PPG Industries’ aerospace transparencies group has been selected by Gulfstream to supply windshields, side cockpit windows and passenger-cabin window assemblies for the G500™ and G600™ business jets, which will provide superior performance for operators and maximum efficiencies for Gulfstream.
The passenger-cabin windows will use Opticor ™ advanced transparency material to maintain optical clarity and provide a quieter cabin. The equipment has been proven through its use on the Gulfstream G650™ programme.
PPG Aerospace global platform manager for general aviation transparencies Mark Hood said the windshields and windows will offer clean aerodynamics, reliability, acoustic and safety benefits, as well as fuel economies.
"PPG’s transparencies have a demonstrated history of performance," Hood said.
"Aircrews will appreciate the enhanced visibility through the wide windshields and broad side cockpit windows. Passengers will enjoy better viewing through the passenger-cabin windows, that are aviation’s largest, in a bright, quieter cabin."
The passenger-cabin windows will have an outboard ply of Opticor advanced transparency material, which is extremely resistant to crazing. It will be laminated to stretched acrylic for optimum stiffness and assembled with an inboard coated glass panel that can be heated for anti-fogging.
Hood said PPG acoustic tests of the cabin windows showed they reduced sound transmission by approximately 20% more than the cabin windows for the GV jet, while being 16% larger. In addition, the new cabin-window assemblies will have around one-fourth as many parts, reducing assembly time by more than half.
The passenger-cabin windows and side cockpit windows are designed to meet higher cabin pressure with less deflection, providing aerodynamic benefits and weight savings that will contribute to a quieter, smoother flight and better fuel efficiency.
The heated glass windshields will have SURFACE SEAL® water-repellent coating by PPG as the primary rain-removal system, which will enable Gulfstream to certify the aircraft without windshield wipers and reduce related drag and weight. Gulfstream has specified Surface Seal coating for windshields since fielding the Gulfstream V jet.
PPG will produce the cockpit windows and passenger-cabin window assemblies at its Huntsville aircraft products plant, and deliver to Gulfstream’s Savannah, Georgia, facility. The Opticor advanced transparency material is manufactured at PPG’s aerospace transparencies plant in Sylmar, California, US.
PPG earned a 2013 Gulfstream Supplier of the Year award for its transparencies produced in Huntsville and Sylmar, and by its Ampaspace subsidiary in Casaletto Vaprio, Italy.
