In this case we are announcing the awarding of two new contracts for the same aircraft, securing CESA’s presence in this programme and therefore its collaboration with TAI. CESA has been selected for the development and production of the Landing Gear and the actuation package for the TLUH Landing Gear.
As we have said before, this is a twin-turbine helicopter that is planned to come into service in 2020. This is a civilian helicopter that will be EASA-certified, although there will also be a military version. TAI expects a demand for 300 units in the coming ten years for its domestic market.
The main features of the Landing Gear are:
- Retractable landing gear with hydraulic actuation.
- Cantilever-type landing gear
- Double wheel in nose gear
- Single wheel in main gear
- Oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers for all struts
- Steerable, self-centring nose gear with locking to centre.
- Braking capability on main gear.
- Locking system above and below, provided by the extension/retraction actuators.
- Differential braking and parking brakes.
The scope of the work contracted is slightly different in each contract.
Regarding the landing gear package (struts and shock absorber) TAI is responsible for the conceptual design and its integration with the helicopter. In this phase, CESA will support TAI in the conceptual design, contributing its experience in order to achieve industrialisation at minimum cost, approving the 3D models generated by TAI, choosing the special processes and treatments (heat and surface) and being responsible for designing the details, manufacture of prototypes, assessment including drop and stress tests for the entire landing gear, and product support for the development phase.
With the actuation package, CESA is responsible for conceptual design, detailed design, manufacture, unit assessment and production of development units.
The actuators to be developed are to be common to the three struts, with the added difficulty that they must be able to lock during extension and retraction, which means a “key-based” design, taking into account that the space envelope is very limited. There is an added requirement for a failure in the extension lock to cause a catastrophic failure mode, which makes these actuators difficult to design due to the redundancies involved in an unwanted retraction of the landing gear.
This actuation system:
- Works at 3000 psi
- 20 kN of stall load when extended
- 8 kN of stall load when retracted
- Cylinders and pistons manufactured with 4340 steel
- Double-locking based on keys with visual indicators
- Capacity for locking on the ground
CESA secures its collaboration with TAI in Turkey, a market with a promising future.
