Lord Corp, well known in the helicopter industry for its tension-torsion (TT) straps, is bringing to market a new elastomeric tail rotor bearing (TRB) for the Airbus Helicopters AS350 that promises longer intervals between visual inspections and shorter downtime. The company, which is finalizing validation testing on the TRB parts, said FAA approval is imminent.
According to Lord, the current requirement for the OEM tail rotor bearing is a visual inspection every 10 hours and a comprehensive inspection with complete disassembly of the tail rotor every 600 hours. The Lord TRB is expected to provide extended life to this flight-critical part, which should lower maintenance and direct operating costs.
“An AS350 helicopter is typically flown between 300 and 600 hours a year,” said Rodolphe Leroy, Lord manager of global aftermarket sales and marketing. “In most cases, the bearings do not reach this mark and are replaced before reaching 600 flight hours. The intent of the design is to make sure there will be no unscheduled removal.”
Separately, Lord announced that EASA certified its TT straps and the company is offering them directly to the European market. Leroy said the direct sales will provide "our customers in multiple countries all the savings associated with buying direct, while avoiding the risks and uncertainties that often come with STC parts.”
On Monday at Heli-Expo, Cary, North Carolina-based Lord (Booth B4006) once again conducted its training course on the construction, functions, maintenance, and inspection of various types of elastomeric components. Presented as a manufacturer technical briefing, the training course meets FAA requirements for recurrent training and is admissible for Inspection Authorization certificate renewal.
According to Lord customer manager Francis Magnan, who presented the training, elastomeric components are not always understood by maintenance personnel and pilots, who are often required to inspect them at regular intervals, even though they are used extensively on all modern helicopters. “Our experience has shown that too often parts are removed prematurely due to misunderstanding of the construction and workings of these complex components.”