Goodyear Flight radial aircraft tyres beat a Michelin radial tyre by 56 per cent in a head-to-head test on the landing gear of a US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon. The test examined tyre life cycle costs and in the past, the USAF has used test results as a basis for its annual procurement awards. The USAF has more than 2,000 F-16s in service.
Bridgestone Corp, Japan’s biggest tyre maker, said on Wednesday that European plane maker Airbus will use its tyres on all its aircraft. Bridgestone, which already supplies tyres to Airbus’s rival Boeing, said in a statement that it had certified its tyres for use on all aircraft models, ranging from the long-range A330 to the single-aisle A320 planes. The deal follows an announcement in June that Bridgestone will supply tyres for Airbus’s A380 — a next-generation super jumbo that is being touted as the world’s biggest passenger plane and is due to go into service in early 2006. A Bridgestone spokeswoman said the latest agreement would help boost sales of Bridgestone’s aircraft tyre business but would have a negligible impact on its earnings outlook. Bridgestone has one-third of the global market for passenger aircraft tyres, and its annual aircraft tyre sales came to around 10 billion yen (80 million euro), or 0.5 percent of total revenues, in 2002/03.
At the Paris Air Show, Goodyear has announced three major contracts for bias-ply aircraft tyres. These are FedEx Corp’s 350+ jet fleet, ExpressJet Holdings (200 aircraft) and American Airlines’ 362 Boeing MD-80 jets. Despite these, Goodyear is convinced that the future lies in radial aircraft tyres, as they are more cost-effective. Russian carrier Aeroflot has chosen Goodyear radials for its new fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft.
Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Limited (DATL) has appointed Stuart Smith as chief operating officer. Smith assumes responsibility for all the operations of the company and reports to Rene Charvillat, chief executive officer and chairman. Smith takes over from Andrew Milner who has resigned from his position as managing director of DATL for personal reasons. Milner had successfully managed DATL since 1995 and now wishes to undertake a new challenge. Stuart Smith has thirty five years’ experience in aerospace and previously held senior management positions in the wheel, brake, tyre, brake control and anti-skid sector.
Malaysian tyre manufacturer Simex Aircraft Tyre Company has signed an agreement to supply Boeing with radial tyres for the 777. Although Simex began aircraft tyre production in 1975, this will be the first time that the company has made radial aircraft tyres and production will begin next year. Simex has named Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Japan as its technical partner in the two-year deal.
On the eve of the Paris Air Show, Goodyear announced that it was to triple production of radial aircraft tyres at its plant in Danville, USA, where the company has recently invested $10 million. The production increase is in response to growing demand due to increasing radialisation in the aircraft tyre sector, although bias-ply tyres still make up the majority of this market. The radials will fit military and private planes, as well as commercial aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.
Increased demand in Latin America has prompted Goodyear to resume production of aircraft tyres at its factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Manufacture of these tyres began in 1943 and was stopped in 1992. The biggest customer is Brazilian aeroplane maker Embraer; the fourth largest in the world, and which is currently constructing a new factory in Brazil. 30 per cent of the Sao Paulo aircraft tyres will be for the Brazilian market, with the remaining 70 per cent exported to North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia. Goodyear claims to be the world leader in aircraft tyre manufacturing.
Group Michelin has developed a new radial aircraft tyre. Designed to be more damage resistant than existing aircraft tyres, testing will take place on an Air France Concorde in the next few weeks.
Following the tragic Concorde crash last summer, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) approached tyre manufacturers to see if any research was on-going to improve the resistance of tyres to damage by foreign objects. In Paris, Michelin unveiled its response, the radial NZG. NZG, which stands for “near zero growth” is described as “the latest innovation in radial technology”. It uses a high-modulus reinforcement material which is lighter and offers higher damage resistance. The tyre was tested by running over a 30 cm blade both at taxiing and take-off speeds and the tyre suffered no damage.
Bridgestone Corp. has purchased the remaining 50 per cent stake of Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Comp. Asia (BATASIA) from Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Comp. Ltd. Bridgestone produces new aircraft tyres in Japan and owns retreading plants in USA, Belgium, Hong Kong and Japan.
Michelin and its local joint-venture partner Siam Cement has announced an investment of THB 3,82 billion in their Laem Chabang production plant near Bangkok. The development will double the capacity to 6.12 million passenger and light truck tyres a year. Michelin Siam also operate an additional two plants in Thailand providing production of truck, earthmover and motorcycle tyres.
