Kansas Modification Center (KMC) has produced the first structural parts for its 777 passenger‐to‐freighter (P2F) conversion program.
The parts were machined by Dynamic NC in Rose Hill, Kansas, 12 miles from their point of design, and where they will ultimately be installed on the first conversion aircraft.
“We see the current supply chain constraints as one of the highest risk items on program like this,” said Bryan Mackey, vice president of Dynamic NC. ”By teaming with our partners and through early material purchasing, we eliminated these risks to ensure that this program is delivered on time to the customer.”
Included in the first run is a 230‐inch replacement aluminum floor beam and a replacement side frame for section 46 of the aircraft. Along with this first group of structural floor details, another 60 detailed machined parts are on schedule to be delivered in the next two weeks.
By replacing the carbon beams and choosing not to reinforce the existing structure and carbon beams, the WERX engineering team at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research was able to reduce the overall weight of the aircraft and fastener count while increasing the floor loading by 50 percent.
The aluminum beams will also allow the KMC modification to increase the floor loading to 250 pounds per inch over the wing box area of the aircraft and 125 pounds per inch in all other main deck cargo areas. This increased floor loading optimize operationally flexibility – allowing the KMC conversion to accommodate the entire payload on the main deck and engine carriage including the larger GE9‐X. The new integrated design of the floor structure also allows customers to choose between a powered cargo handling system or manual cargo handling system without any structural changes.
