PPG Industries“ aerospace transparencies business has awarded a glass-faced acrylic replacement windshield for Bombardier Challenger 600, 601, 604 and 605 jets to Terry Bowling, director of maintenan…
PPG Industries“ aerospace transparencies business has awarded a glass-faced acrylic replacement windshield for Bombardier Challenger 600, 601, 604 and 605 jets to Terry Bowling, director of maintenance, Delta AirElite Business Jets, as the winner of a prize draw to promote the new transparency. Dave Malobicky, business manager of the PPG Aerospace Indianapolis Application Support Center, and Brent Brown, PPG Aerospace account manager, presented the next-generation windshield to Mr. Bowling at the Delta AirElite Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport hangar. PPG introduced its new-design replacement windshield for Bombardier Challenger 600, 601, 604 and 605 jets earlier in 2008, according to Mr. Malobicky. A premier Challenger 604 operator, Delta AirElite had used an all-acrylic windshield but was considering switching to the glass-faced acrylic part, which prompted Mr. Bowling to enter the PPG prize drawing held at its exhibit booth during the National Business Aviation Association convention in October 2008. “From my former airline experience, I knew the glass-faced part would last longer,” Mr. Bowling said. “And PPG has a great reputation. I thought, why not enter the drawing?” According to Mr. Malobicky, PPG developed the new windshield for Challenger 600 Series jets with an outboard tempered glass ply to replace the acrylic face ply, but it kept the core and inner stretched-acrylic plies. “This windshield now combines the chemical and abrasion resistance of glass with the weight-saving benefits of plastic,” he said. Expected service life of the glass-faced acrylic windshield is more than double that of the all-acrylic part, Mr. Malobicky said, based on the expected service life of similarly designed windshields. “The longer life reduces cost of ownership for the windshield and also translates to reduced maintenance with less downtime for service, especially beneficial for this part because it can take several days to change out,” he said. The heated windshield for Challenger 600, 601, 604 and 605 jets is made by PPG Aerospace at its Sierracin/Sylmar facility in Sylmar, Calif., which also manufactures replacement side cockpit windows for the Challenger 600 Series fleet and replacement passenger-cabin windows for Challenger 600, 601 and 604 aircraft.