Honeywell Aerospace marks its 100th anniversary on June 18, with the avionics and engines group’s founding moment being defined by Lawrence Sperry’s introduction of the first autopilot system in 1914. For the remainder of the 20th century, the process of corporate realignment that resulted in today’s Honeywell gathered pace as industry leaders Garrett, Bendix, King, Allied-Signal, Sperry, Sundstrand and Lycoming all ended up in one technology powerhouse.
“Sperry’s automatic pilot or airplane stabilizer was a seminal moment in airplane control being handled automatically,” said Honeywell advanced technology vice president Bob Witwer, who has been with the company for 36 years–more than one third of its history. In his view, Sperry’s breakthrough–achieved after he hopped out onto his airplane’s wing to prompt the new gyroscope-based system to correct the imbalance–laid the foundations for much of the work that Honeywell companies subsequently achieved in developing cockpit technology.
On the powerplant side of the business, Witwer highlighted Garrett’s 1948 breakthrough in starting production of the GTC 43/44 small gas-turbine engine, which served as a precursor for Honeywell’s successful dynasty of auxiliary power units. Then in 1964 Garrett flew its now ubiquitous TPE331 turboprop engine for the first time.
Back in the cockpit, Sperry Flight Systems’s Tern-100 automatic navigation system lays claim to being the first truly automatic flight management system (FMS) using external sensors. It was initially certified on the Boeing 727 in 1974, followed by the 707 in 1975 and the 747 in 1979. [Boeing is set to celebrate its own centenary in 2016].
“The FMS is on virtually every airplane today and it overcame the limitation of autopilots in not being able to handle multiple maneuvers [at once],” Witwer told AIN. “FMS made [the need for] the third pilot go away.” For Honeywell, the breakthrough led to a 1978 contract from Boeing to provide FMS as standard equipment on the 757 and 767, and in 1979 Airbus made the same commitment for the A310.
In 1975, Don Bateman led a team of engineers that developed the first ground proximity warning system (GPWS) and its 1990s successor, the enhanced GPWS. According to Witwer, the technology is widely credited with having saved more lives than any other aviation safety device. “It took controlled flight into terrain off the [accident cause] list,” he concluded.
As a technology company, said Witwer, Honeywell has always had to balance the need to take a longer-term view of its business plan with the public company’s duty to deliver a more immediate return to shareholders. His job now is largely focused on deciding where Honeywell Aerospace should concentrate its research and development effort, and he acknowledged that he does sometimes have to disappoint engineers who think they might be onto the next big thing.
“Looking out another 100 years, I can’t even imagine where it [the technology] will be,” said Witwer. “We might not even call them airplanes 100 years from now, but I am sure that for at least the next 20 to 30 years the pace of development will certainly not slow down. For instance, we’re only starting to realize the potential of a fully connected aircraft and what we can achieve with high-bandwidth connectivity.”
Another core R&D activity for Honeywell will be the pursuit of a reduced environmental impact for aviation. “Why do airplanes have to burn so much fuel getting in a big long line to land and then burn more just getting to the gate?” asked Witwer. Honeywell is seeking to take the lead on this front with its advances in air traffic management and navigation systems, and also through initiatives such as its joint effort with Safran to allow airliners to taxi using electric motors driving the main landing gear.