A380: the countdown is on - Orient Aviation

<strong>A380</strong> ASSEMBLY
By Charles Anderson
It <strong>is</strong> <strong>the</strong> sheer size of <strong>the</strong>m that makes
you gasp – three of <strong>the</strong> largest
passenger aircraft ever made sitting
side by side in enormous stations at
<strong>the</strong> open plan final assembly hall in
Toulouse.
Walk above <strong>the</strong>se first <strong>A380</strong>s along
one of <strong>the</strong> corridors that skirt <strong>the</strong> giant,
purpose-built Jean Luc Lagardère complex
and <strong>the</strong>ir 80-metre wingspan, 73-metre
length and 24-metre height give you a first
idea of what will be lining up at <strong>the</strong> world’s
major airports in <strong>the</strong> coming years.
Step on to <strong>the</strong> shop floor and stand next
to <strong>the</strong> lightly painted “green” aircraft and
<strong>the</strong>y are downright intimidating. The wings
appear to arch forever. The fuselage dwarfs
<strong>the</strong> workers surrounding it. The tail plane
reaches up towards <strong>the</strong> sky.
But <strong>the</strong>n ever y thing about th<strong>is</strong>
assembly process <strong>is</strong> larger than life: from
<strong>the</strong> component manufacturing and sub-
assembly programmes in sites across Europe,
through to <strong>the</strong> giant transportation exerc<strong>is</strong>e
that brings <strong>the</strong> various pieces toge<strong>the</strong>r and on
to <strong>the</strong> complex work that will finally see <strong>the</strong>m
roll out of <strong>the</strong> factory and fly to Hamburg for
final fitting and painting.
At Toulouse, on <strong>the</strong> 50-hectare
production site, <strong>the</strong> three fuselage sections,
wings, tail plane, empennage, landing gear
and engine pylons are turned into a single
airplane after arrival by road convoy at
a holding area on <strong>the</strong> north side of <strong>the</strong> plant.
The wings, in particular, need special
attention. Only two-thirds of <strong>the</strong> fin<strong>is</strong>hed
product can be completed at <strong>the</strong> plant in
Broughton, North Wales, where <strong>the</strong>y are
first assembled. They are simply too big to
transport as a complete item. The remaining
one-third of <strong>the</strong> work, mainly adding
movable parts, <strong>is</strong> undertaken in Toulouse.
Next <strong>the</strong> wing <strong>is</strong> fixed to <strong>the</strong> central
fuselage section, before <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> plane
takes shape. Then it <strong>is</strong> pushed back to one
of three interchangeable stations where
various systems, including <strong>the</strong> flight controls
and electrical and hydraulic power units, are
installed. Some systems testing takes place in
th<strong>is</strong> station. Fur<strong>the</strong>r tests will continue outside.
The whole final assembly, fin<strong>is</strong>hing and
testing process takes one month, with each
plane spending a week in <strong>the</strong> first assembly
station before moving on, allowing Airbus
to hit its target production rate of four
<strong>A380</strong>s a month, or to handle fewer planes
if necessary.
LARGER
than life
The company has broken with its
normal practice by having final assembly
of <strong>the</strong> <strong>A380</strong> in one place, even though
its components are being manufactured
elsewhere and interior furn<strong>is</strong>hing will be
completed in Hamburg. Its single-a<strong>is</strong>le or
long-range planes are assembled on two or
three different sites.
Jean-Claude Schoepf, vice-president,
final assembly and delivery for <strong>the</strong> <strong>A380</strong>,
l<strong>is</strong>ts safety, inventory and <strong>the</strong> space
requirements as <strong>the</strong> main reasons. Again,
Assembly process: “it’s working well”
it <strong>is</strong> <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> plane, and of <strong>the</strong> project
itself, that led to <strong>the</strong> dec<strong>is</strong>ion.
On safety: <strong>the</strong> wing and central
fuselage section alone weigh 100 tonnes and
would need transferring by crane after being
joined toge<strong>the</strong>r under <strong>the</strong> traditional Airbus
assembly system. “We prefer to remove th<strong>is</strong>
and avoid <strong>the</strong> r<strong>is</strong>k of an accident,” he said.
On space: each aircraft position takes
up one hectare, made up of <strong>the</strong> 80 metre by
80 metre size of <strong>the</strong> plane and <strong>the</strong> margins
surrounding it that are necessary for log<strong>is</strong>tic
flows. With four stations needed, a single
site where land <strong>is</strong> available made more
sense to <strong>the</strong> Airbus planners.
On log<strong>is</strong>tics: to optim<strong>is</strong>e fixed costs
<strong>the</strong> U-shaped final assembly line building
has <strong>the</strong> same amount of empty space lying
parallel to <strong>the</strong> present stations allowing
three more of <strong>the</strong> same to be built if Airbus
really hits <strong>the</strong> jackpot with <strong>the</strong> <strong>A380</strong>.
The Jean Luc Lagardère building, named
after <strong>the</strong> former EADS joint president and
French industrial<strong>is</strong>t who died in 2003,
represents a 360 million euro (US$432
million) investment on Airbus’s behalf.
Work began on it in 2001 and at present it
has 500 to 600 staff and 34,000 sq metres
of office space.
Many workers have been transferred
from o<strong>the</strong>r Airbus programmes under a
system that only allows a certain percentage
to move, so ex<strong>is</strong>ting projects won’t suffer.
The workforce <strong>is</strong> expected to total 1,500
to 2,000 by 2008 with future recruitment
being expanded outside <strong>the</strong> company.
A static test building and general
purpose hangar make up <strong>the</strong> <strong>A380</strong> facilities
on th<strong>is</strong> Toulouse site. Nearby, at Toulouse
St Martin, a 19,000 square metre building
houses cockpit simulators and <strong>the</strong> “iron
bird” test rig being used for systems
integration simulation and verification.
All across Europe, production of <strong>A380</strong>
sections <strong>is</strong> now underway as Airbus gears
up for entry into service.
In Hamburg, forward and aft fuselage
sections are assembled, toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong>ir
essential flight systems. O<strong>the</strong>r facilities at
<strong>the</strong> Major Component Assembly hall which
opened <strong>the</strong>re in May 2003 are an interior
fin<strong>is</strong>hing centre, a delivery facility, paint
shops and a pre-flight hangar.
In Broughton, wing assembly <strong>is</strong>
carried out in an 83,000 sq. metre “West
Factory”. Stringers for bottom wing skin
panels are also produced <strong>the</strong>re.
In Getafe and Puerto Real, <strong>the</strong>
horizontal tail plane and <strong>the</strong> <strong>A380</strong>’s belly
faring are put toge<strong>the</strong>r.
In Nantes, <strong>the</strong> centre wing box <strong>is</strong>
manufactured and assembled.
In Saint Nazaire, an extended
fuselage assembly.
Then begins <strong>the</strong> journey to Toulouse for
final assembly.
“If you go anywhere in our plants today,
you will see <strong>the</strong> factories are full of sections
for <strong>the</strong> next 30 aircraft,” said Charles
Champion, executive vice-president for <strong>the</strong>
<strong>A380</strong> programme. “It’s all working well.”
DECEMBER 2004-FEBRUARY 2005 ORIENT AVIATION / <strong>A380</strong> Quarterly Update 15