Airbus Operations (s.a.s.)

Airbus France

Francois Guillaumel

Arnaud Hormiere

Jean-Claude Marty

Jean-Christophe Loche

Lionel Espagnan

Lionnel Espagnan

Disclosed is a method for improving the performance of transport aircraft. In particular, the aircraft is provided with a rounded nose cone in front of a center of gravity of the aircraft. The rounded nose cone has an upper longitudinal surface and a lower longitudinal surface configured, respectively, to generate a lifting force and a negative lifting force and produce a resultant that is lifting and to produce an auxiliary nose-up moment. The method involves shaping the nose cone to increase the lifting resultant. This shaping is carried out-by increasing the upper longitudinal surface of the nose cone, so as to increase the lifting force, and by reducing the lower longitudinal surface of the nose cone, so as to decrease the negative lifting force.

Method for improving the performance of an aircraft

A lightning protection system for a composite structure has an outer surface designed to be subject to an air flow. This system has an electrically conductive strip and fasteners from the strip to the structure. Since the structure has holes designed for the fasteners, at least some of these fasteners have an attachment element from the lightning to this structure. This attachment element is inserted into the hole with its top part approximately even with the outer surface of this structure, and the attachment element is in electrical contact with the electrically conductive strip. At least part of the electrically conductive strip is placed within the thickness of the structure and to be connected to the ground.

Lightning protection system and an aircraft having such a system

Growing community of inventors

Toulouse, France

Francois Guillaumel