Goodrich (Chalet CD-07) is celebrating 15 years since opening its Changi maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility here in Singapore. This began in 1995 as a 3,000-sq-ft repair shop with just 14 employees but is now an entire campus with 530,000 sq ft and 700 employees.
“Our goal was simple: to provide nacelle MRO services to Asia-Pacific airlines during the working day, in their part of the world,” said Ken Tan, managing Goodrich Aerostructures’s MRO business. “Over time we added capabilities to service more and more Goodrich products in the diverse aircraft operating in the region. Today the campus has been expanded to include a full range of MRO services for components ad systems for both civil and military aerospace customers.”
In partnership with other Goodrich business units co-located on the campus, the facility also has tooling and training moving in to support the entry-into-service of the Boeing 787 widebody. It is also preparing for the subsequent arrival of the new Airbus A350XWB and Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter.
MRO capabilities at the Goodrich Singapore campus include aircraft nacelle systems, flight controls, cargo systems, engine controls and components, actuation systems and aircraft evacuation systems. It also carries out design, manufacturing and research and development–for example, it was involved in the design, development and production of a major subsystem for the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engine nacelle system.
Asian Growth
Goodrich also has expanded its operations in China, specifically in developing the supply chain, which supports its customer base. The company predicts a tripling in the size of its supply chain operating in the country over the next decade.
Late last year it opened a new supply-chain management office at Xi’an in central China to supplement its Asian supply chain headquarters in Tianjin. That facility was opened earlier in the year along with a new facility at the Tianjin Airport Industrial Park, which supports nacelle and thrust reverser production and MRO activities. It also will support engine build-up and podding work for the new Airbus A320 family assembly line in Tianjin.
Goodrich is also busy with development work for the A350XWB since Airbus selected it last year to supply the external video system and cabin seating. Previously, the U.S. group had been contracted to provide the widebody’s wheels and brakes, the multifunction air data system and ice detection system, as well as the nacelle and thrust reverser.
On the rival Boeing 787, Goodrich’s contributions now include electric controls, modular actuators, the electric braking system and the on-board brake wear and health monitoring system. The brakes feature Goodrich’s lightweight Duracarb heat sink material, which the company claims has demonstrated a 35-percent greater brake life than competing carbon braking materials.
The 787 also features Goodrich air data sensors, ice detectors, engine data concentrators, a fuel quantity indicator system, fuel management software, cargo handling system and also the nacelle and thrust reverser system. A full-scale mockup of the nacelle protrudes from the Goodrich chalet here at the show (CD07) and also acts as a window looking out on the static display area.
Bombardier also has chosen Goodrich to supply the pilot and co-pilot seats and several systems for Bombardier’s new C Series, including the high-lift actuation system, SmartProbe air data system, primary ice detection system, plus the external, cockpit and maintenance lighting systems. It is also responsible for providing the complete nacelle and thrust reverser actuation system for airliner’s PW1000G engines.
Recently, Goodrich received a contract to upgrade the U.S. Air Force’s C-130 fleet, with qualification due to be completed in during the first quarter of 2011. “Our C-130 brakes are designed to last eight times longer and weigh 20 percent less than the current steel brakes,” said Goodrich military programs director Jeff Atkinson. “A tire change using Goodrich’s C-130 boltless wheel takes 80 percent less time than the current bolted wheel.”
