Top technologies for 2003

Aerospace Engineering'sannual review of the technologies chosen by its readers to be the most significant.

Lockheed Martin has developed a new horizontal stabilator design for the F-22 Raptor that will save the program an estimated $1 million per aircraft shipset of two. Stabilators are the large, left- and right-hand wing-like aerodynamic control structures horizontally mounted to the F-22's tail. They work either together or independently to control the Raptor's pitch, roll, and yaw movements. Unlike stabilizers, which have both a fixed and a moving surface, the entire horizontal stabilator moves as a single unit to reposition the aircraft in the air.

Lockheed Martin's new stabilator design involves mechanically fastening composite materials around a central shaft rather than bonding the materials under high pressure and heat in an autoclave. The new design also incorporates removable edges, which will make the stabilators easier to maintain or repair in the field. The manufacturing process associated with the new design will shave approximately 30 lb from each stabilator and reduce its build time by approximately 25%.