First resin-transfer-moulded large component produced for A320 family

The first shipset of composite A320 wing spoilers to be produced using an advanced automated manufacturing technique called Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) was delivered last month from a new facility jointly managed by Airbus and Spirit AeroSystems in Prestwick, UK. This milestone represents one of the first uses of RTM in commercial aviation for large components.

The technique involves injecting resin into dry fibres in a press rather than the traditional, more expensive and time-consuming method of 'baking' pre-impregnated carbon fibre and honeycomb in large pressurised autoclaves. RTM enables each part to be manufactured to be identical, to within hundredths of a millimetre, which not only realises significant time and cost savings but also "right-first-time" quality for the RTM spoilers, resulting in more efficient assembly operations downstream at the Broughton wing factory.

The first set of spoilers will undergo certification in the coming weeks, as well as trial fits at Broughton and then functionality test at the Final Assembly Line (FAL). The €50 million project, which will bring around 80 jobs to the region, was launched in 2017 and is joint- funded by Airbus, its supply partner Spirit AeroSystems and the local government.