National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR)
‘Making aircraft quieter, safer and more efficient’ Over the last hundred years, very little has changed in the take off and landing process for aircraft. In 2014, innovation consists of unmanned flights and printing parts for aircraft. At the NLR they know all about it.
The NLR has been a reliable partner of Dutch industry for over 90 years now. With a staff of 650 and an annual turnover of €78 million, the NLR develops new technologies which combine disciplines such as aerospace, electrical engineering, mathematics, physics, IT and psychology. The NLR has wind tunnels, laboratory aircraft and radar and tower simulators. While various countries are cutting back on military aerospace, civil aerospace is growing and prospering as never before. Peters: “I believe Airbus and Boeing produce forty air-
craft each per month. While the economy is in a huge crisis, this industry is able to hold its own reasonably well. And this it will continue in the next few decades, because in a world economy, the need for transport, particularly air transport, will only increase.” French market The NLR wants to help the Dutch industry to have a better positioning on the French market, by developing high-quality applied technology, explains Michel van Ierland from the NLR. “Especially in the area of lightweight materials and composites, and in the area of gas turbines.” Van Ierland mentions the TAPAS-2 project as an example. “As the NLR we are involved in a number of aspects including the development of a fuselage part, an engine pylon and a wet box structure. The latter is a part of the horizontal tail plane which can contain fuel. We also developed integrated design systems in order to design structures.” ❯
NLR is the Dutch knowledge enterprise for aerospace founded in 1919. “We have already been performing take offs and landings with aircraft for over a hundred years, and very little has changed in that respect”, says Michel Peters, Managing Director of NLR. “We answer questions such as: how can aircraft become even quieter, safer and more efficient, and at the same time, how can the capacity on the ground and in the air be increased?”
Michel van Ierland
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