CHARLOTTE, N.C., 27 April 2005. Goodrich Corp. is celebrating the first flight of the Airbus A380 today as one of the largest North American suppliers producing components for the world's largest passenger aircraft.
The A380 completed its first test flight in Toulouse, France, this morning, marking a milestone in aviation history for the largest airplane produced in 50 years.
The A380 is expected to enter service in 2006 after further rigorous flight tests and certification. Airbus has 154 orders and commitments for the A380 aircraft from 15 customers worldwide.
Goodrich Corp. is present from nose to tail on the A380. It is supplying a variety of technology for the aircraft: Goodrich is one of the world's largest suppliers of landing systems and provides both the main body and wing landing gear systems for the A380.
Though Goodrich was already a major supplier for Airbus, it was the first time the company had been selected to provide landing gear for an Airbus aircraft. The components for the landing gear system are produced by Goodrich's Landing Gear division and involve manufacturing facilities at Oakville, Ontario, Canada; Cleveland, Ohio; Tullahoma, Tenn.; and Krosno, Poland. The final gear integration takes place at the Goodrich facility in Toulouse, France before delivery to Airbus' final assembly line.
Along with providing state of the art landing gear for the A380, Goodrich is also launching the next generation of evacuation systems with its A380 work package. Goodrich will supply 16 evacuation slide systems per aircraft, which are designed to be 10% lighter than current slides while still meeting all performance requirements.
Goodrich is also supplying innovative High-Density Discharge (HID) and LED-based exterior lighting, award-winning variable frequency technology for the aircraft's power generation system (through its Aerolec joint venture with Thales) and flight controls that take advantage of the latest power by wire technology. And Goodrich will provide the primary and standby air data systems. The primary air data system will feature SmartProbe, another new Goodrich technology, which uses innovative multi-function sensing probes to aid reliability.
Goodrich is also providing an automatic ice detection system, and will bring its experience in aircraft materials and structures to bear in the development of the aircraft's cargo system and with several structural components. Most recently, Goodrich was selected by Airbus to provide the aircraft's cabin attendant and cockpit occupancy seats.
"Airbus is proud to have worked with Goodrich, who believed in the success of the A380 and worked hard to help us realize Airbus' vision," said Airbus North America Chairman Allan McArtor. "Today is the culmination of a pioneering effort by all those involved on the A380 project. The maiden flight pays tribute to all the cooperation and hard work the American workforce has been dedicated to for the past 101 years of flight."
Goodrich Corp., a Fortune 500 company, is a leading global supplier of systems and services to the aerospace and defense industry. If there's an aircraft in the sky, we're on it. Goodrich technology is involved in making aircraft fly ... helping them land ... and keeping them safe. Serving a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and service facilities, Goodrich is one of the largest aerospace companies in the world. For more information, see www.goodrich.com.
Airbus, the largest export customer of commercial U.S. aerospace, spent nearly $7 billion with U.S. suppliers last year and supported more than 140,000 jobs in more than 40 states. For more information, see www.airbus.com.
