa milling cutter performs 90° front and back chamfering and deburring in holes up to 4xD. Chamfering the entry and exit of 0.8mm to 6.0mm holes can be tedious and time-consuming. Noventa’s geometry transforms this process, improving cycle time, tool life, and surface quality.
Equipped with 4 flutes and 4 coolant channels, the milling cutter optimizes performance in most common and exotic materials using modern double-layer coating techniques. The milling tool’s reinforced shank diameter and edge-breaking capabilities offer excellent surface finish – critical to creating a part that looks and feels like a finished product and is safe to handle.
Type SPR/SPS caged ball LM guides feature additional raceway grooves, ultra-long blocks, and an increased number of small- diameter balls, improving load-bearing stroke precision and providing stable motion.
Doubling the number of raceway grooves to eight reduces load on the balls by 50% and enables ultra-low waving on a nanoscopic scale. Ultra-long blocks also allow for more balls and further reduce each ball’s individual load. This stabilizes support and decreases compression when under a load.
Caged technology provides smooth and quiet motion, increased speed and accuracy, decreased noise levels, low dust generation, and long life.
Aluminator grinding wheels, max flex, and cotton fiber grinding and blending wheels are now available in 6" sizes and included on the line of depressed center Type 27 wheels. They provide performance and productivity advantages in various fabrication applications.
The 2-jaw module allows for changeover from clamping round parts to cubic parts in less than two minutes. It can also handle turning applications up to 1,500rpm. With a compact profile, it is the perfect alternative to large and heavy centric vises. The Centrix quick-change interface enables changeover without removal and subsequent realignment of the collet chuck.
“UAM and UAS will play an increasing role in the future of aerospace, with potential applications in all-electric urban air taxi vehicles, hybrid-electric unmanned cargo drones, optionally piloted airplanes, delivery drones, and everything in between,” says Honeywell Aerospace President and CEO Mike Madsen. “Honeywell has already contributed many technological advancements to these markets and is well positioned to continue.”
Equipped with its own engineering and sales resources, the UAS business unit will develop unique products and services and act as a systems integrator for Honeywell products and services such as avionics, electric/hybrid-electric propulsion, thermal management, flight services such as unmanned air traffic management, and ground operations services such as predictive aircraft maintenance analytics. The business will serve as a single point of contact for UAS/UAM aircraft designers or operators with Honeywell.
This expands Honeywell’s portfolio of UAM solutions, with a focus on software for autopilot systems, detect-and-avoid aircraft traffic algorithms, and artificial intelligence (AI) to track landing zones.
Discussions are underway with customers pursuing unmanned flight operations, such as drone package delivery.
GA-ASI enhances MQ-9A automatic takeoff/landing
As part of the ongoing U.S. Air Force contract for MQ-9A Reaper modernization, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) demonstrated three expanded automatic takeoff and landing capability (ATLC) enhancements that increase MQ-9A operational flexibility:
MQ-9A enabled to divert to an alternate landing airfield in which no ground control station is present while under satellite communication (SATCOM) control
Expanded MQ-9A crosswind limits
Increased maximum landing weight for normal, emergency landings
“All three enhancements provide MQ-9A aircrews with increased runway options, as well as expanded weather tolerances that greatly improve mission flexibility, operational availability, and time on station. It will also lead to a substantial reduction in aircrew,” says GA-ASI President David R. Alexander.
Flirtey is pursuing a type certificate for its Eagle next-generation delivery drone.
Flirtey
Flirtey granted patent for safe drone delivery
Five years after Flirtey conducted the first drone delivery in the U.S., in Wise County, Virginia, it was granted a patent critical to safe drone delivery. U.S. Patent Number 10,703,494 describes safety-enhancing technologies such as landing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) safely in the event of failure by using a parachute and steering the drone toward a safe location. This is the third drone delivery safety patent the U.S. has issued to Flirtey in 2020.
Flirtey’s July 17, 2015 flight had Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval, making it the first official drone package delivery in this country. The drone used in the delivery is to go on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Embention, Sagetech partner on UAV transponders
Sagetech Avionics, a developer and manufacturer of miniature aviation transponders, is partnering with Embention, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) autopilots and components supplier, to offer certified situational awareness during UAV piloting.
Embention’s Veronte Autopilot and Sagetech Avionics’ XP or MX transponders with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) enable a UAV’s position to be tracked by other aircraft and air traffic control ground stations, ensuring safe integration of UAVs in congested airspace, over long-range, beyond line of sight, and at night.
Embention officials say Sagetech transponders comply with their Veronte Autopilot, a miniaturized, DO178C- and DO254-compliant avionics system that controls unmanned systems to prevent a UAV from entering restricted airspace or collisions with other aircraft.
Auterion, NXP to develop open software for UAS
NXP Semiconductors and Auterion, a software provider for commercial and government drones, are developing integrated hardware and software solutions for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), based on open-source PX4 technology.
The parties will collaborate on core components of autonomous UAS operations, addressing safety, security, and regulations.
NXP offers certifiable electronics, computational horsepower, secure elements for encryption and authentication, and high-reliability networking. Auterion, the largest contributor to PX4, is offering the hardware reference design and Auterion Enterprise PX4 – the UAS flight controller software and the mission computer. The aim is to ensure manufacturers have a streamlined path to certification through existing drone architectures and workflows.
Auterion co-founder and CEO Lorenz Meier says, “Together, we will be able to provide integrated hardware and software solutions to the drone industry that combine high-performance computing with safety-first engineering.”
ANSI publishes UAS Standardization Roadmap v 2.0
American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI’s) Standardization Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Version 2.0 was developed by ANSI’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative (UASSC), a group coordinating and accelerating development of standards and conformity assessment programs to facilitate safe integration of UAS into the U.S. national airspace system. More than 400 individuals from 250 public and private organizations supported the document’s development, including representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), other U.S. federal government agencies, standards developing organizations (SDOs), industry, and academia.
The updated roadmap is the culmination of UASSC’s work to identify existing standards and standards in development, assess gaps, and make recommendations for priority areas where there’s a need for additional standardization including pre-standardization research and development (R&D). Issues are addressed under the broad headings:
Airworthiness
Flight operations
Personnel training, qualifications, certification
Infrastructure inspections
Environmental applications
Commercial services
Workplace safety
Public safety operations
The document also includes brief overviews of the UAS activities of the FAA, other U.S. federal government agencies, SDOs, and various industry groups.
The roadmap aims to support UAS market growth, emphasizing civil, commercial, and public safety applications. While the UASSC doesn’t develop standards, its recommendations should be widely adopted by the standards community.
The update identifies 71 issues without published standards or specifications. Each gap includes a corresponding recommendation for action and priority. New gap analysis sections include:
Blockchain for UAS
Design, operation of UAS aerodromes
UAS service suppliers process, quality
Commercial UAS cargo transport
Commercial UAS passenger air taxi/transport
Commercial sensing services
Data formatting standards for UAS public safety operations
Triumph Group secures MRO agreements, certification
Departments - Maintenance, Repair, & Overhaul
Unison Industries continues AAR partnership; GE awarded $180 million contract to support T700 engines; Initial Aviation to distribute parts from Aerocycle’s aircraft dismantling; Atlas Group names Jim McMullen CEO; Boeing Global Services earns fleet contracts; Vertex Aerospace awarded Navy contract; GA Telesis, Liebherr-Aerospace to support E-Jets.
Triumph Systems & Support won a four-year contract for F-35 joint strike fighter hydraulic utility actuation (HUA) valves, extending an existing two-year order with Lockheed Martin that makes Triumph Group the sole provider for the HUA valve.
The proprietary design of HUA valves provides directional flow control for critical hydraulic systems.
Triumph Group also obtained a five-year, non-exclusive, fixed-price agreement with a North American independent maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility for engine accessories on CFM56, CF34, and CF6 jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. Triumph has provided engine accessory component repair and overhaul services for the major independent MRO facility for more than a decade. Work for the agreement will be performed at Triumph’s Accessory Services facilities in Grand Prairie, Texas, and Wellington, Kansas.
Triumph Systems & Support’s aftermarket accessory services facility in Grand Prairie completed AS9110 certification for aerospace MRO management systems, updating its previous AS9100 certification for quality management systems. The certification guarantees that the site can implement, monitor, and comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 145 regulations.
The Grand Prairie site supports repair and overhaul of pneumatics, hydraulics, environmental systems, actuation, engine mounts, lubrication units, heat transfer, engine controls, fuel accessories, and gearboxes for commercial and military aircraft.
Unison Industries continues AAR partnership
Global supplier of gas turbine engine, electrical, and mechanical systems components, Unison Industries LLC, is expanding its longstanding partnership with AAR Corp. as its exclusive worldwide aftermarket distributor for aviation, aerospace, military, and civil vehicle products. The more than $1 billion agreement includes new product introduction spanning multiple aircraft platforms throughout 11 years.
AAR will market, forecast, warehouse, and distribute Unison original equipment manufacturer (OEM) replacement parts. In addition, AAR will provide 24/7 aircraft-on-ground (AOG) call center support to rapidly deliver Unison products.
Components covered by the program include turbine ignition systems, engine-dedicated alternators, sensors, switches, wiring harnesses, bellows and metal tubing/ducting consumed by commercial and military aircraft operators, maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities and other industry customers, worldwide. The agreement also includes repair services management backed by AAR’s supply chain and customer support network.
GE awarded $180 million contract to support T700 engines
GE Aviation has been awarded a five-year, $180 million contract by the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) to repair and overhaul T700 rotorcraft engines in support of the U.S. Navy’s MH-60 Seahawk, and the U.S. Marine Corps’ AH-1Z Viper and Bell UH-1Y Venom/Huey helicopters.
T700/CT7 turboshaft and turboprop engines power 15 types of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft with more than 130 customers in more than 50 countries. The T700/CT7 family has surpassed 20,000 delivered units and more than 100 million total flight hours, more than five million flight hours in hot-harsh combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Initial Aviation to distribute parts from Aerocycle’s aircraft dismantling
Headquartered in Mirabel, Québec, Canada, Initial Aviation has partnered with Montréal, Canada-based Aerocycle Inc. to distribute spare parts obtained as part of Aerocycle’s aircraft dismantling activities.
Aerocycle President and CEO Ron Haber says, “As a certified disassembly and demolition company, we can now count on the expertise and distribution network of our new partner for consignment sales of aircraft parts.”
Hugo Beaudry, president of Initial Aviation, says, “We are able to give our customers around the world access to a large inventory of quality parts, as well as to provide faster and more proactive sales and shipping services from our new premises in Mirabel.”
Aerocycle provides end-of-life aircraft disassembly, part-out, teardown, and recycling services.
Initial Aviation provides sourcing and sales services for aftermarket airplane and helicopter parts and components, including disposal of surplus parts through customized consignment programs. The company holds a Transport Canada Certificate of Approval for the distribution and certification of previously certified aeronautical products.
Atlas Group names Jim McMullen CEO
The Atlas Group, a Wichita, Kansas-based supplier of complex assemblies for commercial, business, and defense aerospace customers worldwide, has named former COO Jim McMullen its CEO. McMullen succeeds Rick Wolf, who is retiring after more than 20 years with the company. Wolf will continue to serve as a member of the board of directors, and McMullen and Keith Kranzow, Atlas president and CFO, will also join the board.
McMullen has more than 25 years’ experience leading complex manufacturing operations throughout the aerospace supply chain, joining Atlas in 2016. Prior to Atlas, he served as general manager for Joined Alloys and for two Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC) sites, Cherry Aerospace, and SPS Technologies. Prior to PCC, McMullen served in multiple leadership roles at Honeywell.
Boeing has added supply chain and digital solution contracts to manage maintenance, inventory, and operating costs of several international airlines:
Xiamen Airlines, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways – Optimized Maintenance Programs combining advanced data analytics, engineering expertise for greater airplane availability, more efficient maintenance operations
All Nippon Airways – Install 787-9 galley facility in new training center to enhance crew training opportunities, supply 10 Boeing 767 Quick Engine Change kits
Suparna Airlines, Zheijiang Loong Airlines, West Air, Guangxi Air, Urumqi Air, Air Changan (all in China) – Digital solutions to enhance operational efficiency, optimize flight planning
Alaska Airlines – Three-year consumable, expendable services agreement for Boeing 737 fleet; Tailored Parts Package consists of 2,900 part numbers; Boeing anticipates shipping nearly 800,000 parts, four Quick Engine Change kits during agreement
Mississippi-based Vertex Aerospace was awarded a contract seat with the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) in Patuxent River, Maryland, to provide supplies and services to improve Naval Air Systems Command’s fleet readiness.
Vertex’s Aircraft Integration & Sustainment (AIS) division, Crestview, Florida, can compete for all NAWCAD aircraft components, systems, kit production, and installation task orders.
The AIS division site houses multiple high-bay hangars for fixed and rotary wing aircraft modifications and is complemented by more than 500,000ft2 of manufacturing, production, and assembly buildings.
GA Telesis, Liebherr-Aerospace to support E-Jets
GA Telesis MRO Services Group and Liebherr-Aerospace are partnering to provide maintenance for Embraer E-Jets. GA Telesis technicians will receive Liebherr-Aerospace technical support and original equipment materials to repair and overhaul landing gear for E-jet operators in the Americas. The repairs and overhauls will be performed in GA Telesis’ MRO facility in Miami, Florida.
