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Leonardo News
LEONARDO TESTS SUSTAINABLE FLIGHT SOLUTIONS UNDER CLEAN SKY 2 PROGRAM
A European tech demonstrator, installed on a Leonardo C-27J plane, took its first flight in Turin, testing morphing surfaces, adaptive tech, and digital flight controls.
C-27J in Clean Sky 2 configuration - Credits@Lorenzo Ambrino
The C-27J Flying Test Bed, a technological demonstration aircraft in the European Clean Sky 2 programme, concluded at Turin’s Caselle Airport the Regional Integrated Aircraft Demonstration Platform (REG IADP) campaign.
The in-flight demonstration concluded a technological development cycle that began 10 years ago in Europe under Leonardo’s coordination, with the involvement of national aeronautical excellences integrated with a highly qualified European ecosystem of over 100 partners, inclusive of SMEs, Research Centres, Universities and Industries.
In-flight activities will validate the technical solutions conceived and designed by Leonardo’s engineers in Turin and Pomigliano d’Arco, making a significant contribution to reducing the fuel consumption – and therefore towards sustainable and climate-neutral aviation – of the future aircraft. Leonardo made available its C-27J Spartan aircraft, renowned for its outstanding flight performance and multi-mission capabilities, as a European Flying Test Bed for experimenting with innovative wing configurations featuring special mobile surfaces – Innovative Wingtips and Morphing Winglets – capable of changing shape during flight through active, adaptive technology and digital systems.
These unusual surfaces are manoeuvred by advanced electromechanical actuators with digital local control units and a central flight control computer on board of the aircraft which acts as a supervisor, checking and regulating the performance of the active Load Control & Alleviation system in real-time to optimise the aircraft asset, performance and fuel consumption during the flight.
The WingTip is equipped with a mobile part measuring about 80 centimetres, capable of rotating by up to ±15 degrees, while the Winglet is a vertical flap about 1 metre high at the tip of the wing, composed of two independent mobile parts, each with a maximum rotation of +5 to -15 degrees.
Measuring 7.3 metres in length and having a diameter of 3.4 metres, the Pax Cabin Demonstrator structural components are made of composite materials assembled by using advanced automated systems. The goal of technological development is to improve onboard comfort with innovative environmental conditioning solutions and cabin components, such as onboard services and special seats. After passing vibration and acoustic testing in Leonardo’s laboratories, the demonstration will be completed at the German research facility under Leonardo’s supervision, conducting comfort tests and validating the technologies integrated at the highest levels of maturity that can be achieved in research.
Pax Cabin Demonstrator
The technologies developed under the Clean Sky programme, in synergy with those that will be developed under the Clean Aviation programme, contribute to guaranteeing a net reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs) of at least 30% over the state of the art in 2020, aiming to permit the entry into service of a new generation of aircraft no later than 2035 and promoting the replacement of 75% of the world’s civil aviation fleet by 2050.
The C-27J Flying Test Bed, a technological demonstration aircraft in the European Clean Sky 2 programme, concluded at Turin’s Caselle Airport the Regional Integrated Aircraft Demonstration Platform (REG IADP) campaign.
The in-flight demonstration concluded a technological development cycle that began 10 years ago in Europe under Leonardo’s coordination, with the involvement of national aeronautical excellences integrated with a highly qualified European ecosystem of over 100 partners, inclusive of SMEs, Research Centres, Universities and Industries.
In-flight activities will validate the technical solutions conceived and designed by Leonardo’s engineers in Turin and Pomigliano d’Arco, making a significant contribution to reducing the fuel consumption – and therefore towards sustainable and climate-neutral aviation – of the future aircraft. Leonardo made available its C-27J Spartan aircraft, renowned for its outstanding flight performance and multi-mission capabilities, as a European Flying Test Bed for experimenting with innovative wing configurations featuring special mobile surfaces – Innovative Wingtips and Morphing Winglets – capable of changing shape during flight through active, adaptive technology and digital systems.
These unusual surfaces are manoeuvred by advanced electromechanical actuators with digital local control units and a central flight control computer on board of the aircraft which acts as a supervisor, checking and regulating the performance of the active Load Control & Alleviation system in real-time to optimise the aircraft asset, performance and fuel consumption during the flight.
The WingTip is equipped with a mobile part measuring about 80 centimetres, capable of rotating by up to ±15 degrees, while the Winglet is a vertical flap about 1 metre high at the tip of the wing, composed of two independent mobile parts, each with a maximum rotation of +5 to -15 degrees.
Measuring 7.3 metres in length and having a diameter of 3.4 metres, the Pax Cabin Demonstrator structural components are made of composite materials assembled by using advanced automated systems. The goal of technological development is to improve onboard comfort with innovative environmental conditioning solutions and cabin components, such as onboard services and special seats. After passing vibration and acoustic testing in Leonardo’s laboratories, the demonstration will be completed at the German research facility under Leonardo’s supervision, conducting comfort tests and validating the technologies integrated at the highest levels of maturity that can be achieved in research.
Pax Cabin Demonstrator
The technologies developed under the Clean Sky programme, in synergy with those that will be developed under the Clean Aviation programme, contribute to guaranteeing a net reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs) of at least 30% over the state of the art in 2020, aiming to permit the entry into service of a new generation of aircraft no later than 2035 and promoting the replacement of 75% of the world’s civil aviation fleet by 2050.
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