Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1284035
SEPTEMBER 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 9 Nolan Johnson is managing editor of SMT007 Magazine. Nolan brings 30 years of career experience focused almost entirely on electronics design and manufacturing. To contact Johnson, click here. a Supermarine S.6B won with a speed of 340 mph (547 kph). It should be noted that even though the S.6B set a series speed record, it was also the only entry that completed the course; it won uncontested. Still, in the span of 18 years, the speeds of the aircraft in the race had increased more than seven-fold. The engines that emerged out of this competition went on to be the powerplants for some of the highest performance propeller- driven military airplanes of the World War II era. Using lessons learned in performance and reliability, Curtiss went on to build the USP 38, and Supermarine designed the British Super- marine Spitfire. These are just two examples of the effect the Schneider Trophy series had on aviation per- formance and reliability. Besides performance, it was designed for easy and efficient main- tenance at the race site that led to increased flight time on the battlefield. It's easy to imagine that the race participants in 1913 had no concept of what would become of that race in just 18 years. It's that sort of rapid innovation likely to come out of the push for electric and autonomous vehicles, espe- cially when it comes to robustness and reliabil- ity. Looking back at the Schneider Trophy, we catch a possible glimpse of our future in auto- motive electronics technology, even without a competition to spur us on. Similarly, in this issue we explore reliability from the manufacturing floor. As one expert put it, "Defects cost you resources. They cost you treasure. Defects cascade through the product's life cycle and can affect your com- pany's reputation. Businesses lose money when they burn extra resources, like labor, capacity, employee morale, and potential cus- tomer liability." This month, we ask the question, "What are the best methodologies for eliminating defects?" The racing teams in the Schneider Trophy series were also asking those ques- tions. They took the issue seriously, and over the course of just 18 years, advanced aviation manufacturing's performance and reliability by leaps and bounds. The electronics industry will do the same. SMT007 References 1. HistoryNet, "Aviation History: Schneider Trophy Race." 2. Wikipedia, "Schneider Trophy." 3. "Spitfire: The Plane That Saved The World," David Fair- head and Anthony Palmer, 2018. The trophy-winning pilot (and the first man to just 17 days later break the world airspeed record in the Supermarine S.6B 1596 seaplane), George Stainforth, is shown with his team second from right. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) The Supermarine S.6B 1596 seaplane that broke the world airspeed record of over 400 mph. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)