Bucher Aerospace has earned an FAA Technical Standard Order (TSO) for a new thermally insulated galley cart, the ARCTICart, which has been in development since 2015. The authorization paves the way for aircraft operators to test the product in flight.
“The ARCTICart program was launched with the ambitious and clear objective to present aircraft operators a solution to significantly reduce the weight and power consumption of aircraft by allowing the removal of chillers,” said Francisco Aguilera, CEO of Bucher Aerospace.
ARCTICart is designed to keep contents below 4°C for up to 20 hours without the use of chillers or other form of active cooling. It does not reduce the internal usable space of an ATLAS-size cart, and it requires no dry ice, power supply or operating fluids.
ARCTICart incorporates insulation technology used in pharmaceutical and human organ transportation, and has a non-metallic structural design. The company says temperature differences within ARCTICart are minimal, regardless of whether meals are stored in the top front drawer or the bottom back tray.
The full-size version of the ARCTICart will soon be followed by a half-size version. Bucher Aerospace is setting up an assembly line in Everett, Washington, and plans to deliver the first serial units in 2018, just before production ramp-up in 2019.
July 13, 2018
