- September 25, 2007, 9:15 AM
Two weeks ago Honeywell opened a $35 million advanced aerospace systems integration laboratory designed to make next-generation aircraft, including medium and large business jets, more efficient. The unique 100,000-sq-ft facility is located in Mexicali, Mexico, and initially will employ 300 people, said Bob Smith, Honeywell vice president for advanced technology.
Smith noted that the lab’s work will include testing and integrating technologies that will reduce aircraft weight and fuel consumption while increasing reliability.
Technology that Honeywell plans to test at the lab include more electrically based aircraft systems that save weight, as opposed to conventional and hydraulic systems. The lab will be able to conduct tests by simulating different aircraft and different configurations of the same aircraft, according to Smith. It will also allow new technologies to be tested against differing international requirements to evaluate the certifiability of integration of various systems.
The need for the lab was driven by “the [increasing] level of integration our customers are asking for on all platforms–business, commercial and defense. We needed a new facility to better integrate and test the interaction between those systems.”
Smith sees tightly integrated systems as the key to improving aircraft performance in terms of fuel consumption, availability and maintainability. He cites Honeywell’s work on joining the auxiliary power unit and environmental control system on Joint Strike Fighter as an example of the advances from tight systems integration, claiming that the combined system shaved “1,000 pounds and 10 inches” off the aircraft.
Smith noted that the lab’s work will include testing and integrating technologies that will reduce aircraft weight and fuel consumption while increasing reliability.
Technology that Honeywell plans to test at the lab include more electrically based aircraft systems that save weight, as opposed to conventional and hydraulic systems. The lab will be able to conduct tests by simulating different aircraft and different configurations of the same aircraft, according to Smith. It will also allow new technologies to be tested against differing international requirements to evaluate the certifiability of integration of various systems.
The need for the lab was driven by “the [increasing] level of integration our customers are asking for on all platforms–business, commercial and defense. We needed a new facility to better integrate and test the interaction between those systems.”
Smith sees tightly integrated systems as the key to improving aircraft performance in terms of fuel consumption, availability and maintainability. He cites Honeywell’s work on joining the auxiliary power unit and environmental control system on Joint Strike Fighter as an example of the advances from tight systems integration, claiming that the combined system shaved “1,000 pounds and 10 inches” off the aircraft.
