• Question: What was the most interesting aircraft you worked on and how you did you make it more efficient?

    Asked by anon-74697 to Rob on 22 May 2020.
    • Photo: Rob Hudd

      Rob Hudd answered on 22 May 2020:

      Hi @DrewAvia, I’ve spent most of my time working on products for the Airbus A350 which was the first aircraft to be made from carbon fibre reinforced polymer. Improvements in efficiency can come from a few different ways:
      > Sometimes we make a component lighter than it was before, maybe by designing it differently or using new materials. Any weight saves means less fuel will be consumed.
      > I’ve also worked on electrical products like connectors where we reduced their resistance. This means less power (and therefore fuel) will be consumed.
      > Lastly we sometimes find faster ways of installing or repairing our products. This reduces the maintenance cost and improves the cost efficiency of operating their aircraft.
      I hope that was helpful 🙂

Comments

  • Photo: anon-74697

    anon-74697 commented on :

    Thank you! Very interesting, the A350 JD a great aircraft!

  • Photo: Kevin

    Kevin commented on :

    I worked on the Phantom F4 fighter aircraft during its last few years in service. It was an old aircraft but still fairly reliable. We used it as a testbed for quite a few new and emerging technologies, and ran lots of trails and tests. The introduction of a digital computer, to replace the old analogue system, massively increased performance. But the best efficiency improvement came from installing huge de-humidifier units in the aircraft shelters. The aircraft loved the drier air and were much more serviceable.