A rib can be manufactured comprising two opposing outer skins and a plurality of internal reinforcement members connecting the skins together.

A simple, safe, and inexpensive flight control system in an aircraft. An anti-torque system for a rotary-wing aircraft has an airfoil with a first surface extending from a first trailing edge and a leading edge, and a second surface extending from a second trailing edge to join the first surface at the leading edge. The airfoil has a first moveable deflector panel pivotally coupled to the first trailing edge, and a second moveable deflector panel pivotally coupled to the second trailing edge. Means are provided to pivot the deflector panels in unison about their respective pivot axes to alter the direction of travel of the airflow downstream of the pivot axes over the surfaces of the deflector panels, thereby producing a lift in a direction perpendicular to the airflow to counteract the torque applied on the aircraft. The flight control system may be arranged within a fixed-wing aircraft.

A load introduction system is disclosed including an aerodynamic structure component having an upper skin section and a lower skin section, an attachment unit and a load introduction unit configured to couple the attachment unit to the aerodynamic structure component. The load introduction unit includes a longitudinal connection element with its first end positioned at the upper skin section. The longitudinal connection element extends through the lower skin section such that its second end is positioned outside of the aerodynamic structure component. The first end is anchored to the upper skin section and the second end is anchored to the attachment unit such that the longitudinal connection element forces the attachment unit against the lower skin section.

An aircraft wing including a mobile leading edge flap associated with a guiding device arranged at the front of a front spar of a wing box, and including: —a pivoting member having one end connected to the spar by an articulated linkage; —a pivoting member connected to one end of the member by an articulated linkage, the end of this member being connected to the flap via an articulated linkage; —a guide rail receiving a tracking member supported by the member, the rail defining a path inscribed on the surface of an imaginary sphere, the centre of which corresponds to a point of convergence of the axes of the three linkages.

A composite wingbox structure formed of reinforced thermoplastic. The composite includes carbon fiber reinforcement and a plurality of insulation elements to localize the heat formed during the process of manufacturing the structure. The process of manufacturing the wingbox includes the steps of interleaving a series of insulations elements within a plurality of laminae and consolidating the insulation elements and laminae to form a laminate. The laminate is then aligned with a support structure such that the insulation elements overlie the supports structure. The laminate is then fused to the support structure using a non-contact heating process, such as inductive welding.

There is provided a composite structure for an aerodynamic component having an aerofoil-like cross-section and a leading edge, the composite structure being in the form of a torsion box arrangement made from composite materials and having a core, the torsion box having a forward wall, an aft wall, a top wall and a bottom wall, together defining the core, the front wall being formed as the leading edge of the aerodynamic component. Also provided is a load-bearing composite structure for use with an aerodynamic component and configured for supporting at least one external load, this composite structure being made from composite materials and configured for being joined to the external aerodynamic surface of the aerodynamic component such as to be in overlying abutting relationship with at least a contact surface portion of the external aerodynamic surface, including the leading edge, at least a forward portion of each of the suction surface and the pressure surface thereof.

A leading-edge device for an aircraft, the device comprising a flow body having a front skin, a back skin, a spar and an air inlet. The front skin is curved around a spanwise axis to form a bottom section and a top section. A leading edge of the flow body is arranged between the bottom section and the top section. The spar extends from the bottom section to the top section. The front skin, the back skin and the spar enclose at least one air chamber that is in fluid communication with the air inlet. An outlet portion is arranged at least directly adjacent to the bottom section of the front skin. The outlet portion comprises a plurality of air outlets for letting air from the at least one air chamber exhaust through the air outlets.

Aircraft spars with integrated power cells, and associated systems and methods are described. A representative aircraft wing spar includes a spar body extending in a spanwise direction, and having a plurality of apertures also extending in a spanwise direction, with individual apertures positioned to receive multiple electrical power cells.

An aircraft wingbox assembly is disclosed having a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover and a pair of spars; a plurality of ribs in the wingbox. The ribs divide the wingbox into bays. A fuel tank is in a first one of the bays. One of the spars includes a spar hole which is configured to enable the fuel tank to be removed from the first one of the bays through the spar hole.

An assembly integrates an aft wing spar root fitting to an aircraft fuselage when joining the aircraft wing to the aircraft body. The assembly provides structural strength to the connection between the aircraft wing and the aircraft body, provides corrosion prevention and provides improved inspection capabilities and repair capabilities to the aircraft wing and aircraft body connection.