More in Aerospace

Pneumatics provide stability with an air suspension system from ContiTech Air Spring Systems provides the stability and vibration-free operating conditions to allow the SOFIA telescope to obtain perfect pictures from the stratosphere....More

Servo Kinetics, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich, has developed a sophisticated testing process for simulator actuators. Called the Simulator Motion Actuator Certification Rig (SMACR), it is a dynamic test machine used for the certification of flight simulator servo hydraulic actuators. It is also the largest test rig of its type in the world, having a maximum slug weight capacity of 45,000 lb, and can test actuators with strokes to 80 in....More

Hydraulics makes possible the complex simulator built for the world's largest passenger jet....More

Few other industries focus on weight as much as aircraft manufacturers, and with good reason. Every extra pound contributes to fuel costs - and impacts the bottom line for the airlines. Since the 1970s, military aircraft have been using 5000 psi hydraulic systems, which use lighter-weight components to actuate the flight control surfaces. Passenger aircraft have been relegated to 3000-psi hydraulic systems (with the exception of the Concorde, which features a 4000 psi system). Now Airbus' new A380, a monster of a plane, is changing all that....More