Isle of Wight engineers at high-tech manufacturer, GKN Aerospace, are responsible for contributing a key feature to Boeing’s new 737 MAX airplane.
Boeing has orders for more than 3,000 737 MAX planes already and GKN on the Island is one of two companies worldwide producing the winglets for them.
According to GKN, the 737 MAX, will “deliver the highest efficiency, reliability and passenger comfort in the single-aisle market with 20 percent lower fuel use than the first Next-Generation 737s”.
£400k saving per plane, per year
In terms of fuel efficiency, the winglet will save an estimated £400,000 per plane, per year for 20-30 years of the life of the plane, Sir Michael Arthur, president of Boeing UK told the BBC.
The maiden flight took place on 1st February (see video below).
GKN’s contribution
GKN Aerospace as a whole has played a part in providing key elements to the aircraft’s wing, engine and cabin including:
- Manufacture of 50% of the aircraft’s unique, dual feather design, ‘advanced technology’ (AT) winglets, designed by Boeing, which will improve fuel efficiency by up to 1.8%. These will be manufactured at the company’s Cowes, UK facility, with assembly in the USA at Orangeburg, SC.
- Final assembly and paint of all (100%) of the winglets at a new site in Sumner, Washington State, close to Boeing’s 737 MAX final assembly line.
- Supply of one-piece engine nacelle inlet lip skins, manufactured at a fully automated production line within a new purpose-built site in Orangeburg, SC. These lighter weight nacelle inlet lip skins incorporate a laminar flow surface that reduces drag and improves aerodynamic performance.
- Manufacture of a number of structures for CFM International’s LEAP-1B aero- engine, including the combustion diffuser nozzle and the CDN assembly.
- Provision of Crystal Vue II™ – coated passenger cabin windows (PCW), the market-leading PCW, which is standard fit on all Boeing passenger aircraft.
- Design and manufacture of an electrical wiring interconnection system (EWIS) package (by Fokker Technologies, a division of GKN Aerospace).
GKN President: “Proud to be playing our part”
David Brantner, President, GKN Aerospace said,
“We are extremely proud to be playing our part in creating the newest version of Boeing’s incredibly successful 737 family of aircraft and we send our congratulations to Boeing today.
“The 737 MAX represents the intelligent combination of the strongest of the industry’s newest technologies with the most effective of our proven expertise to achieve real performance gains across the airframe.
“Our own involvement clearly reflects this strategy, with our business supplying both state of the art innovations and well-proven products.”
Article edits
“An estimated” added to excerpt text. Text amended slightly in second paragraph. Video added.
Image: Bin im Garten under CC BY 3.0
