Air-film technology was first used in the 1960s for transporting heavy objects, but few people would then have foreseen the variety of applications for which the technology has since been used. In the aerospace industry, it is common for large parts of an aircraft, such as wings or engines, to be moved around a factory on a cradle supported on air film bearings. Other applications include the safe handling of flasks containing nuclear fuel, and the use of air film transporters in the same way as a conventional conveyor in production lines for assemblies usually considered too heavy for a flowline system.
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