Situated literally at the center of the show site, Goodrich Corp. has certainly made an impression at this year’s Farnborough with a new pavilion that combines a chalet and an exhibit stand, giving invited guests and drop-ins alike quick and easy access to information on its entire range of products.
On the ground floor of the new structure, all show-goers can browse displays of landing gear, wheels and brakes and sensors for new and existing aircraft platforms. Goodrich is also showcasing its contribution to defense and homeland security, featuring sensor technologies for laser detection, surveillance and reconnaissance systems for fighters and UAVs and laser systems for perimeter awareness and obstacle avoidance.
The upper floor of the new pavilion accommodates private dining space and an airshow viewing platform.
Like the visitors to the pavilion, Houston, Texas-based ExpressJet expects to save considerable time and energy by extending its asset management agreement with Goodrich for aftermarket services in support of the Continental Airline regional partner’s Embraer ERJ 135/145 fleet. The new arrangement will create exchange pools of sensing products and related systems, as well as provide for maintenance, to ensure immediate availability at a fee, based on the airline’s annual flight hours.
“This asset management agreement is consistent with our aftermarket strategic business expansion,” said Goodrich Sensor Systems vice president Jan Mathiesen. “For ExpressJet, it reduces AOG situations, keeps their fleet dispatched and operational and provides predictable maintenance costs. It simplifies our interface, making it easier for us to do business with each other.”
Goodrich is the original equipment manufacturer, and the company’s customer services division acts as the aftermarket service provider for all of ExpressJet’s thrust reverser actuators; wheels and brakes; power generators; air data and temperature sensors; electronic and hydromechanical engine controls; and the fuel nozzles.
Of course, the company’s contribution to civil aerospace extends far beyond regional jets, all the way to the world’s largest airliner. In fact, it just completed the first test assembly of the Airbus A380’s GP7200 turbofan.
Engine Alliance, a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney, chose Goodrich’s Toulouse team to perform the final assembly and engine build-up in 2004. Engine Alliance ships the engine to Toulouse in a split ship configuration–fan case and propulsor separated. The test assembly, conducted at the Toulouse aerostructures facility, included rejoining the fan case section of the engine to the engine core/propulsor. Fully assembled, a single engine measures 12.8 feet in diameter.
Goodrich also installs engine build-up kits consisting of pneumatics and starter systems, hydraulic and fuel systems, pylon drain and fire extinguisher, as well as several electrical harnesses, including the variable frequency generator (VFG) harness.
Finally, the company installs a package of Airbus buyer-furnished equipment on the bare engine, including engine mounts, thrust links, hydraulic pumps, fuel and hydraulic lines, pressure valves and the VFG, manufactured by Aerolec, a joint venture between Goodrich and Thales.
In addition to the build-up of the GP7200 engine for the A380, Goodrich Corp. has won contracts for a number of systems and technologies on board the aircraft. Its evacuation slides played a key role in the Airbus A380 full-scale evacuation test successfully completed this past March in Hamburg, Germany. One of the world’s largest suppliers of landing systems, the company also provides both the main body and wing landing gear for the aircraft. The contract marked the first time Airbus chose Goodrich to supply landing gear.
Other Goodrich products aboard the A380 include high-density discharge (HID) and LED-based exterior lighting, cabin attendant seating, variable frequency technology for the aircraft’s power generation system (through its Aerolec joint venture with Thales) and flight controls.
Goodrich will also supply primary and standby air data systems, an automatic ice detection system and several structural components of the cargo system. The company’s aerostructures team provides the sail fairing, or rear secondary structure–an aerodynamic surface that serves to cut drag associated with the trailing edge of the A380’s pylon.
The company also makes the aft pylon fairing, which also reduces aircraft drag and protects the primary and secondary pylon structures from temperature extremes. Finally, Goodrich will supply the center and rear fan case sections for the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine option on the A380.
