AIRBUS INDUSTRIE has tested flat-panel liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) in the cockpit of an A319, but has no plans to introduce the screens on production aircraft. The screens were developed by France's Sextant Avionique for use on the Dassault Rafale fighter and the Eurocopter Tiger helicopter.
Jean Marc Sauser, Sextant's strategy and marketing manager for air transport, says that changing to LCDs from the existing cathode-ray-tube (CRT) devices used by Airbus would not be cost-effective, since LCDs are relatively expensive and would be likely to suffer reliability problems initially. Operators would also lose commonality with existing systems.
"We're not sure there is a real saving because of the change of technology," says Sauser, who adds that the devices could be considered for use on a future design such as that of the A3XX.
The Boeing 777 uses Honeywell flat-panel LCDs, which are claimed to be more reliable and to use less power than CRTs. CRTs also have to be kept cool, and take up much more space than LCDs.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus has completed a four-year fatigue-test programme on the Airbus A330/A340 fuselage and wings, reaching two-and-a-half aircraft lifetimes. The tests, which were carried out by Industrieanlagen Betriebsgesellschaft (IABG), near Munich, prove that the aircraft meets fatigue-life requirements.
The loading simulation subjected the test airframe to the equivalent of a 6h flight in a 10min load cycle. Some 80,000 flights of various durations were simulated.
Artificial "damage" was introduced into the primary structure in about 120 locations to test damage tolerance. After final inspection, the structural components will be subjected to further investigations, with the results providing the basis for an A330/A340 inspection manual to come into use after 2001.
Source: Flight International
