Strata in Abu Dhabi supplier of SABCA for flap track fairings progresses quickly with ATR workpackages

Strata Manufacturing (Strata), Mubadala Aerospace's advanced composite aerostructures plant in Al Ain, is working with Belgian Tier1 SABCA on the manufacturing of flap track fairings for A350 XWB, that will be similar to A330/A340 and A380 flap track fairings already manufactured in the same plant.

After only 10 months, the plant was qualified and supplying flap track fairings to Airbus for their A330s and A340s. This rapid turnaround would be a remarkable feat in any country, but considering that the factory site was only desert sand just a year before, the transition is even more remarkable.

SABCA is the Belgian Tier-1 Risk Sharing Partner for the design, industrialization and manufacturing of the A350XWB Flap Support Structures and Flap Support Fairings.

Much of Strata’s success can be linked to the skills and quality of the individuals it employs. In the past 12 months, Strata has been able to raise the proportion of UAE nationals working for the company from 1% to 33% - the majority of which are women. This promising trend is the result of a well-constructed education engagement strategy designed by Mubadala Aerospace, implemented by Strata.

ATR and Boeing.

The first vertical tail fin to be built in Abu Dhabi for an ATR regional airliner has been delivered by Strata from its factory in Al Ain.

“With the first package completed for the ATR Vertical Fin programme, Strata employees have shown their commitment to supplying vital structures to the highest standards of quality," said Mr De Mitri, senior vice president Alenia. "We are now looking to extend this collaboration to other programmes.

"If the UAE selects Eurofighter, we will be working with Strata to decide which packages it would be interested in delivering. We are no longer talking about a supplier relationship, where Strata just 'builds to plans', but a full technology transfer where Strata would become a full partner."

Under the current ATR contract between Strata and Alenia Aermacchi, as well as vertical fins, Strata will go on to manufacture rudders and horizontal stabilisers for the aircraft leading to it becoming the sole supplier of the whole ATR tail section, known as the empennage, delivering up to 50 sections a year.

Mubadala's Strata Manufacturing plant in Al Ain that began operations in 2010, will initially manufacture ribs for the vertical tailplane of the 787, and full tailfin manufacture will follow once the plant and workforce have been brought on line.

Liebherr-Aerospace to provide also the A350-1000 nose landing gear

Airbus has recently selected Liebherr-Aerospace to provide the nose landing gear for the A350-1000. Thus, the airframer has extended Liebherr’s scope of supply for this aircraft, which already included the slat actuation system and flap components. This is the largest landing gear that Liebherr has ever developed and built.

Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH (Germany) will design, manufacture and service the nose landing gear using the experience gained in developing the system for the A350-900 program.

A scale model of the Airbus A350 XWB nose landing gear.

The company has chosen high-strength 300M steel for the nose landing gear and innovated cadmium-substitute coatings. Moreover, for surface-protection Liebherr-Aerospace has selected a high-strength alloy, which is produced using the HVOF (high velocity oxygenated fuel spraying) process.

For Nose Landing Gear, the workpackage remains in Germany for the new A350-1000.

A350 XWB is on its wheels

Airbus has successfully completed the main structural assembly and system connection of A350 XWB MSN1, the first flight test aircraft.

 click on the image to watch the video

As we can watch in the video, the aircraft was moved from the main assembly station (station 40) to the indoor ground test station (station 30) at the Toulouse Final Assembly Line.

 

The assembly work performed in station 40 included:

·         The wing join-up

·         The Horizontal Stabilizer installation

·         The Vertical Fin installation

·         The Rear fuselage section19.1 join-up

·         The main landing gear installation

·         The Pylons join-up

·         The successful electrical power-on of the aircraft's entire fuselage & wings

 Next step, station 30 start by filling of the aircraft's hydraulic system and leak tests.

Qatar Airways confirms the interest not only in larger A350 but in the largest A350-1000 when upgrading almost all A350-800 into A350-1000.

Launch customer Qatar will take larger A350 aircraft, but keeping total order at 80.

Qatar Airways had originally ordered 20 A350-800s, 40 A350-900s and 20 of the larger-capacity A350-1000s, but it has now dropped its order for A350-800s. The new order will comprise 43 A350-900s and 37 A350-1000s, and Qatar remains the launch customer for both variants.

"We have taken the time necessary to come to today's decision in favour of the larger A350 models, which we believe are best suited to our business model," says Qatar chief Akbar Al Baker.

“Qatar Airways has been involved in the development of the A350 XWB from the very early days. So we are truly delighted with their decision to grow their business with the two larger A350 XWB models,” said Fabrice Bregier, Airbus’ President and CEO. “This decision by Qatar Airways not only confirms the market trend towards larger A350’s but it also demonstrates the value of offering, as we do with the A350 XWB, a true family of aircraft from which our customers can select the models that best meet their individual requirements.”

The list price of original order was worth $22.43 billion. After the conversion, the order is worth $23.80 billion, although airlines typically negotiate substantial discounts or other sweeteners for bulk deals. And if you are the launch customer, the price is reduced drastically.

Qatar Airways' decision reduces to 92 the number of 250-seat A350-800s in Airbus's order book, while orders for the A350-900 now total 365 and those for the largest-capacity 350-seater A350-1000 now stand at 105.

 

It is not a surprise as Airbus is moving in this direction since some months ago investing in an improve program for the A330 announced in Farnborough in July/2012 and recently endorsed with new 242 tonne takeoff-weight capability, that  increases revenue payload on longer missions, extends market coverage -new direct flights with A330-300s between South-East Asia and Europe- and gives extra fuel capacity extending range by around 500nm at full passenger payload

A330 has been identified by Airbus as the aircraft to maintain market position versus 787 until the 2020 decade.

Meanwhile Boeing is waiting till Le Bourget next year to officially launch 787-10, 777X or both for the A350-1000 market. Engineering resources, investment required and engine capabilities are key factors for Boeing´s go ahead.

Airbus will decide in comming months (and also communicate in Le Bourget) what is the future of the smallest brother in the family; A350-800 could be postponed, cancelled or maintained. Considering that the wide body market continues growing in quantity and in size, it will make sense if Airbus postpone the A350-800.

 

Airlines decision between Boeing and Airbus usually have “government assistance” (2)

Government assistance to help Airbus or Boeing is not surprising. It just make the WTO case hypocritical as whether a company receives subsidies or get diplomatic assistance amounts to the same thing.

There are two examples of government assistance or lobby linked to A350 XWB.

The 2nd is Gulf Air order for 787 instead of A350 XWB in 2008.

Gulf Air

Flightglobal collected together all the aviation related news from the US embassy cables release by WikiLeaks.

"Beyond every-day advocacy" and communication from the US State Department's Bahrain embassy helped Boeing in January/2008 sway Gulf Air from purchasing Airbus A350s and instead order #16 787s with options for another #8, says a cable from US Ambassador Adam Ereli and released by Wikileaks, first reported in the New York Times.

Gulf Air had planned to purchase Airbus jets as the Airbus package was $400m cheaper, but US diplomats "persisted in lobbying Gulf Air management, board members, government officials and representatives of parliament" about the 787's cost advantage and reliability.

The Bahrain government was swayed in part by the opportunity to announce the order during a visit by then-President George Bush, the first sitting president to visit the country. Boeing also offered a last-minute 5% discount, further exemplifying how Boeing under-sold the 787.

"Your continued effort to touch the right leaders and remain a strong advocate for Boeing in this process made an enormous difference in the final outcome," a letter after the order from Boeing to the American ambassador in Bahrain reportedly says. "The working together activity between you, your team, and Boeing is a model that we should really aspire to replicate in other countries."

Boeing first requested US Government assistance in May 2006 when then-CEO James Hogan announced plans to replace the carrier's fleet. Hogan's plan called for Gulf Air to purchase #22 737s and #25 787s, but Hogan departed under managerial differences. His successor, Andre Dose, also left, leaving Bjorn Naff as the chief executive who after the facts also left, leaving former Royal Jordanian Airlines chief Samer Majali in charge.

Fast forward to October 2007 and Gulf Air has signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing to purchase the 787s. But then it reversed itself, concerned it would not be able "to justify a decision for Boeing to the parliament in the face of a steeply discounted Airbus [sic]quotation," the cable says. The Airbus offer was reportedly $400 million less.

On 12 December Gulf Air notified Boeing it had selected Airbus's offer and would need its 787 deposits refunded.

The US embassy in Bahrain, however, told Boeing the decisions was not final as Bahrain's government--now the sole owner of Gulf Air--would need to approve the purchase and had not yet done so.

It was then "Boeing renewed its request for advocacy," the cable says, explaining:

*** The Ambassador and Econoff persisted in lobbying Gulf Air management, board members, government officials and representatives of parliament. The Ambassador made the case repeatedly that Airbus, lower up-front costs would be eclipsed by Boeing's lower operating costs and product reliability. He made much of the fact that the Airbus A-350 alternative was still on the drawing board. ****

The exact method of lobbying was not mentioned, but in other cables released by Wikileaks, Boeing turned down offers to pay agents "commissions" (bribes) for access to officials.

Gulf Air Board Chairman Mahmoud Kooheji told the US ambassador the Bahrain Crown Prince and King had rejected Gulf Air's proposal to purchase jets from Airbus and instead directed Kooheji to make a deal with Boeing in time for President Bush's visit to Bahrain on 12-13 January 2008.

"We have selected the 787 to be the core of our fleet for the next generation to meet both our passengers' and our stakeholders' expectations," Kooheji said in a statement when the order was announced.

France made a last-minute manoeuvre when French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the Bahrain King to say he would add Bahrain to his regional tour on the condition Gulf Air would purchase #21 Airbus aircraft.

On 13 January 2008 Gulf Air and Boeing signed the order for #16 787s, valued at $6 billion at list prices. France dropped Sarkozy's visit after hearing the Boeing purchase would proceed.

The cable ends with the Gulf Air chairman saying the carrier's narrow-body replenishment order was leaning towards Airbus but still open. That May Gulf Air selected the A320, but also A330s--suggesting, perhaps, France had further play.

"As Boeing's recent win illustrates, Airbus is in no position take Gulf Air's business for granted. Post will certainly continue to hail the advantages of a Boeing solution," the ambassador writes.

On the subject of legality of the US government helping, the New York Times writes that: "State Department and Boeing officials, in interviews last month, acknowledged the important role the United States government plays in helping them sell commercial airplanes, despite a trade agreement signed by the United States and European leaders three decades ago intended to remove international politics from the process."

  

 Based on article "#AvCablegate: US State Department swayed Gulf Air order from Airbus A350 to Boeing 787" published in Flightglobal

Airlines decision between Boeing and Airbus usually have “government assistance” (1)

Government assistance to help Airbus or Boeing is not surprising. It just make the WTO case hypocritical as whether a company receives subsidies or get diplomatic assistance amounts to the same thing.

There are two examples of government assistance or lobby linked to A350 XWB.

Air France order from September/2011 for #25 787 and #25 A350 XWB

 

Air France

Les Echos wrote in 2011: As Air France is about to make the biggest order in its history (about 100 long-haul aircrafts), more and more pressure is being put on Air France's CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, to pick Airbus' A350 XWB over Boeing 787. UMP deputy, Bernard Carayon, initiated a text aimed at pressuring Pierre-Henri Gourgeon to pick Airbus. The text insinuated that this decision would influence shareholders when deciding to re-elect him for another mandate. However, this threat is not credible, since the state only owns 15.7% of Air France's capital and has 3 trustees out of 15, leaving the government with little power to choose Air France's CEO.

In 2012, Bernard Carayon, the same politician of the conservative UMP party, said Gourgeon was fired because he was pushing for Air France to buy aircraft made by Boeing instead of planes assembled in France by Airbus, a unit of EADS. Carayon said he had been able to thwart that attempt by organizing a cross-party lobby of 186 French deputies.

Carayon intend to close the mouth of the former Air France CEO when described as “indecent” a EUR400,000 golden handshake for Pierre-Henri Gourgeon who was fired last year, at a time when the airline’s personnel is threatened with job cuts. He called on Gourgeon to relinquish his claim to the departure bonus.

A350-1000 engine design progressing

Final design freeze for the 97,000-lb.-thrust version of the engine for the A350-1000 was accomplished this month when Rolls completed “the Stage 1 exit” for the design. The key design decisions underpinned the company's commitment made last year to boost thrust without a costly increase in the fan diameter. Instead, this will now be achieved by scaling up the core and increasing the flow by spinning the fan 5% faster. The base of the blades will also be redesigned with an inflected annulus to help boost the flow capacity around the spinner.

“We will get more power out of the core by making it bigger and improve the turbine's capabilities to run the engine hotter,” says Young, who describes the growth strategy as a combination of technology insertion and increasing overall size. “A lot of the focus is around the hot end of engine and the blade material. We have changed the design style and improved the cooling effectiveness to get a good time on wing,” he adds.

Changes for the XWB-97 include the use of next-generation CMS-X4 single crystal materials and anti-oxidation coatings in the high-pressure turbine which will also be shroudless for the first time on a Trent engine. The turbine disc will also be forged from a dual microstructure disc that will provide greater stress capability toward the center of the hub while at the same time exhibiting better creep resistance toward the tips.

Other improvements will include a more sophisticated adaptive bleed system, which is designed to turn off cooling air bleed during cruise when not required. “It is the next step in evolution from the system on the 84K engine,” Young notes. The intermediate pressure (IP) compressor features a “rising line” or inner annulus line that increases in radius, thereby increasing the tip speed of the aft stages. The high-pressure compressor is derived from the European New Aero Engine Core Concept program, and is connected to the IP by a swan-neck duct. This performed “significantly” better than expected in earlier tests, adding confidence that it will meet the thrust target of the XWB-97 with no impact on SFC.

Based on article "Final certification tests loom as first Trent XWB rolls out of pre-production site" published in Aviation Week