In the beginning there was an altimeter - Meggitt PLC

UNDER SIKORSKY’S SKIN
If just one item in a shipset
is damaged or mislaid,
something that could be
worth less than $500 could
hold up the completion of a
$20 million dollar aircraft.
We have to act fast to
provide a replacement
> change on the aircraft. Any time the
manufacturer changes the plumbing or the
electrics or installs additional equipment,
it affects the interior—a hole here for a light,
a small access door there, an aperture
for additional equipment like a hoist. Our
parts can change a lot until a programme
settles down.”
While no two days are the same in
composites due to the huge variety of parts
that need to be managed and the installation
variables, Hargett is comfortable in his role
and comfortable with his team of engineers
and operators. They are almost as long-
Above: The bulk of MPC Rockmart’s
non-heated composites lie under skin
of Sikorsky’s helicopters, outstripping
sales of fuel tanks and ice protection
components combined.
Right: Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion
is the largest and heaviest helicopter in
the United States military. Rockmart is
working with Sikorsky Aircraft and Spirit
AeroSystems to make all the interior
composites for the next generation CH53K,
consulting with Cambridge Collaborative
on acoustics and vibration.
Below right: Kirk Hargett, Composites
Operations Unit Director, “We have the
infrastructure to service large military
contracts and the critical mass to deliver
real savings.”
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REVIEW | WINTER 2010
serving as he is and just as prepared to go
the extra mile when needed. In his tenth year
at MPC Rockmart, Hargett joined initially as
a manufacturing engineer after graduating
from Georgia Tech and a brief spell in textile
chemicals. He believes that Sikorsky derives
real value from the continuity of personnel
at the plant and recognises the deep level of
product knowledge across all programmes.
Hargett, like many of his engineers, has
made it his business to learn how to make
a number of products involving hardware,
composite ply lay-up and some final
assembly, although all bow to the plant’s
sewing teams. “People are often surprised at
how much effort and craftsmanship goes into
making an interior piece fit. It is not about
laying a piece of fabric on a nice flat piece of
metal. There is a lot of contour on the inside
a helicopter and many of our parts have
hand-sewn covers. It is quite an art to get
seams to sit and look right.”
Icing on the cake
The history of MPC Rockmart’s relationship
with Sikorsky has been built on build-to-
print—making other companies’ designs—
but like its ice protection business, John
Skubina challenged MPC Rockmart to ask
for more—projects that take advantage
of long manufacturing experience and a
superior material science function. “John
made it clear that MPC Rockmart is a growth
company and gave us the confidence to see
that we were more than capable of rising
to the challenge of more profitable original
engineering. He never let us quit on a new
opportunity,” says Hargett. The result is the
ground-breaking contract with Sikorsky and
Spirit to make all the interior composites of
the new heavy-lift CH53K helicopter. MPC
Rockmart is drawing on the expertise of
Cambridge Collaborative, the world’s leading
authority on acoustics and vibration, to
devise the optimal material solution relative
to available space and weight targets. The
win complements the system design and
development contract for the aircraft’s
engine inlets, which draws on the facility’s
composites technology for ice protection (see
page 35). ●