A PERFECT - Orient Aviation

SUPPLIERSGoodrich takes the strain… and not just with its landing gearBy Charles AndersonMany companies havea lot at stake on theA380, but there arefew with as much asthe Goodrich Corporation.It is present from nose to tail and,if the giant jumbo is as successful as forecast,the American company will net US$6billion in sales over the 40-year life of theprogramme.When the A380 lands, Goodrich mainbody and wing landing gear systems takethe strain. If an evacuation is necessary,passengers will slide down one of its 16massive slides. The company is supplyingexterior lighting, variable frequency technologyfor the power generation system andflight controls as well as the primary andstandby data systems.Add to that the automatic ice detectionsystem, development of various structuralcomponents and cockpit and cabinattendant seats and you get some idea ofGoodrich’s involvement.The Fortune 500 company already suppliesa broad range of systems and equipmentacross the Airbus fleet, with originalequipment sales to Airbus accounting for15% of its total business. But this was thefirst time it, or any other U.S. company, hadwon a landing gear contract with Airbusand the first time the European manufacturerin fact had strayed away from Messierand Dowty, or the merged Messier-Dowty.Goodrich gets a little sniffy when thatpoint is made. “We don’t generally think ofthe aerospace industry as being defined byboundaries of geography. Nor do we thinkof Goodrich in that manner. With over 120locations in more than 15 countries we havea truly global presence,” a spokesman said.It may not, but others do, and CharlesChampion, executive vice-president for theA380 programme, has described the awardingof this particular contract as “a verystrong sign to the industry that the gamewas open” after the restructured Airbuscompany was given much more freedom todeal with U.S. suppliers than before.Airbus, in fact, spent nearly US$7billion with American companies last year,supporting more than 140,000 jobs acrossthe U.S.Goodrich’s landing gear division startedworking with the company on A380 feasibilitystudies in 1996, so its success wasperhaps not all that surprising. It is one ofthe world’s largest designers and manufacturersof such systems for commercial,military and business aircraft, starting in avery small way with the industry’s first airoillanding strut back in 1926.Goodrich’s landing gear divisionstarted working with the companyon A380 feasibility studies in 1996Weight was the obvious challenge withthe A380. It was met through extensiveuse of modelling tools, titanium and highstrength alloys and through the 5000 psi(pounds per square inch) hydraulic systemadopted by the A380’s designers.Supplies for the final product come fromNorth America, Europe and Russia, withprimary structural components built atGoodrich facilities in Tennessee, Ohio andKrosno in Poland. Assembly takes place inOakville in Ontario, Canada and the companyhas a final assembly and integrationfacility of its own in Toulouse.Strength and fatigue testing is carriedout at Oakville where an eight metre high“super rig” rests in a cavity 55 metres long.Alongside are rigs for endurance testing.Allan McArtor, chairman, Airbus NorthAmerica, played up the global themeat the time the test facility opened: “AEuropean airplane manufacturer awards anAmerican aerospace company a contract tobuild landing gear tested and assembled inCanada for an airplane that will be sold toairlines around the world and operated allover the planet.”If the landing gear was a big challenge,so was the production of the 16 giant evacuationslides, more in number and size thanfor any previous aircraft. Evacuation systemsengineers were also involved earlyin the A380’s development. The companyitself played a part in the installation of theindustry’s first inflation slide, for the Boeing707, in the late 1950s and a few years laterit began in-house development of the firstBoeing 747 evacuation system.This time, however, Goodrich had to usenew inflation technologies to meet morestringent performance requirements. Thesystem, for instance, automatically sensesthe ground and adjusts the slide’s lengthwhen the aircraft is at an angle.“The sheer number of slides that mustoperate in close proximity to each other hasbeen a challenge and required many tests tofine tune each slide’s deployment characteristics,”said a company spokesman.New regulatory requirements meantmore stringent conditions had to be met,such as deployment at very cold temperaturesand in a 25-knot wind. And Airbuswanted them 10% lighter than currentslides.They are made and tested in Phoenix,Arizona. Service requirements meant anexpansion of Goodrich’s parts service centrein Paris late last year and the same at itsSingapore facility before the A380 entersinto service.22 ORIENT AVIATION / A380 Quarterly Update JUNE – AUGUST 2005