A major USA airline is assessing GKN Aerospace’s hydrophobic coating for cockpit windows on its aircraft.
The coating, which is already being trialed by Airbus on its flight-test aircraft, delivers in-flight / ground operation rain shedding and enhances resistance to surface abrasion. The coating only needs to be applied once in the lifetime of a window as opposed to existing solutions that require repeat application every six to eight months, dependent on flight hours and conditions.
GKN said that the tests by a major airline signaled the next step in the assessment process for the technology and that the test results gathered so far indicate that the treatment is more durable to wiper related damage and scratching than untreated glass.
Gavin Wesson, CEO of GKN Aerospace’s special products business said, “Our new hydrophobic technology fits the demand of our transparencies customers for less maintenance and reduced weight and costs. This technology could potentially eliminate the need for windscreen wipers on cockpit windows. It is great that we can now further assess this innovative product together with Airbus and one of the global airline operators.”
