Via a new Royal Society Industry Fellowship at the Zepler Institute at ORC; optical sensing to lead to safer, more reliable flight. Rescue remedy: optical monitoring of helicopter gearbox health.

The Epicyclic gearbox was devised in 1781 (as a sun and planet gear) by James Watt for use in conjunction with his steam engines. The concept was adopted in 1902 by Sturmey and Archer for a ...

At very high gear ratios the efficiency of compound epicyclic gears can be disappointingly low caused by power loss from tooth friction resulting from high meshing speeds and high tooth loads. Oct. 20 ...

The final report into the accident involving a Bond Helicopters Eurocopter AS332L2 Super Puma over the North Sea two years ago has confirmed a sudden main gearbox failure caused the main rotor to ...