DP Seals keeps antique aircraft flying

ERJ staff report (DS)

Poole, UK -- Precision rubber moulder DP Seals has created a set of seals which are helping a 1960s aircraft keep flying.

When Saywell International, one of the world¹s largest aircraft spares and components stockists, needed a set of replacement seals to be manufactured for an Andover aircraft's "kneeling undercarriage", they turned to DP Seals, one of the UK's foremost suppliers of precision custom rubber seals and mouldings.

Originally built around 1965 for cargo delivery and short-range casualty evacuation, the Hawker Siddeley Andover was retired from the RAF in the early nineties. It continues to be operated as a training and trials aircraft.

This twin-engine turboprop military transport aircraft has a so-called kneeling undercarriage, allowing the fuselage to be lowered for unloading vehicles on uneven ground. Kneeling is carried out by transferring oil from the undercarriage second stage oleo shock absorber into the main hydraulic system, the reverse is carried out to stand the aircraft back to flight position prior to take-off.

"DP Seals was the only company prepared to tool up for our needs because of the low numbers involved," notes Ollie Reed, Sales Co-ordinator at Saywell International.

DP Seals uses transfer moulding, which is ideal for short prototype runs as well as volume production. Tools are produced in the company¹s in-house tool room equipped with precision CNC machinery. Material and tool are preheated and pressure applied to force the material into the tool cavity mould to form the part. Product is then de-flashed, an area where DP Seals pioneered cryogenic cleaning.

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Press release from DP Seals