France's Messier-Dowty says it expects a tough battle with US rival BFGoodrich over supplying landing gear systems for the new Airbus A3XX . Although the Snecma subsidiary currently supplies landing systems to all seven Airbus types, the restructured company is expected to exert much greater pressure on contractor performance. "Gone are the days when we could assume these contracts would simply fall into our lap because we were European," says Messier-Dowty spokesman Francois Roudier.
Both companies have been working with the European aerospace giant for over three years and competition is now intensifying as the programme gathers momentum. Messier-Dowty has already made "significant investments on various landing gear solutions for the A3XX," says Roudier. This includes the development of a new drop test tower in Toulouse in partnership with the French National Test Centre at a cost of $3 million. Dubbed the Mega, it is the largest tower of its kind in Europe and "ideally suited for testing very large landing gear." Its work has included involvement in the design and construction of multiple A3XX projects (one of which is on display at this year's Farnborough show at Hall 4, F1). If successful, Messier-Dowty says it will require new organisational and tooling at plants in Europe and Canada for the A3XX system in order to manufacture the largest high-tensile steel and titanium gear parts ever made. As the A3XX will have two six-wheel bogies, use of the term "central landing gear" has given way to "body gear" to describe landing systems in Airbus nomenclature, he explains.
Source: Flight Daily News
