Different Course, Same Destination Curtiss-Wright maintains its strong link with fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft through organic growth and key acquisitions By Robert W. Moorman Born at the Birth of Flight Curtiss-Wright has significant content on the CH-47 Chinook, AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-53K King Stallion, as well as the Sikorsky S-92, AgustaWestland AW609 tiltrotor and many he story of Curtiss-Wright is a other platforms. (US Army photo by Capt. Peter Smedberg. All other photos via Curtiss-Wright.) compelling one from a historical Tperspective, old and new. Corporation. The combined company Lately, growth has been achieved The past history is well known to would become one of the leading through targeted acquisitions, aviation enthusiasts. Orville and Wilbur aircraft manufacturers through the market diversification and product Wright — two “bicycle mechanics” Second World War. development. The “One Curtiss-Wright” without post-secondary educations — concept installed in 2014 “appeared are credited with building and flying the 100 Years Later to be intended to better unify and world’s first controlled powered aircraft ess known, perhaps, is the modern integrate the company,” observed on December 17, 1903, off the dunes story of Curtiss-Wright and its Ray Jaworowski, senior aerospace at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The two continued growth in the fixed- analyst with Forecast International, an L aerospace consultancy. brothers founded the Wright Company wing and rotorcraft industry. Over in 1909. After Wilbur’s death and Orville time, the business transformed from The company has grown left the business, the company merged a niche market player producing tremendously. The acquisitions have with the (first) Glenn L. Martin Company surface technologies and controls diversified the company to the point in 1916, and was soon called the Wright into a diversified, multi-national that its reliance on any one market has Aeronautical Corporation. corporation with three major divisions lessened, which provides a more reliable Meanwhile, in the early 1900s, — Commercial/Industrial, Defense and revenue stream during down years. Full- Glenn H. Curtiss, a bicycle racer and Power — under which all programs fall. year net sales in 2014 increased 6% to motorcycle builder turned aircraft $2.2B, from $2.1B in 2013. designer with an 8th grade formal George Hamlin of Hamlin education, had a prodigious talent for Transportation Consulting said Curtiss- all things mechanical. He formed the Much of Curtiss- Wright’s transformation is “emblematic Curtiss Aeroplane Company in 1909 (see Wright’s recent of the growth and maturity in the sidebar), and developed many aviation aerospace industry.” In some ways, firsts in his own right. growth has been Curtiss-Wright’s move is Darwinian. “The Although Glenn Curtiss retired more agile, adaptive former primes had from his company in 1920, the Curtiss in the military to move into other areas to survive and Aeroplane and Motor Company merged and commercial prosper,” said Hamlin. in 1929 with its once bitter rival, Wright As part of its reorganization, Curtiss- Aeronautical, to form Curtiss-Wright rotorcraft business. Wright sold some businesses to improve 18 VERTIFLITE March/April 2016 operating margins and because they weren’t part of the current three- pronged core business. In June 2015, the corporation sold its downstream oil and gas business units DeltaValve, TapcoEnpro International (TEI) and GROQUIP. In the years ahead, Curtiss-Wright will likely “focus more on growth through increases in organic revenue by leveraging the company’s critical mass rather than growth achieved through acquisition,” said Jaworowski. Much of Curtiss-Wright’s recent growth has been in the military and commercial rotorcraft business. “Rotorcraft has, and continues to represent an important segment of our aerospace market and growth plans,” said Lynn Bamford, senior vice president and general manager, Defense Solutions division. “On military helicopters, we provide industry leading sensing, actuation and electronics. In addition, our video management system maximizes the effectiveness of airborne Intelligence and Surveillance and Reconnaissance [ISR] missions.” Increased performance and efficiency Curtiss-Wright combined the legacy companies begun by the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtis, are “two key growth areas for our the three greatest founders of American aviation. The company was a major producer of aircraft products and services,” she added. through World War II. Curtiss-Wright has significant content on the Boeing AH-64 Apache and a challenge because of the difficulty rotary-wing markets, including aircraft CH-47 Chinook; Sikorsky UH-60 Black differentiating between rotor downwash operating under Part 91, Part 121 and Hawk, CH-53K King Stallion and S-92; and airspeed. To improve the pilot’s Part 135 regulations. the Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire situational awareness, a new display “We are accommodating the Scout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAS); format has been added, which depicts industry trend to record more data,” said AgustaWestland AW609 tiltrotor; and the horizontal situation indicator with Christopher Thomson, vice president other platforms. a wind vane and vector, showing wind of sales, marketing and business The business manufactures a wide speed and direction. development for Curtiss-Wright. “And variety of systems for rotorcraft, such In late-August 2015, Curtiss-Wright’s we are bringing this recorder to the as avionics, displays, mission digital Defense Solutions division was awarded helicopter industry because weight and air data computers, data storage units, a $3M contract from the US Coast Guard real estate are two important drivers for flight control, ice protection and ISR to provide its ADC technology for the technology on helicopters,” he added. Electronic Warfare systems. Bamford Coast Guard’s Airbus MH-65 Dolphin Curtiss-Wright, which got into the said Curtiss-Wright “expects to have a helicopter fleet. The technology will flight recorder market in 1957, and solid technological presence on this provide flight-critical altitude and speed Health and Usage Monitoring System [CH-53K] aircraft.” information to the pilots. Deliveries are (HUMS) technology in the late 1980s, is The company also produces the expected to run through 2019. linking the Fortress with HUMS. The transducers for the CH-53K that goal is the development of a total control the main and tail rotors, data New Rotorcraft Solutions integrated system linking the CVR/FDR concentrator units for monitoring, and HUMS systems, weighing a total of mong the products showcased about 17 lb (7.7 kg). processing data and controlling assorted at Heli-Expo 2015 was Curtiss- subsystem components. It also provides Integrating HUMS inside the flight AWright’s new 5.7 lb (2.6 kg) recorder makes sense. “The flight blade fold technology to initiate the Fortress crash recorder. The recorder folding or spreading of the main rotor recorder itself is a data collection features dual-redundant Cockpit Voice system,” said Paul Hart, chief technology blades for shipboard compatibility. Recorders (CVR), Flight Data Recorders As for helicopter products, Curtiss- officer of the avionics electronics group (FDR) and video recording, and data link for Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions Wright is developing digital air data message capability. The company will computer technology (ADCs) that division. He is based in Christchurch, offer several iterations of the recorder England. can accurately measure very low for the civil and military fixed- and airspeed on rotorcraft. This is presently The FDR provides an enclosure and 19Vol. 62, No. 2 VERTIFLITE March/April 201619 Video Management System (VMS), which includes rugged displays, video distribution and recording capabilities, operates in 26 countries. It is employed in the United Kingdom by London’s Metropolitan Police Air Support Unit, Australia’s Melbourne Police, the US Army’s UH-72 Lakota Light Utility Helicopter fleet, allied forces in Afghanistan and, most recently, Helibras in Brazil. The VMS will be integrated into EC145 helicopters flown by the Policia Militar de Rio de Janeiro for public security video surveillance missions. The London Police’s Airbus EC145 twin- engine helicopters’ VMS Curtiss-Wright manufactures a wide variety of systems for rotorcraft, such as avionics, displays, mission digital air are outfitted with a triple data computers, data storage units, flight control, ice protection and ISR Electronic Warfare systems. sensor camera system a harness of sensors that are placed detection range and higher accuracy,” that feeds video into any around the aircraft, which can be said Hart. Curtiss-Wright also has of the five mission screens in the cabin. downloaded post-flight to an aircraft patented a solid-state technology for The aircrew typically consists of two maintenance technician (AMT) on the both rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, police officers and a pilot. One police ground. For years, Curtiss-Wright has which has undergone trials in an icing officer sits in the mid-cabin acting as been deeply involved with vibration wind tunnel. A product will be available the tactical commander, and has two monitoring and analysis, according in the next few years, he added. 15 inch (38 cm) mission displays that to Hart, using a distributed network This ISDS and the next generation can display any of the camera sensors, of sensors. This approach, he said, Mark 2 “have opened up the operational moving map, replay video and uplink advances the science of data collection envelope” for the commercial rotorcraft video simultaneously by splitting the and enhances safety. sector, such as the offshore oil and gas screen. The pilot also has a moveable Sales of the new recorder to business, said Thomson. The Sikorsky screen. Left of the pilot is the forward helicopter manufacturers recently S-92 was the first large twin-engine observer, whose role is to operate the began. Three helicopter operators had civil helicopter to use already selected it for new models by ISDS, the first anti-icing the end of January, according to the system certified for company.