Air Data Equipment
Air tells us so much
To fly an airplane, you need certain data related to the atmosphere. Such air data include total pressure of the airflow measured by Pitot tubes, static pressure of the ambient air by static ports (or both pressures by Pitot-static tubes), total temperature (that is higher than the actual air temperature due to friction and adiabatic compression) by TAT sensors, and angle of attack (i.e. angle between the airfoil and the airflow) by AoA sensors. These data are sent to air data computers (ADCs).
An ADC makes corrections to the input data and figures out additional air data, such as barometric altitude, rate of climb, airspeed, Mach number, and static temperature (the ambient air temperature). These air data are sent to many other onboard devices and used for instrument display, flight control and navigation.
An ADC makes corrections to the input data and figures out additional air data, such as barometric altitude, rate of climb, airspeed, Mach number, and static temperature (the ambient air temperature). These air data are sent to many other onboard devices and used for instrument display, flight control and navigation.
Long and successful track record
Among the air data equipment listed above, TKK manufactures ADCs and Pitot/Pitot-static tubes. They have become one of our core technologies. Our expertise in this area has been built up from experience over decades of supplying these products to Japan Ministry of Defense. In particular, TKK supports many aircraft types of their fleet as the only domestic manufacturer of Pitot/Pitot-static tubes.
TKK's air data equipment was also adopted by cutting-edge research of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Our ADCs and specialty Pitot-static tubes were installed on their Automatic Landing Flight Experiment (ALFLEX) and High Speed Flight Demonstration platforms of the "HOPE", a Japanese spaceplane project, as well as the test plane of the Silent Supersonic Transport experiment.
ALFLEX test plane descending from 1,500m high to the runway of Woomera Airfield in Australia
Our specialty Pitot-static tube (left) and ADC on ALFLEX test plane
