Story ID: 622 Lord
Lord expands into flight control systems
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Acquisition of Fly-by-Wire bolsters move into electrified aircraft and helps strategic rebalancing between rotor and fixed-wing business.
Word Count: 213
With its June purchase of SKF’s Fly-by-Wire Systems France (FbY) subsidiary, Lord (Booth 1244) has expanded into flight controls, part of an initiative to “rebalance” its aerospace business evenly between rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, while pursuing opportunities in aircraft electrification, said Lord Aerospace president Bill Cerami. 
  
FbY’s products, such as its electromechanical actuators, are “complementary to the range of Lord” products, Cerami said. The acquisition also expands North Carolina-based Lord’s aerospace engineering and manufacturing presence in Europe.
  
FbY collaborated with Airbus on the A320’s fly-by-wire system and provides the fly-by-wire cockpit controls for Embraer’s Legacy 450 and 500. NBAA 2016 attendees can try out a cockpit simulator at Lord’s booth. It is outfitted with all the fly-by-wire controls— sidesticks, throttle, flap/slat lever, speed brakes and rudder pedals—that the company’s new subsidiary provides for the Legacys. 
  
Cerami said Lord Aerospace seeks to return to a 50-50 split between its rotorcraft and fixed-wing business. This has skewed toward rotorcraft work in recent years, now representing approximately a 60-40 split, through defense work supporting the “rotary centric wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  
In the last three years, Lord has also acquired two sensing businesses aligned with its strategic goals, Cerami said.