Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
DORNIER LUFTFAHRT, the regional-turboprop subsidiary of Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA), is pushing for Government funding to test a laminar-flow wing on the Dornier 328 regional turboprop.
The German company says that the project is one of several technology investigations applicable to future regional-turboprop designs, aiming to cut overall drag by 15%, structural weight by 10%, fuel consumption by 20%, and manufacturing costs and direct operating costs by 10%.
The laminar-flow wing is part of the drag-reduction investigation, and is aimed at generating an 8% overall improvement. Dornier aims to achieve further drag savings by fuselage and empennage modifications.
Dornier is working in partnership with Burkhart Grob, which is to manufacture the wing from carbon-fibre composites. A contract, is expected to be signed between the two companies after, funding approval is received from the education and research ministry.
Dornier wants the ministry to agree to fund 50% of the programme from its four-year civil-aerospace support budget, with the rest of the funding coming from industrial participants. The manufacturer hopes to be able to set the programme rolling within two months.
The company says that it has chosen a composite wing because of the improved tolerances, which can be achieved in comparison with metal construction.
Grob, which specialises in all-composite aircraft and has built a 56.5m-span composite wing for its Strato 2C high-altitude research aircraft - the biggest aircraft of this construction type in the world - says that it can achieve 99.9% accuracy with its moulds to produce a "fully optimised wing".
Grob says that, once the contract with Dornier is signed, it will proceed with a three- to four-month study before manufacturing test wings and deciding on the production method, if the project proceeds beyond the study phase.
See General Aviation, P16.
Source: Flight International
