NORDAM delivers business jet parts
By D.R. STEWART World Staff Writer - 11/4/2009
Tulsa aerospace manufacturer NORDAM Group has delivered the first two wing-to-body fairings and main landing gear door shipsets to Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. for its new G650 business jet, company executives said Tuesday.
The initial deliveries of NORDAM's composite graphite epoxy aircraft components are a significant development for the company, which has laid off 330 people or 16 percent of its Tulsa work force during the past year as orders plummeted in the business jet market.
NORDAM employs 2,000 people worldwide and 1,400 in Tulsa.
NORDAM's $100 million contract with Gulfstream to design, certify and manufacture the wing fairings and main landing gear doors of the long-range, twin-engine G650 was awarded in 2007.
The program consists of manufacturing six hinged main landing gear doors as well as 20 composite wing-to-body fairing panels spanning 46 feet, NORDAM executives said. The fairing is a composite joint that links the wing to the fuselage.
NORDAM's G650 components will be delivered to Gulfstream's final assembly plant in Savannah, Ga.
"The G650 landing gear doors and wing-to-body fairings are key products in our strategy of providing highly engineered solutions to our customers," said Terry Gray, vice president and general manager of NORDAM's interiors and structures division. "The digital product definition concept proved to be extremely successful, and our product was installed without any additional trim required on any of the panels. All the step/gap tolerances were met."
In producing the G650 fairings and landing gear doors, NORDAM used Enovia LCA and Catia V5 software, creating a paperless digital definition and earning Gulfstream's designation of a "highly integrated" supplier, company executives said.
Production of the G650 composite panel was aided by automated systems, including flat pattern creation in FiberSim 2009 software, flat pattern trim with a Gerber cutter and ply location using Virtek laser systems, officials said.
Five-axis computer numerical controlled precision machining and FARO-coordinate measuring machines provide dimensional accuracy, which permits NORDAM to deliver a ready-to-install product at Gulfstream's assembly plant in Savannah, officials said.
The fairings and landing gear doors are among several components NORDAM is manufacturing for the eight-passenger G650, which flies at 694 mph, has a range of 8,050 miles and was introduced in 2008.
Other NORDAM programs on the G650 include the interior cabin liner and the main entry door air stair.
In recent years, NORDAM has delivered up to 50,000 aircraft components a year to Gulfstream.
Besides the G650, NORDAM has provided components for Gulfstream's G150, G200, G450 and G550 business jets.
NORDAM has supplied Gulfstream with composite interior liners, glare shields, fairings, ducting, bonded panels for flooring, radio racks, equipment shelves, interior furniture and cabinetry.
D.R. Stewart 581-8451
don.stewart@tulsaworld.com
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