Apparatus for protecting aircraft components against foreign object damage

1. An engine assembly for an aircraft, comprising:

a turbine engine including a compressor and a turbine;

a reduction gear mechanism;

a fan driven by the turbine through the reduction gear mechanism to deliver ambient air to the turbine engine and to a section that bypasses the turbine engine to generate thrust;

a precooler heat exchanger configured to receive bleed air from the compressor and cool the bleed air for distribution to at least one system of the aircraft, the precooler including a cooling air inlet downstream from the fan and facing a direction of travel of the aircraft; an interference arrangement disposed in the cooling air inlet upstream from the precooler heat exchanger, the interference arrangement comprising a plurality of substantially linear rods which extend across the cooling air inlet in a direction generally perpendicular to airflow;

wherein the interference arrangement is configured to physically obstruct passage of a foreign object within the cooling air inlet.

2. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of substantially linear rods are disposed in a staggered manner with regard to one another in the direction of the airflow.

3. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of substantially linear rods comprise a first row of rods positioned generally in a first plane extending across the cooling air inlet and a second row of rods positioned in a second plane extending across the cooling air inlet, where the first plane is upstream relative to the second plane and the rods of the first row are staggered with respect to the rods of the second row.

4. The engine assembly of claim 3 , wherein the substantially linear rods are staggered such that the foreign object traveling in the cooling air inlet in a direction parallel to the airflow will strike the first row or a rod from the rods of the second row.

5. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the substantially linear rods have a generally circular cross-section.

6. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the interference arrangement comprises a heat element configured to prevent ice accumulation on the interference arrangement.

7. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the interference arrangement is further configured to minimize a pressure drop in the airflow across the interference arrangement.

8. The engine assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cooling air inlet comprising an air inlet scoop, the scoop facing the direction of travel of the aircraft so as to directly receive the ambient air entering the engine assembly from outside of the aircraft.

9. The engine assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:

a nacelle;

wherein the turbine engine, the reduction gear mechanism, the precooler heat exchanger and the interference arrangement are within an annular cavity of the nacelle and supported by a pylon;

the precooler is configured to receive the ambient air entering the nacelle from an exterior of the aircraft.

10. The aircraft comprising the engine assembly device of claim 1 .