On the Record with

KEN MACIVER, EVP AND GENERAL MANAGER, TRW AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS (LUCAS AEROSPACE)

All-electric aircraft may be many years away, but the former Lucas Aerospace, now TRW Aeronautical Systems, is trying to get the industry charged up about the more-electric airplane.

Chief executive Ken Maciver believes it is on the way-partly due to the leadership of Lucas in developing new technology that will save weight and greatly increase reliability and safety by eliminating miles of high-pressure hydraulic systems and their pumps, reservoirs, valves and actuators.

The company is rolling out its technology and showcasing it at Asian Aerospace 2000.

"We've completely renewed our technology programs, and added resources to them," Maciver told Show News. "We really have a very clear view of the direction we're going on technology."

Indeed, many things are becoming clearer for Lucas Aerospace as the dust settles after a tumultuous 10 months. Lucas was taken over by TRW, and it continued to make acquisitions itself, most notably of SAMM of France. SAMM, a former subsidiary of the PSA Peugeot Group, is a high technology niche supplier of flight systems to Airbus.

With support, resources and greater clout from parent TRW, and with its revamped technology programs, Maciver intends to strengthen Lucas' position as one of the top two vendors in all of its main product areas: engine control systems, flight control systems, electric power systems, and cargo systems.

The company ranks No. 5 among the world's leading equipment suppliers, and No. 2 in Europe.

"We've been through very active period but we haven't lost focus on our business," Maciver says. "We've made some acquisitions ourselves, continued to improve our cost base, and had a degree of success in the marketplace. Our technology programs were always there, but now we've put a lot more impetus behind them to demonstrate we're thinking very much for the long term."

And that's where Maciver sees the all-electric aircraft-along with Lucas Aerospace' capability to meet the systems integration requirements of flight, engine and power generation controls.

"We see tremendous advantages in terms of weight reduction and cost by applying more electrical power to the aircraft," Maciver explains.

"The issues are how you generate the power, how you interface with the engine, as well as actually applying power. We believe we have an unrivalled capability covering as we do engines from whence the power derives, a strong position on flight control actuation-which is really where a lot of the advantages from the all-electric approach will be realized-and we have a strong capability in power generation."

Lucas is at Asian Aerospace 2000 showing a wide range of next-generation products including a variable frequency electrical system for large jet aircraft (which removes complexity by eliminating the hydromechanical constant speed drive required in conventional constant frequency systems), and a number of flight control power-by-wire alternatives. These include electrohydrostatic actuation, electromechanical actuation, and an integrated actuation package that replaces hydraulic power supply to flight controls with electric.

Today's conventional flight control, known as fly-by-wire, is controlled electrically but powered hydraulically.

"You have to remember this is a very major step, to start leaving out hydraulics in a safety critical environment," says Maciver. "We don't expect an overnight revolution but we are demonstrating to our customers that as they move in this direction we can meet their requirements.

"The aerospace industry is a very curious mixture of high technology and conservatism," he says. "You just don't lightly launch into new things until they are very well proven."

Work is progressing on time and target with Lucas Aerospace' biggest-ever contract, worth potentially $3.3 billion, with Rolls-Royce to provide complete systems including electronic engine controls, fuel metering units and actuation equipment for the Trent 8104, and fuel pumps for the Trent 500 and 600. Lucas will invest about $110 million over the next four years and will take between 3% and 5% of total revenue from the three engine programs.

"We've spent a lot of time improving the way we manage programs of this kind, as well as the technology. It is a very demanding program, but I'm happy with where we are on it," Maciver says.

By John Morris