How much does an aircraft APU cost?

How much does an aircraft APU cost?

“After the engine, the APU comes up on the radar next,” says Paul David, director technical sales for Honeywell. “At a catalogue price of $500,000 to $1.3 million it’s an expensive piece of equipment that can run from 5,000-6,000h to 10,000-13,000h between failures.”

Does the APU stay on during flight?

In most cases, the APU is shut down before takeoff and reignited when the aircraft clears the runway after landing. While most of an APU’s active service life occurs as the aircraft sits on the ground, in some instances the APU is used as an emergency electrical power source while the aircraft is airborne.

What happens to an aircraft if the APU fails?

Failure of an APU in air or ground results in cancellation or delay in flight departure, which inhibits flight operations. An aircraft APU that requires maintenance after 7000 flight hours, would require a maintenance cost of nearly $0.4 Million [4].

What is APU cooling air system?

An Auxiliary Power Unit or APU allows an aircraft to operate autonomously without reliance on ground support equipment such as a ground power unit, an external air-conditioning unit or a high pressure air start cart.

How much does it cost to install an APU unit?

APUs run anywhere from $8,500 to $13,000 including installation.

How many hours will a Thermo King APU last?

The average [battery-powered] APU will provide up to 10-12 hours of air conditioning capacity and typically longer than that for heating, according to Barbaro of Thermo King.

Can an aircraft fly without APU?

Aircraft are allowed in general to fly without an APU. Exceptions are flights with two-engined aircraft and long routes over water or terrain without an alternate airport – so called ETOPS flights.

How does an APU start?

APUs are like small jet engines, small enough to be started electrically. So you would use the power of the battery or an electric ground power cart to spin up the APU by its electric starter motor, and then introduce fuel into it once its spinning fast enough, just like a jet engine is started.

Can a 737 fly without APU?

4 Answers. Yes, you can operate without an APU.

Can plane start without APU?

Yes, you can operate without an APU. The general process of a non-APU flight is keeping ground power and ground air conditioning hooked up to the airplane for pre-flight activity and boarding.

How does an APU start an engine?

Only after passengers are buckled in and their tray tables are upright and secured does the APU begin sending compressed air to the jet’s main gas turbine engines. The compressed air passes through a small turbine on the outside of the engine, causing it to spin.

Does the APU provide AC?

The Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) does not provide aircraft air conditioning itself. However the APU does provide the high-pressure bleed air that will be used by the air conditioning packs and air cycle machine [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_cycle_machine ] to control the cabin and flight deck temperatures.