Corrosion-free and lightweight plain bearings in amphibious microlight aircraft

This concept of an ultra-light aircraft from Lenci Models sas in Italy was designed for use both in the air and on water. The amphibious propeller aircraft therefore placed special demands on all system components. Not only is the aircraft structure required to be as light as possible for take-offs from the water. Care also had to be taken during the planning stage to ensure that all components were permanently protected against corrosion or were not susceptible to corrosion in the first place. These considerations also applied to the steering shaft bearings. A precise and permanently maintenance- and failure-free steering solution had to be created at all times. Conventional metal bearings were out of the question for reasons of corrosion and weight alone, so the designers had to look elsewhere.

For the solution, the designers decided to use polymers as a material to replace metal bearings. Specifically, bearings from our iglidur® product range are now used in the amphibious ultralight aircraft. The polymer bearings are suitable for extreme operating conditions of all kinds: iglidur® base polymers make them wear-resistant, fibres and fillers ensure maximum load-bearing capacity and incorporated solid lubricants make additional lubricants superfluous and the iglidur® bearings maintenance-free. They have already been tested thousands of times in practice and proven millions of times in applications. Here, too, they prove their worth because they are non-corrosive and represent a lightweight alternative to metal bearings.