Bernard Fitzsimons

Aerospace systems and services supplier Goodrich Corp. is celebrating a series of delivery firsts that highlight the group’s diversity in both products and application areas:

• It has shipped the first production nacelle for the General Electric CF34-10 engine that powers the Embraer 190 regional jet to the Brazilian manufacturer for installation on the first aircraft for launch customer JetBlue in the third quarter of this year;

• The first conventional takeoff and landing nosegear for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has gone to Lockheed Martin in Texas;

• A broad range of the company’s technology helped the Dassault Falcon 7X aloft on its first flight last month;

• And it has delivered the first AC-powered rescue hoist incorporating Goodrich’s Category One technology to Boeing Rotorcraft for installation on a U.S. Air Force V-22 and to Cougar Helicopters aboard a Sikorsky S-92.

The Embraer 190 nacelle program, for which GE selected Goodrich in 2000, could be worth as much as $1.4 billion to the company over the life of the program. The first delivery was the result of the combined efforts of Goodrich Aerostructures facilities in Chula Vista and Riverside in California; San Marcos, Texas; and Foley, Alabama.

The JSF landing gear was a multinational effort; designed by landing gear engineers in Fort Worth, Texas, and Cleveland, Ohio, it incorporates downlock and retract actuators from the Actuation Systems team in Wolverhampton, UK, plus wiring harnesses from Goodrich Lighting Systems in Oldsmar, Florida. The Cleveland facility, where the gear was assembled, is due to ship the main gear soon. Goodrich is also responsible for the short takeoff vertical landing and carrier variant landing gear.

Here in France, meanwhile, the Falcon 7X features flap and airbrake systems plus fuel components from Goodrich Actuation Systems, electrical power generation and distribution systems from Power Systems and the Sensor Systems division’s SmartProbe air data system and primary ice-detection systems.

“We enjoyed the opportunity to work with Dassault using digital modeling,” said European business development director Robert Turpin. “Goodrich has strengthened its know-how to develop and supply, in a very short timeframe, whole systems that meet our customers’ needs through efficient engineering processes, project management and supply chain optimization.”

Category One hoist technology is Goodrich’s term for its translating-drum cable management system, as distinct from the conventional Category Two level-wind method. The hoists are produced by Goodrich Hoist and Winch facilities at Diamond Bar in California and St. Ouen l’Aumône here in France.

The V-22 hoist uses a proprietary square motor design to improve rescue safety, simplify wiring and ease serviceability, along with other proprietary systems that enable it to function at unlimited fleet angles and without the need for cool-down.

The Cougar Helicopters S-92 is the first of its type to be equipped with a rescue hoist of Goodrich design and manufacture. “Our technology offers the rescue community advanced safety for both aircrew and accident victims,” said Goodrich hoist and winch vice president Steve Loye. “The S-92 hoist also incorporates symmetrical braking, permitting rapid but smooth directional changes. This is crucial to the safety of a rescue swimmer, especially in high seas or swift water.”

JSF lands on Goodrich gear

Aerospace systems and services supplier Goodrich Corp.

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