Bombardier Chooses Meggitt's Ebrake for CSeries

DORSET, U.K. — After successful flight testing on a Bombardier demonstrator aircraft last year, Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems has won its first commercial contract for its advanced electric braking system known as Ebrake.

Meggitt's electric brakes and control system will be installed on the Bombardier CSeries family of 110 to 130-seat jetliners launched in 2008. The first single-aisle aircraft to use advanced composite widely and carry Pratt & Whitney's geared turbofan engine, the CSeries is designed to use 20 percent less fuel than current aircraft of this class. It has already attracted firm orders for 30 aircraft from Lufthansa and an additional 20 from Lease Corporation International.

Electric braking provides fully integrated brake control and anti-skid protection including emergency and parking brake functions by combining brake-by-wire control technology with electro-mechanical brake actuation. Its development follows the aircraft industry's gradual adoption of electric technology to develop more fuel-efficient aircraft with lower emissions. Electric braking is also expected to increase dispatch reliability and reduce unscheduled maintenance costs. The elimination of hydraulic fluids reduces the risk of leaks and associated fires.

Meggitt's Ebrake has particular features, explains Kenneth Schwartz, President of Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems. "We achieved a degree of compactness and efficiency in this braking system that the industry took around 70 years to deliver in hydraulics," he says. "We believe it to be the most compact system in development, with no compromise on performance."

Meggitt's integrated electric braking system includes nose and main wheels, electric actuators, and associated control system elements amounting to 48 line replaceable units. The system deploys Meggitt's lightweight, longer lasting NuCarb carbon heatsinks.

Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems equips Bombardier's entire fleet of more than 1,500 commercial jets and supplies the Q400 advanced turboprop commercial transport digital brake control system under a subcontract arrangement and business jet braking equipment for Bombardier's Learjet 60XR and Challenger Models 605, 850, 870, and 890.

For more information visit www.meggitt.com.