CarlisleIT’s OAE Offerings

Many of you are familiar with Carlisle Interconnect Technologies (CarlisleIT) but for those of you in the industry who are not, they design, build, test and certify numerous types of interconnect structural items such as trays, racks, and satellite adaptor plates. When we last had the opportunity to talk with Kris Samuelson, Director Sales IFEC & Interiors of Carlisle IT, he provided us with an update on their FlightGear product line. First, let’s review their FlightGear ARINC 791 Universal Installation offering. In partnership with Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, they offer multiple ARINC 791 solutions for Ka, Ku and Ka/Ku band Satcom installations. The ARINC 791 adapter plate is available for a wide range of commercial aircraft types and more than meets the need for standardized installation, with easier maintenance inspections, ultimately reducing the cost of ownership for the aircraft operator. Other existing satcom antenna products can be easily accommodated as well, saving the airline both time and money, while being adaptable for future ESA antenna technology upgrades. Presently, the FlightGear ARINC 791 is available over 14 airframes and five system configurations. Carlisle holds retrofit STC’s for A319, A320, A321, A330, B757, B777 and fully line-fit offerable for all Airbus platforms. Overall, the company says that the complete ARINC 791 package (adapter plate, provisions for outside airframe equipment (OAE) and intercostal kits) improves their customers speed-to-market.

Carlisle’s FlightGear ARINC  792 was debuted last September at APEX. This adaptor plate also fulfills the re equipment for a standardized installation, easier maintenance inspections and a lower cost of ownership. It may be easily customized based on the Ka, Ku, or Tri-band antenna selected by the end user customer. “The ARINC 792 solution supports a wide range of available antennas currently on offer in today’s marketplace,” said Kris Samuelson, “And the adapter plate design can accommodate additional OAE equipment and antenna cooling provisions under the Radome. It also provides an easy upgrade path for future proofing.” We were also told that the ARINC 792 was designed to support a wide range of satcom systems but may be preferred by aircraft manufacturers for electronically steered array (ESA) antenna installations.

CarlisleIT will be attending the upcoming APEX and excited to show our newly designed installation solution for next generation ESA’s. Be sure to stop by their booth #1933 and or contact Kris Samuelson@ Kris.samuelson@carlisleit.com to get a product run through.

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ASTRONICS

Astronics Corporation Reports 2019 Second Quarter Financial Results:

• Sales for the quarter were $189.1 million; after adjusting for the divested semiconductor business, sales increased 5.4%
• Consolidated orders for the quarter were $170.7 million
• Backlog at the end of the quarter was $380 million
• Updated outlook for 2019 reflects rescheduled programs, delayed business jet antenna program and 737 MAX grounding

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AIRBUS

Airbus has officially started manufacturing the A220 in the U.S. The first team of A220 production workers began work at Airbus’ Mobile, Alabama-based production facility following their recent return from on-the-job training in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, where the A220 program and primary final assembly line are located. Airbus announced plans for the addition of A220 manufacturing in Mobile in October 2017. Construction on the main A220 flowline hangar and other support buildings for the new A220 began at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley at the beginning of this year. Airbus is producing the first few aircraft within some current A320 family buildings and newly-built support hangars. The first U.S.-made A220 – an A220-300 destined for Delta Air Lines – is scheduled for delivery in Q3 2020. By the middle of next decade, the facility will produce between 40 and 50 A220 aircraft per year.

The A220 is the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and widebody passenger comfort in a single-aisle aircraft. The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines to offer at least 20 percent lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft. The A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft. With an order book of 551 aircraft as of end of June 2019, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100-to-150-seat aircraft market, estimated to represent 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.

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OTHER NEWS

• We were a little surprised to find out the the airplane invention was only No. 15 in the scale developed innovations as chosen by a dozen scientists, historians, and technologists in a study put together by The Atlantic? The 50 Greatest Breakthroughs Since the Wheel – The Atlantic Perhaps, we are a little biased?
• No doubt, long range airplanes are appearing smaller as planemakers stretch the existing aircraft to “bleed” into the middle range market and expand range and capacity to shoot for the 5000 mi range with some 250 to 300 pax. To push their single aisle aircraft to replace planes link the Boeing 757, the Airbus folks have stretched their A321 to the A321 XLR to 4700 miles or 7400 kilometers. Cities like London to Delhi or Tokyo to Sidney are now doable. Airbus A321XLR: Extra-long range in a smaller aircraft | CNN Travel Not a new plane in the press readings (about 1 year old), with the negatives on competing planes, the market looks better for it and you will begin to hear more about the plane soon. Does American Airlines Airbus A321XLR Order Send A Secret Message To Boeing?
• OK, this is not airplanes but these moving shots of the Space X escape module just had to be shared! Space X escape module test – Album on Imgur
• The article by Matt Grant begins: “In the early hours of one morning in May of 1749, Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil, the Marquise du Châtelet, worked furiously at her desk in an ornate three-storied Parisian house. Piles of books on mathematics and scientific instruments littered her desktop and spilled over onto the floor, the bureau, the shelves. The marquise’s fingers were stained dark with ink, but she didn’t care. No one important was going to see her anytime soon. She had long given up the pleasures of society life.” Unable to join the French Academy of Sciences because they were mens domain, Emilie’s 3-part work began by explaining the summarized history of astronomy, next, the scope of Issac Newton’s proof of attraction, and, as Matt writes: “The third and final section of her commentary was the hardest. du Châtelet took the idiosyncratic mathematical proofs relating to the laws of attraction that had been most scrutinized by Newton’s critics and recast his geometrical equations into integral calculus.” This article is really new to us as we had not heard of this scientist. Perhaps, you had not either? The Pregnant Scientist Who Raced Against Death to Transform Physics
• Do you think there are too many plastics involved in aviation travel? SFO does! No fly zone: SFO bans sale of plastic water bottles – SFChronicle.com Watch for more airports to come on line with reduced plastics usage!
• One of the best security articles we have read is by a Tripwire author, Ben Schmerler, called “Moving to the Cloud and How You Shift Your Security Management Strategy.” We strongly suggest that you follow his 4 points in the article if you decide to move to the Cloud – Moving to the Cloud and How You Shift Your Security Management Strategy
• With retail sales (foot traffic vs online – Dealerscope CE Retail) dropping (-32%) this month, and more folks flying in August, it might be a good time to advertise your products online and inflight if you can! CE Retail Confidence Crashes in August – Dealerscope
• So your boss wants a report on 2018 airline efficiency to determine some future marketing effort? No problem, here is then IATA data: IATA – More Connectivity and Improved Efficiency -2018 Airline Industry Statistics Released
• Perhaps there is an AI-based solution to determine which movies to play on your airline? Artificial intelligence predicts which movies will succeed—and fail—simply from plot summaries | Science | AAAS And as a travel source, the airlines mighty be able to predict some hot events for pax using AI? Discover the best Events in your City and Book Tickets – Fever
• This one is not only interesting, it may help you with your home work (or office reading) – TLDR This – Free automatic text summary tool Basically, you enter a weblink or text of an article you are interested in and it gives you a couple of lines of summary. We know this is not necessarily aviation, so we entered an aviation article and here is what it told us:
  • Boeing is working on new software for the 737 Max that will use a second flight control computer to make the system more reliable, solving a problem that surfaced in June with the grounded jet, two people briefed on the matter said Friday.
  • That problem was with flight-control software called MCAS, which pushed the nose down based on faulty readings from one sensor.
  • Boeing Co. spokesman Charles Bickers said only that the company is working with the FAA and other regulators on software to fix the problem that surfaced in June.
• Superconductor electric airplane motor using liquid hydrogen that is rated at 1 megawatt has been tested by Oswald Elektromotoren in Germany, and guess who is on their board – Airbus, Siemens and Rolls-Royce. Full Superconducting Motor Readied For Tests | Future of Aerospace content from Aviation Week