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Part Two we’ll look at – Echo to Hotel
We’re taking an alphabetical journey through the history of Honeywell Aerospace. In part one we covered Alpha to Delta, here in part two, we look at some of the legacy products that helped position Honeywell as a major aerospace technology leader. We also remember Flight 1549, in which Honeywell’s auxiliary power unit (APU) literally saved the day, together with a very human hero.
E – Engines
Engines were in many ways the powerhouse behind the rise of Honeywell as a major aerospace technology leader. Engines designed by Honeywell and our legacy companies including Lycoming Turbine Engine Division, Garrett AiResearch and AlliedSignal have been at the forefront of aircraft propulsion since 1953.
Since then, Honeywell has developed and manufactured propulsion engines across the aerospace spectrum – from business jets to military aircraft, helicopters to tanks. Honeywell engines have been powering some of the most iconic, powerful and versatile aircraft in the skies – even some on the ground. The Chinook (T55), the Jaguar (F125), the AH-1H Cobra (T53), The M1 Abrams (AGT1500).
In business aviation the TFE731, TPE331 and the HTF7000 continue to defy customer expectation – clocking up unbelievable numbers. The TPE331 has 18 different models and 106 configurations, with more than 13,000 engines delivered and more than 122 million hours of flight time. The first TFE731 was certified in 1972, since then 20 different models with more than 13,000 units have been produced, logging an astounding 100 million plus hours of service on more than 30 different aircraft applications.
Engines are part of our DNA, and thankfully they will continue to be our future too. Speaking in December 2020, Honeywell Aerospace President, Mike Madsen, committed Honeywell to evolving our propulsion technologies. This includes upgrades to the HTF engine family and the development of an entirely new engine centerline for larger and super midsize aircraft. This followed the announcement in July 2020 that Honeywell had entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army to upgrade the T55 engine on the heavy-lift, twin-engine Chinook helicopter. The new 6,000-horsepower T55-GA-714C engine is 25% more powerful and consumes 10% less fuel than the current T55. New modifications also make the next-generation T55 easier to maintain with lower operating costs and increased mission readiness.
F – Flight 1549
On January 15 2009, US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320 on a flight from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina, struck a flock of birds shortly after take-off, losing all engine power. Unable to reach any airport for an emergency landing, pilots Chesley Sullenberger (Sully) and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to ditch in the Hudson River off Midtown Manhattan. All 155 people on board were rescued by nearby boats.
The heroic actions of Captain Sully, in what is now known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", have rightly been immortalized in film. But few people remember the other hero that day – the Honeywell 131-9A auxiliary power unit (APU). After realizing that his main engines had been fatally damaged by the bird strike, Sullenberger had the foresight and training to power-up the APU. The 131-9A was able to provide enough power for the pilot’s flight controls, flight displays and other systems enabling the Airbus A320 to execute what the National Transportation Board called “…the most successful ditching in aviation history”.
G – Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS).
In response to tragic airline crashes during the 1960s, Honeywell Engineer Don Bateman invented a lifesaving device that automatically warned pilots if their aircraft was approaching the ground or water. Prior to the invention of the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS), there were, on average, about 10 aircraft crashes and hundreds of deaths every year in the United States as a result of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). Today, thanks to Don Bateman and his teams’ commitment to aviation safety, the annual CFIT rate in the United States and indeed worldwide is almost zero.
The original GPWS used an onboard computer to analyze data from the radio altimeter, providing pilots with a voice warning when approaching terrain. In the late 1990s, Bateman implemented further improvements, adding information on aircraft location from the Global Positioning System (GPS) and terrain elevations from a worldwide digital terrain. The system is now named the "Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System” and is mandated on all commercial airliners.
Don Bateman’s contribution to aviation safety has not gone unnoticed. The Flight Safety Foundation acknowledge that “Don Bateman has probably saved more lives than any single person in the history of aviation”. Furthermore, in 2005 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and in 2010 he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from U.S. President Barack Obama.
H – Helicopters
Take a moment to think about some of the most iconic helicopters of all time – the Black Hawk, the Chinook, the Bell UH-1H Huey and the Apache. All of them having something in common – Honeywell! From advanced avionics to mechanical components and engines, Honeywell is the H in both military and commercial helicopters.
Two of the world’s most recognizable ‘choppers’ namely the Chinook and the Huey are powered respectively by Honeywell’s T55 and T53 engines. The T53 family of engines has logged more than 50 years of service and more than 62 million flight hours. Originally developed by our legacy company Lycoming, the T53 design team was headed by Anselm Franz, designer of the Junkers Jumo 004, the world’s first turbojet engine. The huge troop-carrying Chinook is powered by two Honeywell T55 engines, which despite its size remains one of the fastest helicopters in the US Army.
Honeywell’s avionics solutions for helicopters deliver unparalleled situational and positional awareness and include weather radar, radar altimeters and ground proximity warning systems. Honeywell is also delivering connectivity to military and commercial helicopters such as the AW139, with Sky Connect and Aspire 200 satcom solutions. Our Innovative Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) help operators maintain mission-readiness by collecting and communicating diagnostic information required for optimum performance.
Check out the next blog in this series. Part Three Indigo - Lima.
Want to know more about Honeywell Aerospace’s products or services? Feel free to leave a comment below for a potential future blog topic.
