UTC Aerospace Systems engineers have developed carbon brakes with fewer parts and a lifespan that is many times longer than steel brakes, enabling aircraft to fly longer and more often, with long-term cost savings for both commercial airlines and military fleets. And, since most aircraft carbon braking systems were first deployed on civil commercial aircraft, the military has reaped the benefits of using these systems without having to invest in the up-front development costs. Modern examples include the carbon brakes for the F-16, which were derived from those in use on the Boeing 747-400, as well as the new C-130 carbon brakes, which were a derivative of those in use on the Airbus A320 and Boeing 777LR.

Rick Pyatt, director of defense and aerospace policy at United Technologies Corporation (UTC) Global Government Relations, and Jeff Atkinson, director of military programs for UTC Aerospace Systems Landing Systems, explained why these carbon brakes make a big difference, and how the military is benefitting from these commercially-derived innovations. Here are four ways carbon brakes work better for military and commercial aircraft:

Less downtime

Carbon brakes have a much faster cooling rate versus steel brakes, which can require over an hour to cool down. Carbon brakes also “operate better at higher temperatures than steel brakes,” Atkinson said. This innovative technology means aircraft spend less time on the ground cooling their brakes, so planes can turn more quickly for the next flight or mission – a critical requirement for the military. This is especially important for U.S. Central Command military flights operating in high-temperature regions like the Persian Gulf where crews must land, refuel, rearm and fly again.

Lighter weight = less fuel burn = savings, and enhanced operational flexibility

“On big airplanes, if you take steel brakes off the plane and use carbon brakes, you can reduce the aircraft weight by 2,000 pounds, saving thousands of dollars in fuel costs annually,” said Pyatt, who is a former Air Force pilot and commercial airline Captain. This grows to millions of dollars when aggregated across a fleet of aircraft. Equally important, carbon brakes enhance operational flexibility, allowing pilots the option to carry more fuel, more cargo, or more people per mission.

As an example, on long range flights, Pyatt said “the ability to carry more fuel provides an important operational advantage; giving pilots the opportunity to re-route around bad weather, hold while destination weather improves, have enough fuel to make another approach to the runway when the weather is really bad or divert to a suitable alternate airfield.”

This provides additional cost savings, according to Pyatt. “There are costs associated with not completing a flight or mission as planned,” Pyatt said. “Carbon brakes provide fuel saving up front and dollar savings at the end of the flight because my airplane, its people, and cargo are where they’re supposed to be.”

Less maintenance
Carbon braking systems last longer than steel braking systems. “They perform as well on the 2,000th landing as on the first,” Atkinson said. Carbon brakes are widely used in U.S. Air Force planes such as the C-130 and C-5 cargo planes, as well as various fighter aircraft like the F-15 and F-16 and are factory-installed in most new aircraft. “Carbon brakes stay on the aircraft longer, reducing taxpayer costs, reducing work for maintainers and the downtime associated with more frequent brake changes,” Pyatt said.

Shorter braking distance
Pilots have reported shorter stopping distances using carbon brakes versus steel brakes. “The stopping advantage of carbon brakes provides an enhanced safety cushion for pilots, especially when they are landing on shorter runways, landing with higher than normal gross weight and when stopping during an aborted takeoff.”

  Benefits of Using Carbon Brakes and Lock Ring Wheels on C-130 Aircraft:

Despite these benefits, carbon brakes are not on every airplane. UTC Aerospace Systems hopes to change that. “Carbon brakes developed for the commercial market have brought major benefits to the commercial airlines, and now to the U.S. Air Force. This innovative technology also offers improved braking performance and fuel savings, operational flexibility, lower maintenance costs, and longer brake life for the Army, Navy and Marine Corps too,” Atkinson said.

Elevators and escalators make up 2 to 5 percent of the energy used in most buildings, but can reach as high as 50 percent during peak operational times. At 5 percent, that means the yearly energy consumption of U.S. elevators is approximately five times what is used in all of Washington, D.C. Yet most people don’t know the technology is available to address these issues. Otis Elevator Company, the legendary manufacturer that invented the first safety brake, has been at the forefront of developing efficient, sustainable, people-moving technology for more than 160 years.

Otis re-examined every aspect of the elevator to create an evolved, environmentally-responsible and highly efficient Gen2® elevator system. Coated steel belts replace standard elevator cables and provide greater strength, increased efficiency and enhanced safety. By pairing the innovative belt technology with the ReGen™ drive – which can harness electricity previously lost as heat – Otis elevators are 75 percent more efficient than conventional systems.

Additionally the system’s belts and gearless machine do not require any additional lubrication, making the Gen2®system cleaner for the environment.

“Otis has been at the forefront of developing energy-efficient elevator systems,” said Tom Vining, president, Otis Americas. “We are committed to innovation that supports green building because we know that it delivers both economic and environmental value for our customers and the communities where we work and live.”

Otis was built on innovation. Today, Otis is the world’s largest manufacturer and maintainer of people-moving products, including elevators, escalators and moving walkways. The company is moving escalator technology forward with standard green features that save energy and minimize environmental impact. A “sleep mode” allows the escalator to slow down when it is not in use. A pressure-sensitive mat detects approaching passengers and powers the escalator gradually back up to full speed. The escalators also feature special drives to capture energy generated by the escalator on the way down and deliver it back to the building for use by other systems. This reduces energy consumption by up to 60 percent compared to conventional systems. An efficient automatic lubrication system maintains proper lubrication, while using up to 98% less oil than conventional systems.

Otis has redeveloped today’s elevator and escalator, considering everything from design and installation to operation and maintenance. The result is an evolved and highly efficient system, equipped to transport billions of people around the globe.

In the debate about the environment, airplanes can be the elephant in the room. Much like the elephant, their size works for and against them. They can haul several hundred people at once but have a reputation for being big, loud, gas-guzzling machines.

How can they reduce carbon emissions, be more fuel-efficient and cut down on the noise?

There’s a behind-the-scenes revolution going on aimed at tackling those very questions. The brains behind the transformation come out of Pratt & Whitney, one of the largest divisions of United Technologies. Pratt is working to produce the PurePower® Geared Turbofan™ engine family, a product line developed to provide more eco-conscious solutions for the airline industry.

See – or hear – the PurePower engine in action.

The PurePower engine has been 20 years in the making, with United Technologies and Pratt investing significant R&D resources—$1 billion on the gear, which allows engine components to spin at optimal rates, and $10 billion on the engine itself. Today, the company is poised to revolutionize the business of air travel by supplying airlines with engines that dramatically reduce carbon emissions. These engines also improve the economy by adding hundreds of jobs to the U.S. supply chain.

“Our goal with this design was to help our airline customers reduce their costs of operation per aircraft while making their fleets more sustainable and quiet,” said Paul Adams, president, Pratt & Whitney.

Here’s a look at three ways the PurePower engine can help airlines be more lean and green:

Becoming more fuel efficient and reducing the carbon footprint: Continually striving for greater fuel-efficiency is central to reducing impact on the environment. With better fuel efficiency comes less carbon emissions. P&W’s PurePower engine offers the airline industry a revolutionary chance to get ahead with a product that burns up to 16% less fuel. That dramatically lowers fuel costs per airplane for the company and gives passengers peace of mind.

Burning less fuel over longer routes: P&W recently launched the newest addition to the PurePower engine family, the PW1135G-JM, a 35,000 thrust class engine. The engine’s higher thrust allows operators to fly routes of greater distance—or out of high altitude airports, such as Mexico City and Bogota—while carrying more passengers or larger payloads. 

Bringing down the noise: Every day hundreds of planes take off and land. With the FAA expecting air travel to nearly double in the next 20 years, the world’s increasingly busy airports are operating near capacity. Simply reducing the noise an airplane makes during takeoff and landing will allow airports to extend runway hours and allow more jets to service passengers. P&W’s engine remarkably reduces aircraft noise footprints by up to 75%.

When the first plane powered with a PurePower engine took off in Montreal last year, the jet was so quiet that some of the spectators almost missed it, prompting Porter Airlines Chief Executive Robert Deluce to call it the “whisper jet.”

To date, the PurePower GTF engine family has more than 6,000 orders and commitments, including options, from more than 60 global customers. The PurePower engine will be on six aircraft platforms, including the Airbus A320neo family, the Bombardier CSeries, the Embraer E-jets E2 family, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the Irkut MS-21 aircraft and the Gulfstream G500 and G600.

An aircraft ejection seat is a pilot’s last resort in an emergency. When a pilot pulls the ejection handle, the aircraft’s canopy is jettisoned and the pilot is launched out of the cockpit and into the sky at rocket-like speed. Many factors are at play during this sequence – the aircraft’s speed, attitude and altitude at the time of ejection and whether the pilot is wearing helmet-mounted devices – which can greatly increase the risk of injury or death.

Mitigating this risk and ensuring pilot safety is the top priority for UTC Aerospace Systems, the primary supplier for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the sole ejection seat manufacturer in the U.S. Their latest ejection seat, the ACES 5, is designed to address the variables at play in an ejection sequence and provides significant safety improvements, all with the aim of saving a pilot’s life and minimizing injury. Since its introduction in the late 1970s, ACES II has saved more than 620 aircrew members.

Here are four ways the ACES 5 builds on that impressive legacy:

Better seat technology to accommodate newer pilot head gear: Advances in military gear means pilots can now be wearing helmet-mounted devices like night vision goggles while in flight. According to an article in Forbes, “although these devices greatly enhance situational awareness and safety under normal flying conditions, they can become killers in an emergency escape using current ejection seats.” The ACES 5 addresses this issue by providing passive head and neck protection (PHNP) that acts like a catcher’s mitt, cushioning and supporting the head and neck to avoid the “slam back” from the high speed wind streams associated with the ejection.

Passive leg and arm restraints: The ACES 5 seat includes passive leg and arm restraints that help keep a pilot’s limbs close to the body, avoiding harm as they are catapulted out of the plane at high speed and preventing flailing injuries that can cause serious injury or death.

Upgraded parachute performance: In order to better protect the pilot, the ACES 5’s upgraded parachute slows descent rate while significantly minimizing pilot oscillation, which reduces the landing injury rates to pilots by over 50%. Historically, 43% of all ejection event related injuries occurred during the “parachute landing fall”.

Smart rocket motors: During an ejection sequence, not all pilots are created equal. Typically, ejections are less safe for female pilots because they are much lighter than male pilots. Unlike foreign seat designs, the ACES 5 rocket catapult uses a variable burn profile to provide more energy for heavy pilots and less for lighter pilots, varying the “G” load forces between 9 to 12 G’s. This is coupled with the ACES 5’s unique gimbal stabilization package, optimizing rocket motor pointing and ensuring proper tail clearance and maximum terrain clearance. These two innovations reduce back injury risks to approximately 1%; far exceeding the Air Force overall injury risk requirement of 5% for pilots weighing between 103 and 245 lbs. By comparison, foreign seat designs can exceed 18 G’s for expanded aircrew sizes, resulting in higher head, neck and spinal injury rates.  A Royal Air Force study of other ejection seats cited injury rates of nearly 30%.¹

Ejection seats in the U. S. Air Force’s legacy fighter and bomber aircraft can easily be upgraded to this improved configuration because of the 70% commonality with the ACES II. Retrofitting can be completed in one day. Once in the aircraft, maintenance is also simplified. The modular seat design has four pieces which improves access to the internal components of the seat. The entire seat can be removed from the cockpit without removing the canopy and without the use of a crane because of this modular design. In fact, ACES 5 can be removed in 15 minutes and re-installed in 25 minutes, saving the U. S. Air Force thousands of man-hours of labor each year across the fighter and bomber fleets.

¹M. Lewis, “Survivability and Injuries from Use of Rocket-Assisted Ejection Seats: Analysis of 232 Cases”, Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 77, No. 9:936-943, Sept 2006.