A system for monitoring performance of an aircraft windshield includes a sensor comprising a sensory contact and an evaluation unit. The sensory contact is in physical contact with one or more components of the windshield, and generates a signal representative of the performance of the component(s) of the windshield. An electrical connector is secured to the surface of the windshield facing the interior of the aircraft. The signal from the sensory contact passes through the connector to the evaluation unit. The evaluation unit acts on the signal to determine the performance of the component(s) of the windshield, wherein the evaluation unit is spaced from and out of physical contact with the windshield and the electrical connector, and is in electrical contact with the electrical connector.

An airframe or a part thereof 3, for example a skin assembly or a profile such as a structural profile, comprises: a wall W having an aperture A therethrough, wherein the wall W provides a frame F surrounding, at least in part, the aperture A; a panel P conforming with the aperture A; and wherein the airframe or the part 3 thereof is configurable in: a first configuration, wherein the panel P and the frame F are mutually spaced apart; and a second configuration, wherein the panel P is received in the frame F and wherein the frame F resists movement of the panel P in two or three mutually orthogonal directions.

An airframe or a part thereof 3, for example a skin assembly or a profile such as a structural profile, comprises: a wall W having an aperture A therethrough, wherein the wall W provides a frame F surrounding, at least in part, the aperture A; a panel P conforming with the aperture A; and wherein the airframe or the part 3 thereof is configurable in: a first configuration, wherein the panel P and the frame F are mutually spaced apart; and a second configuration, wherein the panel P is received in the frame F and wherein the frame F resists movement of the panel P in two or three mutually orthogonal directions.

An aircraft door having: a first handling arm and a first forearm; a second handling arm and a second forearm; a holding device movable between: an immobilising position in which the first forearm and the second forearm are immobilised relative to the door panel; and a released position in which the first forearm and the second forearm are free to pivot relative to the door panel in at least one direction of rotation.

Methods and apparatuses for performing automated operations using a high-density robotic cell. An apparatus comprises a first plurality of robotic devices; a second plurality of robotic devices; and a control system. Each of the second plurality of robotic devices is coupled to a single function end effector. The control system controls the second plurality of robotic devices to concurrently perform tasks at a plurality of locations on an assembly, while the first plurality of robotic devices independently maintain a clamp-up at each of the plurality of locations.

A cockpit access security system controls changes to a record of personnel authorized to access the cockpit by reference to the state of the aircraft as determined by a plurality of on-board sensors indicating the state of particular aircraft subsystems.

An assembly for arming/disarming a slide of an airplane door according to the invention comprises a system with two releasable connection mechanisms (2) linked with the door (1) and a cabin floor of the airplane, each mechanism (2) comprising a releasable connector (21b) secured to the door (1), extending at right angles to the floor on each side of a door bottom, and an anchor fitting (22b) fixed to the cabin floor. Each connector (21b) is equipped with an elastic centering element (70) and a locking/unlocking grab (25b) on the corresponding anchor fitting (22b), the connectors (21b) being linked by a girt bar (5). Each grab (25b) being rotationally mobile, one of the grabs (25b) is driven by a single command (5; 25b) which drives the other grab in rotation via the girt bar (5).

There is provided a door mechanism comprising a door and a door closure mechanism for moving the door between a first, open, position and second, closed position. The door closure mechanism comprises a drive motor coupled to a drive screw, the drive screw having a first, right handed thread portion and a second, left handed thread portion, a first drive nut threadedly engaged with the first thread portion, a second drive nut threadedly engaged with the second thread portion, a first drive linkage pivotally coupled to the first drive nut at one end and to the door at a second, opposed end, and a second drive linkage pivotally coupled to the second drive nut at one end and to the door at a second, opposed end.

A pressure bulkhead for the pressure-tight axial closure of a pressurized fuselage of an aircraft or spacecraft that can be put under an internal pressure, comprises a pressure dome, which is designed with a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface; inspection hatches, which each form an aperture in the pressure dome from the inner surface to the outer surface; and pressure covers for pressure-tight closure of the inspection hatches, wherein the pressure covers each have a cover and a pressure seal, wherein the cover is designed for the repeatedly releasable fixing of the pressure cover on the concave inner surface over the inspection hatch and wherein the pressure seal is formed at the edge of the cover for the pressure-tight closure of the cover with the pressure dome.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a composite aircraft window frame; the method comprises the steps of: a) positioning in a mold a preform made of pre-impregnated material including dispersed fibers, with a predefined orientation, in a thermosetting resin matrix; b) closing the mold so as to define a gap between at least one surface of said preform and a portion of said mold; c) injecting thermosetting resin into the closed mold through an inlet opening of the mold itself, so as to fill the gap and completely lap said surface of the preform; and d) applying a uniform hydrostatic pressure on the surface by the injection of the resin.