A new engineering center of excellence in Wolverhampton, UK, will lead Collins Aerospace’s efforts to bring more advanced electric thrust reversers to market. The RTX group subsidiary announced the opening of the facility on June 9 and also confirmed plans for a new production line for its elecTRAS thrust reversers at Colomiers in France, next to the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse.
According to Ajay Mahajan, president of Collins’ advanced structures business unit, the company is building on technology developed for the A350 widebody to provide more advanced electric thrust reversers for the next-generation single-aisle airliners anticipated from Airbus and Boeing. He told a press briefing that replacing hydraulic and pneumatic controls for thrust reversers with electric controls has simplified their operations significantly by removing the need for ducts, tubes, and fluids.
The next elecTRAS application is likely to be the new A350 Freighter, with the thrust reversers Collins has provided for current A350XWB models having already logged around 11 million flight hours. Collins also intends to incorporate advances in the technology into existing aircraft programs.
The new Colomiers facility will handle final assembly of the electric thrust reverser systems produced in Wolverhampton. According to Collins, this approach will make the production process more efficient, especially for the task of integrating the reversers into engine nacelles.
“With decades of experience in nacelles, thrust reversers, and aircraft electrification, Collins’ elecTRAS center of excellence and production line will bring together expertise from across the company to deliver new, innovative solutions for our customers and future platforms,” Mahajan said. “Building on in-service learning and experience, our dedicated investment to enable aircraft electrification technologies for the next-generation nacelle and elecTRAS will make future aircraft easier to maintain and operationally efficient.”
The new Wolverhampton design center will collaborate with engineers at Collins’ aerostructures headquarters in Chula Vista, California. It will also work with the group’s electronic controls and motor systems center of excellence at nearby Solihull in the UK.
According to Henry Brooks, president of Collins’ power and controls unit, the further investment in thrust reversers is part of the group’s wider commitment to electrifying aviation in order to decarbonize the industry and reduce life cycle costs for aircraft. He pointed to Collins’ role in developing 1-megawatt-class hybrid-electric propulsion systems, telling reporters that the air transport industry will likely introduce this technology progressively, starting with power ratings of between 250 and 500 kilowatts.