Dunstone would like to congratulate industry partner Spirit AeroSystems-Wichita, KS on their delivery of the 500th Section 41 of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Spirit builds the 787 forward fuselage and engine pylons at its Wichita, Kan., facility and the wing fixed leading edge and wing moveable leading edge in Tulsa, Okla., and Subang, Malaysia. The company has been delivering these assemblies and components to the 787 program since 2007 — and unit 500 was delivered to Boeing in September.
Spirit delivers a fully integrated forward fuselage structure on the 787 program, with all flight controls tested and installed. The composite forward fuselage section, known as section 41, is built using auto fiber placement machines winding composite tape into a one-piece fuselage section. The completed structure is assembled using Spirit Exact™, a proprietary assembly process using pre-located holes and automated riveters. The 787 pioneered the use of composites in large-scale commercial airplanes.
They build the forward fuselage section of every Boeing commercial airplane in production today as well as wing and propulsion components — and Dunstone is proud to be a supplier of the necessary tape and tubing materials required for their aerospace builds. Our heat shrink mylar tape and fluoropolymer tubing aid in the manufacturing of these composite parts with compression and release. Additionally, our hi-shrink tape is commonly used to consolidate tube structures and stringers. Dunstone is proud to help make the overall processing of advanced aerospace composite parts, faster, easier, and lower in cost.
Have questions about how Dunstone products were able to help develop complex aerostructures? Reach out to our team to learn more about how we serve aerospace applications.
Video courtesy of Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. (NYSE) SPR
Building the 500th Boeing 787