Plant tour: Hexcel, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
The scale, precision, speed and quality of carbon fiber manufacture has evolved substantially since the material’s modern introduction in the late 1960s. Hexcel offers a glimpse of the state of the art today.
Jeff Sloan
Editor-in-Chief, CompositesWorld
Plant Tour: STELIA Aerospace, Méaulte, France
Supplier of Airbus fuselage sections pushes boundaries of hybrid aerostructures production, assembly and thermoplastic composites.
Plant tour: Meggitt San Diego, CA, US
This aerospace and defense fabricator upgrades to a larger facility and gets, in the process, a chance to rethink and optimize material, people and process flow.
The building of a composites manufacturing niche
Equipped to meet vertical needs with rapid turnaround, Rock Hill, SC’s Composite Resources has found the sweet spot between prototypers and large composites manufacturers.
The first composite fuselage section for the first composite commercial jet
Spirit AeroSystems was an established aerospace supplier when it earned that distinction, winning the contract for the Boeing 787’s Section 41. Now its sights are set on the next generation of aircraft.
A highly specialized player on a world-class team
Tods Aerospace, located in rural England, is part of the larger Unitech Aerospace manufacturing group and specializes in highly engineered aerospace defense structures.
Carving a niche via the new, the different and the difficult
Van Horn Aviation seized a real opportunity in helicopter blades, with little composites acumen but big desire. The rest is history worth reading.
Plant Tour: RUAG Space, Decatur, Alabama, U.S.
Out-of-autoclave composites manufacturing facility comes of age with first U.S.-made composite structures for the Atlas V launcher, and qualification parts for the Vulcan.
Scott Francis
Contributing Editor, CompositesWorld
Where the art and science of braiding meet
A&P has made a name for itself as a braider, but the depth and breadth of its technical aptitude comes into sharp focus with a peek behind usually closed doors.
Merger of entrepreneurial metal-centric firms claims composites’ first
Tier 2 composites manufacturer FBM Composite Materials developed the right pill for a Boeing headache and became the sole supplier of 787-9 Dreamliner door surrounds.
Serving the composites world in Israel and the US
Military and commercial tier supplier Elbit Cyclone maintains precision and quality as it continues growth in composites, complex assemblies and high-rate production.
Israel’s aerodefense cornerstone poised for greater global outreach
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is developing increasing expertise both in and out of the autoclave as it expands an already broad composites production portfolio.
Thriving aerospace pioneer builds business in the air and on land
Aerospace tier supplier Kanfit Ltd. is expanding, offering both composite and metal parts for applications in an expanding range of high-performance markets.
Plant tour: Diamond Aircraft Austria, Wiener Neustadt, Austria
Composites use among general aviation manufacturers is far from unusual, but none apply them quite like this airframer does.
