Commercial aircraft market

Acme s profit had languished in a cyclical downturn in the commercial aircraft market. A recent boom in business brought profitless prosperity. Boeing, a price-driven buyer, dominated this market. A few large licensees had lower costs and enjoyed greater market share, including sales to Boeing. 

A third interesting aspect of this story is that Du Pont s aramide fiber was not specifically the result of market-driven research. When this fiber was patented in 1971 there was no commercial application in view. However, within ten years, three varieties of Kevlar fiber were commercialized by Du Pont for dozens of reinforced plastic applications in radial passenger tires, belts, in protective clothing, such as gloves or ballistic and flak vests, in ropes and cables in racing kayaks and canoes, and in commercial aircraft. Thus the Kevlar fiber by no means resulted from the functional, bottom-up, approach which is sometimes considered as a major characteristic of materials science. The aramide fiber resulted from the traditional style of industrial research which was successful in the plastic era and confirms the leadership of chemistry in materials technologies. 

Individuals and families, whether coming through Ellis Island early in the centnry or arriving on a commercial aircraft at your local airport yesterday, have come to America for a wide variety of reasons however, virtually all possessed the desire to live free and the opportunity to work and create a better life for themselves and their families. This rich and ongoing mixture of individuals, with their unique talents, skills, and abilities, creates an exceptional pool of prospective anployees for the public and private sectors within the American workplace and permits us to compete successfully in the global market. Without the talents and ambition of our forefathers as well as the skills and abilities of our current individuals, America would not be the global economic power that was achieved and is being maintained today. 

Though safety has been a concern since rickety aircraft first flew at the beginning of the twentieth century, it really wasn t until the Chicago Convention in 1944 that it was more seriously formalized (especially on an international scale). As World War n was winding down, many aircraft manufacturers and governments realized the potential for a strong commercial aviation market. To enable that industry, it was... 

A few aeronautical engineers are also employed in civil aviation by airlines and airfreight operators, or in the growing market for maintenance, repair and overhaul of mihtary and commercial aircraft. However, a more common route for engineers in the civil operating companies is to start as aircraft technicians and to develop to engineer status. There can also be opporturrities to spend periods of time seconded... 

In the aircraft industry advanced composites are penetrating into large markets. The first application of advanced composites was in the F14 Fighter in 1971. At that time, boron-fiber reinforced composite was used. Today, the materialsused to make the "Harrier AV-8B" consists of 25 wt advanced composites reinforced by carbon or aramid fibers. For commercial aircraft, advanced composites were applied for the first time in 1977, for the secondary structural parts of the DC-10. Afterward, the proportion of advanced composites used has risen from 3 wt on the Boeing 767 in 1982 to 20 wt of the Air-Bus A320 in 1987. Moreover, the application of advanced composites has extended into the primary structural parts of aircraft. In the future, we expect, the next generation aircraft will consist of more than 30 vjt% of advanced composites. 

During this period, the ICI laboratories were also making their other great contribution to the range of plastics materials—the product which they marketed as Perspex, poly(methyl methacrylate). As a result of work by two of their chemists, R. Hill and J. W. C. Crawford, it was found that a rigid transparent thermoplastics material could be produced at a commercially feasible cost. The material became invaluable during World War II for aircraft glazing and to a lesser extent in the manufacture of dentures. Today poly(methyl methacrylate) is... 

The manufacture of secondary batteries based on aqueous electrolytes forms a major part of the world electrochemical industry. Of this sector, the lead-acid system (and in particular SLI power sources), as described in the last chapter, is by far the most important component, but secondary alkaline cells form a significant and distinct commercial market. They are more expensive, but are particularly suited for consumer products which have relatively low capacity requirements. They are also used where good low temperature characteristics, robustness and low maintenance are important, such as in aircraft applications. Until recently the secondary alkaline industry has been dominated by the cadmium-nickel oxide ( nickel-cadmium ) cell, but two new systems are making major inroads, and may eventually displace the cadmium-nickel oxide cell - at least in the sealed cell market. These are the so-called nickel-metal hydride cell and the rechargeable zinc-manganese dioxide cell. There are also a group of important but more specialized alkaline cell systems which are in use or are under further development for traction, submarine and other applications. 

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