Ready for a ride on the Dreamliner? The 787 Dreamliner is the newest passenger aircraft developed by Boeing. Although it won't make its first flight until sometime this fall, the company has already received firm orders for 684 of the planes from 47 customers worldwide at a cost of more than $110 billion. Why the big demand?
The builders say the plane will burn 20 percent less fuel per passenger than similarly sized aircraft and it will be 30 percent less expensive to maintain. It will be able to carry up to 330 passengers over ranges up to 8,500 miles. And those passengers will be more comfortable because humidity of the cabin air can be increased over that of similar planes. So, what makes the 787 so different?
The answer is composites. By volume, 80 percent of the 787 will be made of carbon composite, rather than the traditional aluminum. Thus the Dreamliner will be much lighter, easier to maintain, farther ranging and more resistant to the effects of moisture. This means huge savings to the airlines. And they've been rushing to get their orders placed.
Composites are materials, usually man-made, that are a three-dimensional combination of at least two chemically distinct materials with a distinct interface separating the components, created to obtain properties that cannot be achieved by any of the components acting alone. Increasingly, composites are affecting the lives of all of us. Our golf clubs, parts of our cars, kayaks, canoes and paddles, fishing rods, competition bicycles and helmets are made, all or in part, of composites. The list is almost endless and growing - and includes even our computer keyboards.
That's because composites are strong, lightweight, cost effective, aesthetically pleasing and resistant to weather. Their future seems limitless.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd foresaw the coming of the composites revolution. That's why he secured funding to establish a Composites Technology and Training Center as part of the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing. The composites center is an adjunct of the institute's Bridgeport Manufacturing Technology Center in the Benedum Industrial Park, adjacent to the Harrison-Marion Regional Airport.
That location is fortuitous because of the blossoming aerospace and composite industries being developed at Bridgeport. At the same time, the services of the Composites Technology and Training Center are available through the institute's other centers in Huntington, South Charleston and Rocket Center (near Keyser in the Eastern Panhandle).
One of the firms with which the institute works at Bridgeport, Aurora Flight Sciences, was awarded a $47 million contract last spring to develop a concept demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft program. The aircraft will be built in Aurora's facility in Columbus, Miss., with other Aurora facilities in West Virginia, Virginia and Massachusetts supporting the project. The institute has assisted Aurora in various ways, including providing technical assistance and reverse engineering equipment for the ACCA project.
Another Bridgeport manufacturer with which the institute is associated, FMW Composite Systems, Inc., is a subcontractor for the Air Force's F-22 fighter, which uses composites for at least a third of its structure. Titanium matrix composite parts are used in the F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighters, as well as the Global Hawk unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle, which has proved so valuable in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan.
Our mission at the Robert C. Byrd Institute is to provide statewide and regional access to advanced technology and technical training to small- and medium-sized manufacturers and to develop a quality, just-in-time supplier base for the Department of Defense, NASA and the commercial sector. We're very pleased that, through Sen. Byrd's leadership, we've been able to add composites technology and training to our programs.
If you think the institute might be able to assist you, or simply have questions, please call our Huntington office at (304) 781-1665 or check out our Web site, www.rcbi.org.
Weber is director and CEO of the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing.
