July 23, 2010

An aviation composites milestone occurred this week with the first flight of a commercial test aircraft carrying main landing gear braces produced by Aircelle using the Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process.

This flight involved the no. 1 prototype of Boeing’s new 787 jetliner, and it took place in Seattle, Washington on July 20.

Aircelle’s production of the RTM composite braces was performed at the company’s Le Havre, France headquarters facility for landing gear manufacturer Messier-Dowty. Both Aircelle and Messier-Dowty are member companies of the Safran group.

This application of the RTM process marks the culmination of major design and development efforts to introduce composite technologies on key structural landing gear components for the 787.

The use of composite materials for landing gear structural components will significantly reduce weight, and is to provide higher resistance to corrosion and fatigue – contributing to improved in-service reliability and greater time between overhauls.

Composite braces for the 787 were evolved from a design and development program managed by Messier-Dowty, which was conducted in conjunction with technical expertise from The Boeing Company. Aircelle is responsible for the braces’ industrialization and manufacture, leveraging the Safran group’s expertise in the development of woven composite technologies and in the Resin Transfer Molding process.

Aircelle’s manufacturing pace with the 787 composite braces will increase to seven shipsets of eight components per month, meeting Boeing’s planned production ramp-up for its next-generation airliner.