SmartStem® Wireless Tire Pressure System certified for Bombardier Q-Series Aircraft
LYNNWOOD, Wash – August 9, 2012 – Crane Aerospace & Electronics, a segment of Crane Co. (NYSE:CR), has announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for Crane’s SmartStem® Wireless Tire Pressure System to be fitted on Bombardier Q-Series aircraft (Dash 8 -100, -300, and -400).
This certification makes SmartStem the first tire pressure indication system to be available for any regional commercial aircraft. Additionally, this STC establishes a DO.178 and DO.254 “Design Assurance Level B” pedigree of our handheld system. In general, DO.178 is the software standard and DO.254 is the hardware standard against which many aerospace products are certified.
“We believe that consistent measurement of aircraft tire pressure before every flight is a key enabler for operators of quick-turn aircraft to increase their tire longevity, reduce cost, and decrease the likelihood of tire failure. SmartStem enables a regional jet operator to check a full set of aircraft of wheels in less than a minute, create an automatic data record of the check, and deploy an aircraft with 100% assurance that tires are inflated properly” said Nathan Smith, Business Development Manager for Crane. “Operators of the Q-Series should take a hard look at their tire usage and ask if fast, convenient checks before every flight would reduce their overall costs.”
SmartStem Tire Pressure Sensors are already certified for use on a variety of other business jets, and Crane is in the process of certifying SmartStem on additional business, regional, and large commercial aircraft.
To fit an aircraft with SmartStem technology, the existing tire inflation valve stem is simply replaced with a special valve stem containing integral sensors. SmartStem communicates tire pressure, temperature, and other stored information wirelessly to a Handheld Reader without the use of an internal battery in the stem. Since this information is communicated wirelessly and does not require the removal of the valve cap, no gas is lost during routine tire pressure checks.
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