TIS – Vliegtuigbouw - IWT
“Greener - safer - better”
Technisch Eindverslag
Algemene gegevens
IWT-projectnummer: 080639
Startdatum van het IWT-project: 1 april 2009 - einddatum 31/3/2011
Uw naam en organisatie: Peter Ramaekers - Sirris
en Raf Snoekx – Sirris (administratieve coördinator)
Datum van dit eindverslag: 22 april 2011
1. Introduction
Together with AGORIA ( the federation for the technology industry ), SIRRIS has been
conducting a TIS ( Thematische Innovatiestimulering ) project devoted to the further
development of the aeronautical sector in Flanders. Such a TIS project is aimed to
encourage technological innovation inside Flemish companies through knowledge
exchange among enterprises as well as between universities and knowledge institutes.
To enhance interaction and synergy between academia and R&D staff in aeronautics, the
project manages to:
 perform company visits and technology audits and assessments
 organize workshops dedicated to specific domains of interest
 enable two-way collaborations between entities
 help companies successfully submit new innovation projects
 provide technology surveys
 …
Early detection, quick insight and easy access to new technological developments make a
significant contribution to the competitive advantage of the Flemish aeronautical
industry.
2. Global situation of the aeronautic sector
Over the last fifty years Belgium has evolved into a state where increasingly the power of
the central government has devolved to the federated entities which are now, by the
way, responsible for providing the primary government funding to civil aeronautics
research.
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Nevertheless, the Federal Authority still continues
to encourage strong coordination on larger
programs (such as AIRBUS for A380, A350 and
A400M development and production), provides
financing for participation of Belgian organizations
in international research programs and facilitates
participation in the European Commission ( EC )
Framework Programs ( FPs ).
Looking to Flanders, the aeronautical sector
generates activities valuable to more than 500 M€
per year and provides employment to more than 2000 peoples while showing a
productivity mean value well above the European one ( in excess of 250 k€ / worker ).
To facilitate future sustainable growths of activities, IWT ( Agentschap voor Innovatie door
Wetenschap en Technologie ) allocates a rather large funding to industrial research and
development together with an additional 10 % funding given, under strict criteria, to
each accepted project in the aeronautical sector. Universities also secure additional
money for their research thanks to bi-lateral cooperation worldwide ( EADS, Roll-Royce,
SNECMA, … ).
 Technological niches in the Flemish Region
In Flanders, some large companies together with an impressive number of small dynamic
enterprises can mostly be found operating within three specific niche markets. The first
one dealing with structure and propulsion components directly addresses the actual
search for an ecological and sustainable perspective in air transport. New aircraft
structure components made of composite materials are produced thanks to the
development of new design and engineering tools as well as advanced manufacturing
processes in the supply chain.
As more and more citizens are calling for improved safety and security within the air
transport branch, some industrials are developing the board electronic system of the
future with new display and intelligent navigation concepts applied to this niche
market.
The third domain of activity provides various techniques of interest to the general
aviation category. Flanders owns its capability for fully assembling small aircrafts
equipped with locally made components like motors, Flight Management Systems,
displays, auto-pilots, GPS based navigation units, etc … Even UAV systems for earth
observation have been provided and this remains an attractive subject.
 SWOT analysis applied to the Flemish Region ( covering the global aeronautical sector )
SWOT analysis ( Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities – Threats ) is a basic technique
that is often used in strategic planning in order to improve company success or
development of a geographical area or sector while identifying competitive advantage
thanks to the study of the opportunities and threats to their environment.
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The SWOT table is given below:
SWOT Table
Information partly gathered from IWT project n° 50719
“ Haalbaarheidsstudie voor een collectief initiatief ter bevordering van innovatie in de Vlaamse lucht- en ruimtevaartsector ”
STRENGTHS
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WEAKNESSES
5 % yearly expected growth ( 12 % composites )
Central position as subcontractors in the European
market place
Effective collaboration with research centers in
Europe
Some companies being direct suppliers for the
dominant players ( Airbus, Boeing, Embraër )
Recognized expertise in high technology niches
Strong SME’s network ( Acrosoma, Euro plasma,
Septentrio, … )
Dispersed sector means no internal competition

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
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
OPPORTUNITIES

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
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Region without large aircraft assembly facility
Strong dependence over the international
market
Highly dispersed landscape giving right to
serious entry barriers, mostly for SME’s
Aeronautic education in universities is limited
to specialized courses, not study programs
Small weight compared to large countries.
Public opinion unfavorable to defense projects
Aeronautical certification process as a barrier
THREATS
Leaders in niche markets can promote SME’s
Efficient networking can increase synergy in
technological niche markets
Negotiation of fair regional repartition keys for
Flanders ( Airbus return )
Opening of promising markets
Defense program liberalization could enable efficient
concept reuse in civil aviation
New supply chain politics for Airbus and Boeing
New GA opportunities ( VLJ, VLA, UAV, … )
Start-up of new dedicated training program
Adapted financing instruments for SME’s
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Threatening globalization of the market
Regional repartition keys may stay forever
Supply chain rationalization by Airbus and
Boeing brings new uncertainties
Steady declining traffic at airports ( Zaventem,
Oostende, … )
 STRENGTHS :
While the yearly growth for the aeronautical sector should recover to about 5 % after the
financial crisis, it is expected that composites will replace more and more metallic parts
in present and future aircraft projects and therefore would this niche sustain a larger
growth valued up to 12%. If access to large research centers in Europe can be secured in
the near future, already existing niches of expertise mixed together with the new
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potential could lead to the development of new products and services being offered to
even higher tier levels.
 WEAKNESSES :
Flanders has unfortunately no large aircraft assembly facility and, being a small region
within Europe, therefore strongly depends on international markets. Moreover, with an
aeronautical landscape composed of very few large companies acting together with
numerous SME’s rather dispersed in activities, barriers like aeronautical certification do
exist and have to be first overcome in order to succeed.
In addition, public opinion is traditionally unfavorable to the conduct of large defense
projects so that no real benefit from dual-use developments can be expected soon.
 OPPORTUNITIES :
Given Belgium structure, fair repartition keys must be negotiated in the field of AIRBUS
returns and such agreements are hopefully opening doors to larger collaborations with
this important aircraft integrator providing easier access to large civil aircraft programs.
An efficient and strategic networking always plays an essential role in this context.
In such a way and given the expertise so gained, new markets with other aircraft
manufacturers can be contemplated as well. Some emerging and promising markets like
China and Russia can also be approached the same way.
Looking at General Aviation opportunities, Flanders already owns a small aircraft
integrator together with several SME’s that are able to provide strategic components to
them ( e.g. injection motors, auto-pilot, Flight Management Systems, GPS navigation
units, … ). This is certainly a real asset for potential future developments in the field of
small certified aircrafts and UAV’s.
 THREATS :
Threatening globalization of the aeronautical market has traditionally demonstrated a
bigger impact on small regions missing high tier leaders. On-going supply chain
rationalization at the big prime level potentially brings some additional uncertainties.
Regional repartition keys may also stay forever otherwise companies will not be able to
maintain successful positioning on the long term.
3. Project achievements
a. Creation of thematic groups to help define company strategies
i. Composite materials
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A group was created to promote the use of composite materials as well as all
related technologies. The Sirris-Leuven Composites Application Lab. (SLC-Lab - a
common initiative between KULeuven and Sirris dedicated to composite materials )
was added to the group in order to better link industries with universities. Indeed,
it was clear from the beginning that composite materials promotion could be much
reinforced thanks to the extended expertise gained with time by universities in this
specific and important sector. UGent was also involved and is now also working
very closely with SLC-Lab.
A visit to CFK Stade ( the composite competence center located in the North of
Germany and strongly linked to AIRBUS facilities ) was organized end 2010 and did
involve five known professors from UGent and KULeuven as well as a director from
Centexbel. As a result, the door of CFK Stade is now open to interesting potential
collaborations between universities on various very specialized and actual topics.
Following discussions between Agoria, Sirris and FLAG, the foreseen second phase
of the action ( a kind of B2B initiative ) has not yet taken place. Such an action
remains nevertheless possible on the long term. FLAG, being more involved in
politically related actions, could be leading the way in order to establish
international collaborations between industries.
ii. Unmanned vehicles ( UAV )
A highly dynamic group of SME’s was born mid 2010 as a result of a novel approach
proposed by the project. This initiative was truly tailored to the Flemish sector. The
basic idea was that companies have no interest waiting for availability of enough
telecommunication bandwidths ( following WARC conferences ) or for official
acceptance of unmanned vehicle flying into civil ATM controlled airspace before
taking strategic R&D actions or adapting their own portfolio.
Today, only ATM segregated zones, activated on demand, offer flying opportunities
to unmanned vehicle, mostly restricted to military use ( e.g. B-Hunter UAV ). This
situation will clearly change on the long term as soon as EASA will be publishing
certifications and ad hoc procedures for such unmanned operations within civil
airspace. But we are clearly speaking about periods of ten to fifteen years from
now.
On the other way, companies cannot wait for long as it is clear that concurrent
research and development initiatives, truly dedicated to civilian systems, are
already on-going elsewhere in Europe. Flemish companies must therefore try to
follow new trends by any means.
This was clearly the cornerstone idea behind the organization of workshops and
visits on this attractive subject. For example, the last workshop was organized on
the military base of Florennes to let people clearly see the operation of the B5
Hunter system. In fact, this was a real live opportunity to see take-off, landing as
well as images captured during flight in order to pinpoint all specific aspects
induced by UAV system operations.
As a suggestion for follow-up actions, contacts could now be undertaken at various
levels of national or regional organizations dealing with sea or earth monitoring (
e.g. North Sea monitoring for water pollution, drug control policy, border control,
safety and rescue operations, … ).
iii. Aeronautical certification ( potential collaboration with EASA )
Since the beginning of the project, it was perceived that the mandatory process of
aeronautical certification was a rather huge barrier preventing many companies to
enter the market of certified systems, a situation accentuated by the fact that
SME’s do not generally have the necessary financial means to even start such a
process. Products being, per EASA definition, complete aircrafts ( including
helicopters, balloons, etc … ), motors and propellers, require a full Design
Organization Approval ( DOA ) as well as, later, a Type Certificate ( either a TC or a
STC ). Such approvals can only be obtained after a lengthy process at a truly high
cost ( tens of k€ minimum ).
Therefore, companies stay very reluctant to engage such a certification process
without strong financial and procedural supports ( e.g. from their authorities or
through projects and specific initiatives in common with research organizations, etc
... ).
Parts as defined by EASA are a little bit easier to certify, particularly when ETSO
procedures are already in place. This is partly the case for Septentrio which offers a
receiver for aviation following FAA TSO 145 Beta 3 as EASA ETSO do not yet exist
for this particular component. Being supplier to AIRBUS or to any other large
integrator also help avoiding this process because certification is in this case
managed by the prime company, involving sometimes specific delegations to subcontractors. In all other situations, the certification process stays as usual very
complex and costly and depends largely on EASA when Certification Standards do
not yet exist or specific classes are not yet accepted ( e. g. new ELA categories ).
Numerous standards are also applicable to aeronautical products and parts and are
used during various certification processes ( e. g. DO 178B for software, DO 254 for
hardware, DO 160 for environmental conditions, … ).
Discussions with EASA to be able to organize a workshop including true EASA
speakers ( management level ) have taken a very long time and, while we have now
received the official green light, the organization of the foreseen event has not
been feasible during the course of the project. For this reason, specific advices on
certification have been given to enterprises more on a case by case basis, as
required.
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Clearly, a workshop organized at national level would be the next ideal step in
order to better educate companies on this practical topic.
b. Project and potential projects
More than 70 companies active in the aeronautical sector have been approached
during the project, with the aim of starting up joint R&D projects, 30 of which have
been involved in follow-up contacts which are reflected in the RAPs.
The elaboration and submission of new project ideas have resulted in 9 initiatives of
which only the title will be given here.
i. Development of an aero engine with electronic injection (KMO Innovatieproject)
ii. Specific coating technologies applicable to aircraft structures (Interreg IVA)
iii. In situ constraint and temperature measurements in composites (Clean Sky –
FP7)
iv. Flax based composites for aircraft cabin interiors (Airbus)
v. Production of a two seats delta ( ELA category ) (not submitted)
vi. Various projects involving mica materials (Federaal Luchtvaart Platform Initiative
( A350 / A400 M ))
vii. Advices on certification following EASA ( DOA, POA & TC )
viii. Anti-icing properties of super-hydrophobic materials (project in preparation)
ix. Large support structures for composite wing manufacturing (feasibility)
Special attention has been given to the potential of participating in EC funded
projects (such as Clean Sky, SESAR, collaborative projects in FP7 (Transport, NMP, …)
and Research for SMEs). This has been a fixed agenda item in all workshops and
meetings.
c. Establishment of working relations with other institutions active in the target group
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During the project a working relationship has been established with FLAG and with
Agoria Aerospace.
Several contacts have been taken with intermediaries such as the Flemish Innovation
centres, some of these resulted in company visits or contacts with companies in
general. SAMPE Benelux has been approached for joint marketing actions and
presentations.
In the R&D sector close contacts have been established with KU Leuven SLC, KHBOVLOC and RU Gent Composite Group, and with SIM (Strategic Initiative Materials). A
working relationship with research centres abroad has been reached, notably with
CFK Stade Valley (Germany), SNECMA (France), ESTEC, TU Delft and NLR
(Netherlands).
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