Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has been selected by Bombardier to supply tyres for the new 100-seat CRJ1000 Next Gen regional jet. The aircraft has 45 firm orders with carriers including Adria Airways and Brit Air. Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, one of two approved suppliers for the CRJ1000, will manufacture and retread the tyres at its facility in Birmingham, UK.
Next time you’re sitting in the dentist’s chair getting your teeth checked, you may spare a moment to consider how many degrees of separation stand between yourself and the tyre industry. It may be fewer than you think. American firm Tekscan Inc, which developed its TireScan system in conjunction with Goodyear, admits the basic technology behind the system was originally created for use in dentistry. “However, it was recognised that the principle concept could be adapted for numerous other applications, the tyre industry being just one of them," explained the company's international sales manager, Jason Marcouillier.
The retreading of aircraft tyres is scheduled to commence at Michelin North America’s Norwood, North Carolina plant during the second half of the year. The addition of a retreading capability to the Norwood site, which currently employs 320 people in the production of new aviation tyres, will cost the company US$11.3 million, and the project will create 74 new jobs over an 18 month period. Hiring for some of the new posts at Norwood will begin in late April, and Michelin anticipates that 50 of the jobs will be filled by the end of 2010.
Military aircraft operators could soon benefit from new foreign object damage (FOD) resistance tyre technology that has been developed by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres and being employed for the first time on the new Airbus Military A400M. The tyres feature the superior sidewall FOD resistance of bias tyres, which are more suited to operations from semi and unprepared airstrips, as well as what Dunlop Aircraft Tyres describes as “advanced materials”, which are designed to give improved protection in the tread area.
Exclusive supply of nose wheel and main wheel tyres to the Boeing 737-300 and 737-500 fleet operated by low-cost airline bmibaby is to be carried out by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres following the signing of a three-year contract between the Birmingham based tyre manufacturer and its long-standing customer. The agreement, which Dunlop Aircraft Tyres says is worth more than a million pounds, covers the supply of both new and retreaded aviation tyres to the British Midland Limited subsidiary.
Testing and manufacturing equipment made available following Yokohama Rubber’s decision to withdraw from the aircraft tyre from the aircraft business has been acquired by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres. The Birmingham based manufacturer has signed an agreement to purchase several pieces of radial and crossply tyre manufacturing equipment including an additional dynamometer. These products should enable Dunlop Aircraft Tyres to expand manufacturing capacity and enable the company to offer new products, such as radial main tyres for the Boeing 777.
A three-year deal for the supply of bias tyres will see Taiwan based Mandarin Airlines become the first customer to utilise Dunlop Aircraft tyres’ new distribution and retreading facility in China. Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres Company Limited will supply tyres for the airline’s fleet of eight E-190/195 twin-engine medium range jets.
Over a period of more than two decades, Germany’s Steinbichler Optotechnik has developed a reputation as worldwide leading supplier of high-performance shearography tyre inspection systems. More than 200 units (designed for the inspection of passenger car, light truck and aircraft tyres) have to-date been installed in tyre manufacturing and retreading facilities – from medium-sized, local enterprises up to international tyre businesses.
On January 12 Bridgestone Corporation announced its selection as tyre supplier for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), the next-generation regional jet under development by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. For Bridgestone this deal is significant, as while the company’s aircraft tyres are already supplied for use on large aircraft with 100 or more seats, the supply of tyres for the MRJ, a regional jet in the 70 to 90-seat class will further expand the scope of the company's aircraft radial tyre business.
This year Indian manufacturer MRF established a niche in the military aviation tyre segment through an arrangement to supply original equipment tyres to Hindustan Aeronautical’s Chetak range of helicopters. The first batch of three to four hundred tyres has already been produce and another order is expected to be ready by January 2010. Furthermore, it appears likely that the tyre maker will extend its military supply presence even further in the near future.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres has opened its new retread and distribution facility in China. The facility, operating as Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres Company Limited, is a joint venture with Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) (28 per cent) and Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (TAECO) (9 per cent). Based in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, the operation has full site and product approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The site has also received full repair-station approval from EASA. In addition to the retreading of aircraft tyres, the facility will support customers in Asia Pacific by distributing new tyres that have been made at Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ manufacturing site in Birmingham, UK.
Representatives from the US Navy may have hauled up their anchors and, as it were, set sail for Greenville, South Carolina during October’s Navy Week 2009 festivities, but whether Michelin North America has grounds for continued celebration remains to be seen. While Michelin is currently top dog in the US military supply game, a defence bill passed by the US House of Representatives in late July opens up bidding on military contracts to other potential suppliers.
Next year Birmingham-based Dunlop Aircraft Tyres will celebrate its centenary and, with this in mind the company, it’s looking for help to bring back memories of its history. Dunlop Aircraft Tyres will celebrate its centenary with the publication of a book about the great history of the company. “Our book will be one of the focal points of our centenary celebrations,” said Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ chairman, Ian Edmondson.
“To make sure that we capture everything from our great history, we are looking for people to help with memories, information or contacts and photographs that we can include – either about the firm itself or its place historically within the larger Dunlop/BTR organisation.
A research project utilising modelling technology to reduce the cost and time involved in aircraft tyre development has landed Dunlop Aircraft Tyres £120,000 in funding from the Midlands Aerospace Alliance (MAA). This project, co-funded by the aircraft tyre manufacturer, is being conducted together with the University of Birmingham’s School of Mechanical Engineering.
In addition to identifying ways in which modelling can improve the tyre design process and thus bring products to market quicker, the project gives airframe, landing gear and wheel and brake manufacturers will have the opportunity to save costs by utilising output from the supply chain partnership project to improve aircraft and landing gear system modelling and simulation.
Aeroplane manufacturer Bombardier has selected Dunlop Aircraft Tyres as original equipment supplier for its new 100-seat CRJ1000 Next Gen regional jet. Dunlop Aircraft tyres, one of two approved suppliers for the CRJ1000, will manufacture and retread the tyres at its facility in Birmingham – a site the company notes is ideally located to provide excellent support for the jet’s initial customers.
According to Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, the deal to supply CRJ1000 nose and main wheel tyres builds on its long-standing relationship with Bombardier. This includes supplying the entire Dash 8 range and, under a supplemental type certificate (STC), all other CRJ variants. The CRJ is, comments the tyre maker, the best-selling family of regional jets; more than 1,500 have already been delivered.
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