Thermal/acoustic system cuts noise by one third

By: Kirby J. Harrison

November 17, 2008
Maintenance and Modifications

Business aircraft management and charter operator Zenith Jet and noise reduction specialist Aviation Management International Services (AIMS) have teamed to launch a new thermal acoustic barrier package–dubbed Silentium Air– that promises to reduce cabin noise by up to 30 percent. AIMS is supplying the kits and Zenith Jet is the exclusive marketing agent.

Silentium Air SPS 360 was developed by Montreal-based AIMS and has been installed and tested in more than 30 business aircraft, from a Bombardier Learjet 55 to a Boeing Business Jet. According to Abdul Hajibrahim, vice president of program management at AIMS, the result is a reduction in average cabin noise by as much a five decibels, the equivalent of a 30-percent drop. These results, added Hajibrahim, are not a measure under laboratory conditions but onboard actual aircraft.

Not only is there a considerable reduction in noise, the total package for a Challenger 601 used as a test aircraft weighed 500 pounds less than the factory-installed standard thermal/acoustic system. The AIMS package for a Challenger series is priced in the $200,000 range, which Hajibrahim said “is most certainly competitive with other thermal/ acoustic packages.”

The first kit to receive an FAA supplemental type certificate is being installed in Canada on a CRJ200 executive/VIP conversion by MJET of Quebec, Canada. The Silentium Air SPS 360 core is a standard microlight blanket in combination with two additional layers of proprietary material. Included in the cost is the Silentium blanket and sound-damping material applied to the interior aircraft skin and flooring, as well as engineering support and drawings. “The only thing not included is labor,” said Zenith board member Jahid Fazal-Karim.   

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