US Airline Testing GKN Aerospace’s Hydrophobic Window Coating

An undisclosed major US airline is assessing GKN Aerospace’s hydrophobic coating for cockpit windows on its aircraft.

At the Farnborough air show in July, GKN Aerospace announced the development of this new technology and the fact that Airbus was flight-trialling the coating on test aircraft. Testing by a major airline is the next step in the assessment process.

GKN Aerospace’s hydrophobic coating for cockpit windows was developed in its transparencies centre of excellence in Garden Grove, USA.

The permanent surface treatment delivers in-flight / ground operation rain shedding and significantly enhances resistance to surface abrasion.

Test results indicate the surface treatment is more durable to wiper related damage and scratching than untreated glass, which in turn significantly reduces scratch or abrasion related window removals.

The new GKN Aerospace technology is a permanent solution that only needs to be applied once in the lifetime of a window as opposed to existing temporary solutions that require repeat application every six to eight months, dependent on flight hours and conditions.

Gavin Wesson, CEO GKN Aerospace Special Products business explains, “Our new hydrophobic technology proves to be a unique solution that seamlessly fits the demand of our transparencies customers for less maintenance and reduced weight and costs. This technology could potentially eliminates the need for windscreen wipers on cockpit windows. It is great that we can now further assess this innovative product together with Airbus and one of the global airline operators.”

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