Lower-cost aircraft structures could result from a four-year, €100 million ($123 million) European Union Sixth Framework research project. By 2009, the Advanced Low Cost Aircraft Structures (ALCAS) project is expected to have produced business jet and airliner fuselage and wing sections.
The project, funded 50/50 by the European Commission and industry, will focus on developing new applications for composite materials. At a critical design review in March at partner company Saab Aerostructures in Linkoping, Sweden, four teams presented their designs for a business jet wing.
“The designs will be turned into test wingboxes this year,” says Saab project manager Stefan Nystrom. “Next year they will be tested to select one for further development.”
Source: Flight International