Midlands aerospace companies had cause for celebration when
Boeing's most technologically advanced and greenest aircraft, the
787 Dreamliner, took to the skies on 15 December.
Participation in the 787 programme - part of a long and growing
Midlands history of supplying Boeing aircraft programmes - covers a
range of regional companies that each boast experience a particular
area of specialisation, which is already seen in equally demanding
new programmes, such as the Airbus A380 and A350XWB, Eurofighter
Typhoon, F-35 Lighting II and A400M military transport.
The main gateways for supply chain participation in the 787 have
been three of the region's biggest names in aerospace:
• Rolls-Royce of Derby and Coventry - through the
fuel-efficient Trent 1000 engine which powered the aircraft on its
maiden flight
• Aero Engine Controls located in Birmingham and Derby -
through the sophisticated electronic controls for Trent 1000
• Moog Aircraft Group of Wolverhampton (formerly Smiths and
GE Aviation) - through the high-lift actuation system for the
aircraft's wings
Other leading Midlands companies make parts for the aircraft as
direct suppliers to other major aerospace players, mainly in the
USA. Meggitt in Coventry and Redditch-based Mettis Aerospace, for
example, supply components to the aircraft's alternative GE GEnX
engine programme. Mettis has also secured a contract with Hamilton
Sundstrand to supply key components for the 787's air management
system. ITP Engines UK in Rugby and Leicester is a significant
supplier of software knowhow and other technology support for GE's
GEnX engine.
"Over recent decades aerospace companies within our region have
progressively diversified their markets, including ever-rising
participation in each new Boeing programme", says Andrew Mair,
chief executive of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance.
"Our unique position in the world aerospace industry as
suppliers of the most technologically sophisticated aircraft
systems - from engines to electro-mechanical and electronic
components - puts us in a strong position to benefit whether Airbus
or Boeing is winning the global sales war. Our region's
contribution to the 787 is a tribute to our companies and their
employees. It will create business and support jobs for decades to
come."
In the countdown to first flight Boeing has been kept busy
logging more orders. The total backlog by late 2009 stood at over
800 from over 50 airlines - a feat unmatched in commercial aviation
history.
Boeing remains confident that it will deliver the first aircraft
to customers by the end of 2010, which means suppliers will have no
time to rest on their laurels and reflect on what has been
accomplished so far.
Pauline Pinney, aerospace cluster manager at Advantage West
Midlands, said: "The Midlands represents almost a quarter of the
UK's aerospace industry and is expertly positioned to respond to
new aircraft programmes, with our 700 companies linked by common
technologies, skills and integrated supply chain
experience.
"Like Boeing, its partners and suppliers, we have good reason to
be proud of the achievements of the 787 programme. Launching a new
aircraft is enough of a challenge, but to do so using so many new
materials - composites comprise roughly 50 per cent of the airframe
- is something else altogether."
Rolls-Royce achieved a new feat for the Midlands when its Trent
1000 was selected as launch engine on all three variants of the
787, the first time the Derby engine maker has been lead supplier
on an all-new Boeing widebody.
The Trent 1000 - the fifth member of the engine family - is
itself a major technology programme and includes parts from many
other Midlands-based specialist companies, such as Bulwell
Precision Engineers, Bromford Industries, Burcas, C & H
Precision Finishers, Clamonta, Eaton Aerospace, G&O Springs,
Jet Blades Engineering, JJ Churchill Engineering and Manthorpe
Engineering.
Rolls-Royce selected Aero Engine Controls in Birmingham to
develop a next-generation engine electronic control (EEC) system
for the Trent 1000. The new EEC is lighter, more reliable and
boasts six times the control power of earlier full authority
digital engine control (FADEC) systems - "more crunching power",
said an Aero Engine Controls spokesman.
The Trent 1000 device is contained in a flat housing with just
three cards per channel in place of 16 in its predecessor developed
for the Trent 500 which powered the Airbus A340-500. At the heart
of the new EEC is an Aero Engine Controls proprietary processor,
which the company has been "steadily evolving". The EEC has to
"cope with some unique requirements", the spokesman added.
As part of its work on the 787's high-lift actuation system,
Moog set up full-scale wing rigs at its Wolverhampton site, one
representing each wing. It also set up a nose gear steering test
rig. A spokesman was quoted as saying both are "typically what
Boeing would have done in the past. But it's good news for us,
because it increases our experience and shows we are taking
responsibility for those parts."
The high-lift actuation system powers, actuates and monitors the
flap and slat system that aircraft use to provide extra lift for
take off and landing, and includes power drive units, a
transmission system and rotary actuation and braking devices.