Meggitt equips more than 160 aircraft platforms with wheels and brakes, enabling 15 million landings by around 34,000 aircraft each year.

As recently as Thursday 15 June 2017, SAAB's Gripen E made its maiden flight, equipped with Meggitt wheels and braking systems, making it an unprecedented 8 maiden flights which have taken to the skies with Meggitt wheels or braking systems onboard since the beginning of 2016.

This comes hot on the heels of Irkut's MC-21-300 commercial aircraft completing its maiden flight, also with Meggitt wheels and brakes, on May 28th 2017.

Thanks to a patented heat shield design which increases the speed of natural convection cooling, removing the need for fans, the MC-21 system weighs in at 13% less than equivalent in-service aircraft. At the same time, proprietary carbon anti-oxidant paint protects the brakes, allowing operation at elevated temperatures without losing life through oxidation. Overall, tyre pressure and brake temperature monitoring systems on the MC-21 enable a turnaround time of 25 minutes between flights, almost half that of many airlines today.

Chosen by aerospace leaders

Other maiden flights with Meggitt braking systems included: Gulfstream's G600; Bombardier's Global 7000; Textron's Scorpion jet; Turboprop ATR 72; Boeing's entrant in the USAF next generation trainer competition and Piaggio's military platform, the Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

In addition to providing the complete braking system for G600 and Global 7000, these aircraft are also equipped with brake temperature and tyre pressure monitoring as well as automatic braking.

Meggitt's Aircraft Braking Systems' (MABS) President Luke Durudogan commented:

"Supporting this number of maiden flights is remarkable; in my experience it's unprecedented for one company to accomplish quite so many within eighteen months. It's a testament to the team's innovation and dedication. We're now focussed on how to build on this success in the years to come."

A braking pioneer

Meggitt's pedigree in this field dates back to the 1920s, when both Goodyear and Dunlop Aerospace, later acquired by the Group, developed the first differential aircraft braking system and continued to lead the field post-war, supplying the first carbon brakes in the 1970s for the VC10 and Concorde.

Combining brake-by-wire technology with an electro-mechanical operating system, Meggitt's Ebrake was the first all-electric brake to fly on a commercial aircraft. It was subsequently selected by Bombardier for the C-Series, which entered service last year. Smaller and more efficient than hydraulic systems, it delivers exceptionally high performance and reliability.