Alenia Aermacchi, a Finmeccanica company, delivered to Boeing the 100th 787 Dreamliner mid-fuselage section achieving an important production milestone. Alenia Aermacchi is positioning to meet the program’s production ramp-up to 10 airplanes per month by the end of 2013 at Alenia Aermacchi’s Monteiasi-Grottaglie plant.

The delivery of Alenia Aermacchi’s 100th 787 Dreamliner fuselage section marks a significant step in a process launched in 2004 and that sees Alenia Aermacchi, formerly Alenia Aeronautica, participating in design, development and production all of the fuselage section’s structural components, along with the infrastructure and technological processes necessary for its production. This includes the innovative “one piece barrel” production process used at the Monteiasi-Grottaglie plant, which makes the fuselage section entirely from carbon fiber composite as a single piece, a process used for the first time ever in the aeronautical sector.

Giuseppe Giordo, CEO of Alenia Aermacchi, said: “The Apulia region has served as Alenia Aermacchi’s strategic territory for processing the composite material for nearly thirty years; the Foggia site, founded in the ‘80s, has become a center of excellence for the carbon fiber process, while the Monteiasi-Grottaglie site, opend 6 years ago, is one of the world’s most advanced aeronautical facilities. The target we have achieved is a result of the full commitment of all the people working on the 787 program, who are young and highly skilled”.

 

Source and photo: Alenia Aermacchi