The turn & slip indicator and turn coordinator are often conflated with one another because they provide pilots with similar data. However, there are some important differences to consider. The major difference between these two gyroscopic instruments lies in the fact that the turn & slip indicator shows the rate of heading change, while the turn coordinator indicates the rate of heading change and rate of roll, or movement around the longitudinal axis.

Bearings are one of the most common assemblies in the world, providing smooth motion and friction reduction for moving parts in all industries. Without their presence, the metal-on-metal contacts of machines would quickly degrade, creating dangerous levels of heat and permanently causing damage. With such widespread use and numerous applications, it is not surprising that there are hundreds of bearing variations, each designed to accomplish a specific function. One of the most critical bearing types across the automotive, marine, and aerospace industries is the thrust bearing. These bearings, which are designed to support axial loads, are fundamental assemblies that will be discussed at length in this blog.

Turbojets and turbofans are commonly used jet engines for aircraft. As the first type of jet engine to be developed, turbojets were used extensively in World War II fighter aircraft. On the other hand, while similar to turbojets, turbofans are a newer model of jet engine with bolstered efficiency due to their particular construction. Moreover, both types of engines are used in commercial and military aircraft ranging from small regional jets to large, wide-body jets. Together, they have transformed how aircraft fly, making long-range flight possible while opening up the skies to millions of passengers each year.

Modern aircraft take advantage of numerous systems and instruments to provide pilots with crucial flight data, ensuring that they have everything they need to maintain a safe and efficient flight from takeoff to landing. There are numerous types of instruments that are commonly found in aircraft, each of which perform varying roles based on their design and capabilities. Gyroscopic instruments in particular are those featuring mechanical gyroscopes, allowing them to determine deviations from a desired orientation. For an aircraft, gyroscopic instruments often come in the form of the attitude indicator, heading indicator, and turn and slip indicator, all of which are necessary for safety. In this blog, we will provide a brief overview of the three main gyroscopic instruments and their role in aviation.

Aircraft are complex pieces of machinery, often featuring retractable landing gear assemblies, adjustable flight surfaces, and much more. In order to move various components on an aircraft from the cockpit, pulleys and other mechanical solutions are relied on. Pulleys are fairly simplistic machines, featuring a wheel mounted on a fixed axis and a rope that settles within the wheel’s groove. With the use of a pulley, cables can be guided for the means of adjusting flight surfaces and other components.

While aircraft primarily operate in the sky through the use of their engines and airfoil structures, there are still various instances in which they will traverse the ground, such as when taxiing on a runway, lifting off, and touching down. When on the ground, aircraft rely on their brake systems to slow down their speed and come to a stop. Such assemblies are also expertly designed as they will need to enable a vehicle of such massive weight to come to a safe stop when landing at high speeds.

Anybody reading this has likely heard of the term radar before, but how does this technology work? Most people have been exposed to radar technology in movies where it finds use in aircraft and submarines, but radar is also used in a wide variety of other applications. In this blog, we will discuss the function and applications of radar and radio-detection technology.

Torque converters are an essential element of automobiles with an automatic transmission, serving to transfer rotational power from the power source to the load. In an automobile, the power source and load are the internal combustion engine and turbine, respectively. Without a torque converter, the vehicle would be incapable of coming to a complete stop without adjusting the transmission. In this blog, we will discuss the design and functionality of torque converters, allowing you to better understand their use in automobile applications.

Across all industries, washers are components that can be found in countless assemblies that utilize fasteners. Often coming in the form of a flat disc with a hole, washers are used for the means of distributing weight and fastener loads. Additionally, they can also be relied on as spacers, vibration reducers, fastener locking components, and much more. Depending on the particular need of an application, there are numerous types of washers that one may choose from. As a result, it is crucial that one has a basic understanding of the most common categories so that they may find an optimal fit for their particular needs.

While there are many ways to join objects together, whether that be through crimping, welding, soldering, gluing, and more, fasteners are the perfect solution for non-permanent joints. A type of hardware device used to join or affix two or more things together, fasteners are typically made from stainless steel, carbon steel, or alloy steel that allows for prolonged part reliability. Available with special coatings or plating to further improve a fastener's resistance to corrosion and weather phenomena, fastener screws are constructed with various characteristics to suit application methods within different materials. However, unlike traditional screws that hold items in place, lead screws are manufactured to provide continual motion within an assembly. Primarily implemented within an apparatus to facilitate linear motion, lead screws are classified by the shape of their threads and are available in square thread, trapezoidal (ACME) thread, and buttress thread variations.