Page 92 - World Airnews Magazine January 2020 Edition

TECHNICAL

BRITISH AIRWAYS TO TRIAL 3D

PRINTING AIRCRAFT PARTS

By Tom Boon

This will save costs as the part doesn’t need to be flown some-
where, and the aircraft will also be back up in the skies and making
It is fair to say that, as a whole, the aviation industry is taking money quicker.
its impact on the environment incredibly seriously. This has seen British Airways also touts that while being of the same strength,
some fairly unimpressive ideas being put forward alongside some 3D printed parts weigh 55% less. It said, “Every kilogramme
removed saves up to 25 tons of CO² emissions during the lifespan
interesting ideas. of an aircraft.”
British Airways’ latest idea definitely comes under the latter, as
the airline is looking into the feasibility of printing some aircraft
parts at remote locations as opposed to flying parts out. THE DISADVANTAGES
However, the new technology also likely has some drawbacks.
A GAME CHANGER Aircraft parts can be pretty pricey, from their safety aspect to a
Technology is ever-evolving, changing the very face of the aviation limited pool of manufacturers.
Some aviation part manufacturers may not be keen on their parts
industry. As a result, we are dealing with some game-changing being readily available to print on demand, potentially losing
technology, such as the introduction of biofuels. However, 3D profits.
printing is slowly creeping into the aviation sector. Earlier this
year we reported that KLM was beginning to 3D print tools from Additionally, the safety case for 3D printed parts must be
recycled bottles. watertight. Things like toilet seats and tray tables are not critical to
British Airways is looking to 3D print aircraft parts in the future. the safety of flight. As such, these parts are much more likely to be
This could see everything from cutlery, tray tables, and toilet seats 3D printed soon.
being printed in a remote location. More advanced flight-critical pieces, such as cockpit switches,
The airline even thinks the are likely to undergo much more intense scrutiny. Q
technology could be expanded to
build baggage containers, aircraft
windows, and cockpit switches.

THE ADVANTAGES
The advantages of such technol-
ogy range from cost to cutting
emissions. Let’s look at time
and cost. When a part such as a
toilet needs to be replaced, the
part needed to replace the toilet
could be printed and assembled
on site. The airline says that this
means they don’t need to wait
for the part to be flown out to the
aircraft.

NEWS

70-SEATER INDIGENOUS PLANE IN THE
WORKS

light transport aircraft, and its test flights and engineers would start working on it on
are on. This multi-purpose civilian aircraft, a mission scale.
If all goes as planned by the Council of designed with indigenous technology, is “We hope to develop the aircraft in about
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), expected to be commissioned in the next six years as a lot of research and work will
the prototype of India’s first indigenously three years. be needed for the design of a prototype,”
developed 70-seater aircraft will be ready Disclosing this to reporters on the side- he said.
in five or six years, with one of its labs lines of 7th Bioprocessing India conference Mande said the development of a
in Bengaluru - the National Aerospace recently, CSIR director-general Shekhar 70-seater aircraft could change the aviation
Laboratories (NAL) - launching the ‘Aircraft C. Mande said the budget for the design scenario as many cities with shorter
Mission’ soon. and development of a 70-seater turbojet runways such as Mysuru could operate
NAL has developed ‘Saras’, a 19-seater engine civilian aircraft has been allocated these flights and be connected by air. Q

World Airnews | January Extra 2020
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