Story ID: 373 Mecaer
Mecaer Touts Its Four Business Lines 
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Company’s Landing Gear Systems division wins key award from UTC for delivery of Gulfstream jets’ gear.
Word Count: 536
Italy’s Mecaer Aviation Group (MAG; Hall 1, Stand 1460), a Tier 1 supplier to OEMs and services provider to OEMs and end-users, is showcasing its complete range of solutions for the business aviation and general aviation markets and a recent major award for its performance from UTC.

The company is known for its helicopter flight and cabin systems, but all four of its business lines—landing gear systems, cabin comfort systems, actuation and flight control systems, and aircraft services for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft—are represented at the Farnborough airshow.

With facilities in Italy, Canada, and the U.S., Mecaer arrives at FIA with more than €100 million ($117.4 million) of aggregate investment in R&D and proprietary products development, according to the company, assuring “a very significant backlog and a sustainable future growth.”

The company’s landing gear systems division designs and manufactures all components of the gear assemblies, both hydraulic and electro-mechanical, including retraction, steering and braking systems, as well as control valves, hydraulic reservoirs, and wheels and brakes. The division also provides aftermarket support and service. Its Canadian subsidiary, Mecaer America, Inc. (MAI), in Montreal (Laval), Quebec is MAG’s center of excellence for designing, developing, qualifying, and manufacturing fully integrated fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft landing gear systems. Operating from a 75,000-sq-ft facility, among its contracts, MAI supplies UTC with major landing gear assemblies for Gulfstream’s G500/550/600/650, including complete nose gears, main gear shock absorbers, retract actuators, side brace locking actuators and uplocks, on a build-to-print basis.

In recognition of performance, on the eve of Farnborough, UTC awarded MAI its Systems Supplier Gold status. The performance benchmarks include 100 percent on-time delivery for a minimum of 12 months; zero quality escapes for 12 months; a UTC Supplier Health Assessment of 80 percent or higher (confirmed by on-site audit), and a UTC internal customer feedback survey score of six or higher of a maximum score of seven.

Mecaer is also highlighting the aircraft interior furnishings, in-flight entertainment (IFE), and cabin management systems (CMSs) provided by its cabin comfort systems branch. Combining art and science, cabin comfort encompasses design, development, and production of interiors and technological proprietary products such as noise- and vibration-abatement systems, and CMS and IFE systems. These include its new I-Feel Generation Three IFE, which is available for both fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft, the Speech Interference Level Enhanced Noise System (Silens), as well as interior packages for Bell ranging from the optional high-end interior for the 505 Jet Ranger X to the Grandeur luxury interior for the super-medium Bell 525 Relentless.

Mecaer’s Actuation and Flight Control Systems division handles hydraulic and electro-mechanical actuators, servo actuators, hydraulic systems, entire flight control chain, and swaged control rods. It also provides control sticks, pedal assemblies, and other components related to the kinematic chain, and provides aftermarket product support and components MRO.

Under its aircraft services division, Mecaer provides maintenance, repair, and overhaul of helicopters; refurbishment, modification, and completion of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft; and equipment and component overhaul. Its MAG Design Studio, also a part of its aircraft services arm, offers unique style solutions tailored to customers’ needs and tastes, done in Macaer's signature Italian Style.