C-130 Fleet Upgrade with New Goodrich Boltless Wheels and Carbon Brakes Will Benefit U.S. Air Force, International Operators
February 01 2010 - 8:17AM
PR Newswire (US)
New equipment to offer significant performance, cost, and
maintainability advantages SINGAPORE, Feb. 1, 2010
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SINGAPORE AIRSHOW -- Goodrich Corporation
(NYSE:GR) is rapidly accomplishing program objectives under its
contract with the U.S. Air Force to upgrade the service's C-130
transport fleet with new boltless wheels and carbon brakes.
Goodrich's Aircraft Wheels and Brakes team completed the critical
design review 60 days after contract award. Goodrich is currently
under contract to perform qualification activities, support flight
testing, and provide retrofit equipment for the Air Force's C-130
fleet. Qualification activities are expected to be completed in the
first quarter of 2011, followed by initial hardware deliveries to
the Air Force. The upgrade program is progressing rapidly in part
because Goodrich performed much of the pre-work design and
development activities prior to the contract award. Jeff Atkinson,
director of military programs, Goodrich Aircraft Wheels and Brakes,
said, "The Air Force required us to conduct extensive design and
development testing of our candidate hardware prior to contract
award in order to fully substantiate our proposal. "Our C-130
carbon brakes are designed to last eight times longer and weigh 20
percent less than the current steel brakes, and a tire change using
Goodrich's C-130 boltless wheel takes 80 percent less time than the
current bolted wheel," continued Atkinson. "We are seeing strong
international interest in the upgrade because of the significant
weight and maintenance savings, and expect to begin international
deliveries in late 2011. Our low-risk design and validation
approach combined with advanced aircraft wheel and brake
technologies will provide the worldwide C-130 community with
significant performance, cost and maintainability benefits
throughout the life of the fleet." Goodrich DURACARB® carbon
braking systems provide lighter weight, longer life, higher
performance and lower cost of ownership compared to steel braking
systems. Goodrich boltless aircraft wheels employ a lock-ring
design dramatically lowering maintenance time and cost, as well as
parts count, when compared to traditional bolted aircraft wheels.
Goodrich aircraft wheels and brakes are in service on more than
20,000 military, commercial, regional and business aircraft
produced by aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing,
Bombardier, Cessna, Embraer, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a global supplier
of systems and services to aerospace, defense and homeland security
markets. With one of the most strategically diversified portfolios
of products in the industry, Goodrich serves a global customer base
with significant worldwide manufacturing and service facilities.
For more information visit http://www.goodrich.com/. Goodrich
Corporation operates through its divisions and as a parent company
for its subsidiaries, one or more of which may be referred to as
"Goodrich Corporation" in this press release. DATASOURCE: Goodrich
Corporation; GR - Actuation and Landing Systems CONTACT: At
Singapore Airshow, Lisa Bottle, +1-704-258-1506, In U.S., Laurie
Tardif, +1-704-423-7048, First Call: Paul Gifford, Investor
Relations, +1-704-423-5517 Web Site: http://www.goodrich.com/
Copyright