Flight simulator with maintenance-free polymer plain bearings wins national competition

Profile

• What was needed: iglidur plain bearings, plastic energy chains
• Requirements: A maintenance-free and cost-effective bearing solution was sought.
• Industry: Aerospace, aviation industry
• Success for the customer: iglidur plain bearings are lubrication-free and maintenance-free. They allow high loads to be applied.

Problem

The winners of the "Jugend forscht" competition in Baden Württemberg beat the competition with their glider simulator at the finals in Hamburg. The flight simulator is designed to give non-flyers a realistic insight into the world of gliding. This ambitious goal was supported with the help of an original aircraft fuselage as well as by complex electronic control of the simulator. It took just under a year from the idea in April 2006 to the TÜV approval the following year. Until then, the three inventors have overcome a number of safety-related hurdles and mastered problems such as the coupling of the motor to the motion axis.

Solution

Our iglidur plain bearings could help in many ways. Based on a lengthy consultation at Motek 2006, the entire bearing positions of the simulator were fitted with the plastic plain bearings. The decisive factor for the decision in favour of the bearings made of the material iglidur was that they are maintenance-free, cost-effective and very easy to handle. The installation took only seconds and no special bearing seats had to be constructed. In addition, enormous axial loads are also possible with the bearings. And should the wear be too high, the components can be replaced within a very short time. In addition to the plain bearings, our plastic energy chains brought order to the cable tangle created by the complex electronic control system. The cables could thus be bundled without losing flexibility, which was an elementary requirement due to the rotation of the simulator.

With the flight simulator, the winners of "Jugend forscht" can give non-flyers a realistic insight into the world of gliding.

The joystick functions as aileron and elevator.

Flexible solution: The plastic energy chain bundles the cables of the complex control system.