NBAA-BACE Recap

Team SynapseMX spent the last week in Orlando, Florida for one of the biggest aviation industry events, NBAA-BACE. Beyond drooling over dozens of gorgeous biz jets and helicopters at the static displays, we checked out some of the best new technology in aviation and even did a little bit of work, too! Here’s our recap.

Team SynapseMX, on the scene!

Shane spoke on a tech panel Wednesday morning facilitated by the great folks at Aviation Business Consultants (ABCI), sharing the stage with Bob Jones of ATP and Tom Perkwoski of Eagle Cap Software. The topic of the morning was “Aviation Maintenance- Is Technology Leaving You Behind?” and the turnout was excellent. It’s always a treat to listen to Shane geek out on the stuff he knows best.

We also got a peek at one of GE’s most recent additive manufacturing marvels: a large piece of the exhaust case for their new Advanced Turboprop (ATP) engine- GE’s long awaited and very impressive answer to Pratt & Whitney’s enormously successful PT6. GE is testing a version of the engine where 35% of the components utilize additive manufacturing methods- the most of any engine in aviation history. This will allow for both significant cost savings and performance gains. Really exciting stuff.

The only thing more exciting than GE’s manufacturing prowess is SynapseMX’s participation in the GE Digital Alliance Program. You can read more about the GE Digitial Alliance Program and Predix technology here.

Other exciting technologies seen at NBAA included the FlexFoil demonstrator from FlexSys, an impressive example of what the future of aircraft design will look like with composite morphing wings that are a far cry from the wing-warping of the Wright Flyer. You can watch the variable camber wing in action below:

Also seen were several examples of robotics in manufacturing, plenty of next generation engines, and a whole slew of advanced avionics offerings from HUDs to improved panel displays.

At the Orlando Executive Airport (KORL) static display, there was no shortage of excitement. Cessna (Textron) brought its Citation Longitude prototype, N9227L, which is still sans paint- a real treat for #avgeeks. Even in its raw state, the beauty of the airplane is apparent and there was plenty of buzz among attendees.

Also popular were the twin Honda Jets on display, the newly certified Cirrus Vision Jet, and Boeing’s own corporate BBJ- the very first one, in fact- N834BA. We took a tour of the aircraft and oooh’d and ahhh’d the comfortable quarters and cockpit.

It was a busy week building relationships and checking in with friends and colleagues, but we are back to the hard work of building amazing maintenance software that works.

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