FOR AUTO RTM

2015 AirVenture in Oshkosh NEWS
certification set for 2017. Chief technical
officer Neal Pfeiffer and program
management officer Shanling Yang
recently completed wind tunnel testing
at Wichita State University (KS,
US) to verify aerodynamic and stability
performance and address improvements
that could be made, leading to
certification. Mooney, founded in 1929
and known for fast (metallic) designs,
is now owned by Chinese investors,
and the new composite models will
eventually be made in China, says
company CEO Dr. Jerry Chen, to serve
Asian markets.
Given EAA’s role as a resource for
homebuilders of aircraft, the show
offered 1,048 forums and workshops,
which attracted more than 75,000
attendees. Among the highlights was
infusion expert Russ Emanis (Innegra
Technologies LLC, Greenville, SC, US),
who demonstrated how to layup and
infuse a complete full-scale aircraft
fuselage in one shot. The handson/audience
participation session
attracted great interest, and several
composite materials suppliers were
on hand, including Oxeon (Boras,
Sweden) with its TeXtreme spread
tow carbon reinforcements.
A forum with a most unusual
title, “From Highway to Runway:
Automotive Carbon Fiber in our
Airplanes,” was hosted by consultant
Sandy Munro (Munro & Assoc.
(Auburn Hills, MI, US) on Friday.
Munro described his team’s efforts in
the disassembly and benchmarking
of a BMW i3, to determine as much
as possible about how the car was
assembled. The group discussed the
use of carbon fiber on the car, and
how out-of-autoclave infusion can
be, and is, used in aircraft structure.
Of interest was a historical fact, that
B-24 Liberator aircraft built during
WWII were made significantly faster
at a Ford automotive plant (one per
hour!) compared to a traditional
aircraft plant in San Diego, which
turned out one plane in seven hours.
See the ICON A5 video |
www.iconaircraft.com/theiconexperience
For more, visit the AirVenture
Oshkosh 2015 channel on YouTube |
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVvZnw5UWV
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