M & I Materials supply WOLFMET ballast for Adam Aircraft A500

M & I Materials Ltd, of Manchester, UK, have added to a list of aircraft applications that includes the Eurofighter, Hawk, Hercules and Cessna Citation by supplying high-density WOLFMET tungsten alloy to Adam Aircraft Industries. The Wolfmet alloy is used as engine ballast in the Adam A500, a six-seat pressurised, twin-engine civil utility aircraft with centreline thrust.

M & I have worked with Adam Aircraft throughout the design process of the A500. The high density of Wolfmet alloys (almost 60% denser than lead) allows designers to make significant reductions in the physical size of components. For the A500, with a standard empty weight of just over 5000 lb, Wolfmet was chosen to provide ballast in the forward engine.

Built using computer-aided design, rapid prototyping and advanced manufacturing techniques, the A500 is a futuristic 21st-century lightweight aircraft made predominantly from carbon-fibre composites and is Type Certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Developed as the production version of the Burt Rutan-designed Adam M-309, the A500 uses a pod-and-boom configuration, with its two TCM TSIO-550 piston engines mounted fore and aft of the pod-style fuselage. The stabilisers are mounted on twin booms that extend from the wings. Compared to conventional twin-engine designs, with the engines mounted on the wings, the A500's centreline thrust arrangement reduces drag and, in the unfortunate event of an engine malfunction or failure, maximises aircraft controllability.

WOLFMET alloys are produced using powder metallurgy techniques, in accordance with an ISO 9002 approved QA system, including Aerospace Sector Certificate Scheme TS 157-1993. They also meet the MIL-T-21014 specification. M & I Materials also has AS 9100 accreditation.