Lord Corporation (Chalet 45) is here at Le Bourget to achieve “executive-level customer meetings,” according to government affairs director Will Austin. The alternating biennial Paris and Farnborough air shows provide a “truly worldwide, once-a-year” opportunity to discuss business and “to collaborate with our partners to drive innovation,” said Austin. “Ours is niche technology to solve specific problems: we are driven by our customers.”
The U.S. company, which specializes in devices for management and control of vibration, noise and motion, also develops adhesives and coatings for the aerospace, defense and other technological industries. Along with North America, the European region offers an essential aerospace customer base for Lord, while India is also important for the company. It is assessing China’s aerospace market, although, according to Austin, recent company efforts have focused more on the Middle East.
Under a non-exclusive agreement in place since February, aftermarket sales, distribution, and support of many isolation mounts and catalogue parts from Lord’s commercial fixed-wing product line are performed in the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) by Copenhagen-based Satair Group, a wholly owned but independent subsidiary of Airbus. Such mounts are fitted to many Airbus, Boeing, and Bombardier commercial-aircraft designs.
“Europe is our fastest-growing region with 40 percent total growth in the past three years,” said Gabor Markus, Lord’s EMEA fixed-wing products market manager. Satair Group provides sales, warehousing and service to customers and suppliers through centers in Europe, North America, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific.
That partnership comes as Lord pursues an “aerospace business growth strategy for Europe” that includes plans for significant investments in support of commercial aerospace clients and the industry. Announced last year ahead of the Farnborough airshow, the strategy focuses on technological innovation, acquisitions and further development of the aftermarket base, according to Austin.
Claiming to have been an established “solutions partner” in the region’s rotary-wing manufacturing sector with various control technologies integral to several major programs, Lord began to consider demand for “risk-sharing innovators” in the commercial fixed-wing supply chain. “The product range for fixed-wing ‘platforms’ includes engine-attachment systems, passive- and active-motion and -vibration control, noise-mitigation solutions and specialty chemicals such as lightning-strike protection for composite aircraft,” said the company.
Among technological innovations, Lord has seen a revival of “decades-old technology” as the company addresses requirements to deal with “big-engine vibration” in an application for what it described as an as-yet unannounced geared-turbofan platform. It is also working on an active vibration-control system for Italy’s Finmeccanica.
“For European fixed-wing airframe [manufacturers] and their tiers, Lord offers system and sub-system capability, and innovative solutions while managing development, program and cost risks,” said the company. Lord has not yet revealed any European acquisitions under the new strategy, but Austin reports a “long-term vision [to] actively pursue targets” among small- and medium-size companies involved in complementary technology that would permit Lord to accelerate its growth in Europe.
“We are aggressively targeting European entities that enable Lord to differentiate our legacy capabilities and work with customers in our traditional markets and new markets [too],” said the company. The prime driver for the manufacturer’s strategy has been industry demand in the region. “We wouldn’t do it without customer requests,” according to Austin.
Apart from Finmeccanica, Lord also collaborates with major players such as Airbus Group, Dassault, Pilatus, Saab and Safran Group. The strategy has seen Lord establish a European office in Toulouse and appoint business-development executives in the UK.
The company has research and development, engineering and manufacturing interests in Europe, employing more than 200 people in the region with headquarters and a European Technology Center in Geneva (Switzerland) and other facilities in Germany and Italy. Lord also participates in pan-European research programs such as CleanSky and Horizon 2020.
Elsewhere, late last year Lord was selected by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to provide active vibration-control systems for medevac variants of the KUH Surion helicopter. The technology uses accelerometers and computer-controlled force generators to reduce fuselage vibration generated by the main rotor. The first ship-set of prototype hardware is scheduled for delivery by mid-year, with the helicopter expected to enter service in 2018.
Lord C130 Prop Balance System Could Find Regional Aircraft Uses
Among its myriad products, Lord Corporation foresees a possible commercial aircraft application for its in-flight propeller-balancing system (IPBS), technology that is being offered to the U.S. military. The equipment permits constant in-flight monitoring and provision of “anti-vibration” forces to counter blade imbalance.
Lord government affairs director Will Austin told AIN that propeller-blade imbalance is driving technology development. “Vibration is the main factor: the fewer the blades, the greater the vibration–although our experience is that vibration is an issue with any propeller aircraft.”
An initial IPBS application is being offered for 160 Lockheed C-130H Hercules military transports operated by the U.S. Air National Guard, with about 40 more machines flying with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Reserve Command. This is seen as increasing possible requirements to about 200 aircraft. A formal request for proposals had been expected in early 2015 before the schedule slipped to at least the second quarter.
Once the USAF “moves forward” with system acquisition and installation, Lord’s IPBS development will become more predictable, according to Austin. The system could be offered for any C-130H models, and Lord also sees potential to equip stretched C-130Js, for which there is said to be “evidence of propeller issues.”
Austin said that the U.S. Special Operations Command plans flight tests to gather C-130J propeller-vibration data in mid-2015, but that Lord is still awaiting formal notification of a requirement.
After the C-130J, the company sees further possible military applications before any possible commercial developments. The U.S. Navy Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carrier-based airborne early-warning command and control (AEW&C) aircraft, which achieved initial operational capability eight months ago, is “an obvious target,” said Austin. “Once [the] IPBS launches on the C-130H, we will then also start targeting commercial turboprop [aircraft],” he said.
Asked about specific commercial applications, Austin cited regional airliners as the principal potential market: “The main targets for exploration of customer interest at this point would be ATR 42/72, Bombardier Q400 and next gen[eration] turboprops.” Austin said the criterion for such an application is “large fleet size that is strongly financially impacted by [aircraft] down-time.” Regarding timescale, Lord is “trying to gauge whether the commercial market wants this technology, and [we] hope to have that understanding within a year.”