Featured Story

Tactair Fluid Controls, Inc.

Special to Hydraulics & Pneumatics Seeing Is Believing: Looking Inside Saves Time, Money Liverpool, N.Y.-based Tactair Fluid Controls, Inc., had been looking for a better way to inspect the intricate internal features of its products.  An ISO 9001-2000/AS9100 certified designer and manufacturer of hydraulic and pneumatic controls for the aerospace industry, Tactair specializes in systems for wheel-brake control, landing-gear control, nose-wheel steering control, flight control and engine/nacelle control.  Its products are found on fixed and rotary wing business, commuter, transport and military aircraft and include valves, actuators, dampers and manifolds. In these kinds of applications, packaging, weight and contamination resistance tend to be critical.  The maze-like flow-path geometries, very fine surface finishes and precision metering edges that can result are common.  Such internal features defy easy inspection. Over the years, Tactair had acquired a variety of equipment for visual inspection.  It all was underused, according to Tactair manager Bob Buttner, because image quality was poor.  Tactair had looked into borescopes, but had not found a moderately priced scope capable of delivering the sharp, clear images the company required. Thus, Tactair resorted to two main ways of inspecting internal features such as deep bores, ID grooves, seat edges, chamfers and metering… read more