Britain's aerospace industry is playing a major part in bringing Boeing's 7E7 to market. On any 7E7, the UK supplier content represents 10% of the aircraft, which rises to 35% if it is delivered with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 powerplants.
This is a fantastic result for UK industry, says Sir Michael Jenkins, president of Boeing UK. "We only thought we'd get 3-4%," he says. "It's very gratifying to see how well UK industry has done."
With such significant UK content, Jenkins is working on creating a 7E7 UK Suppliers Club to collectively build the marketing message in the UK for the aircraft. "The idea will be to up the profile of the 7E7 and demonstrate to government and the marketplace the amount of UK content."
Civil
It is an initiative that Boeing has never before tried on a civil project, says Jenkins. He met with the chief executives of UK suppliers just prior to the show to discuss how to take the idea forward.
The latest UK firm to win work on the aircraft is Smiths Industries. It joined the 7E7 team in February after being selected to supply the common core system, an integrated avionics platform. In mid-June it expanded its role on the aircraft by winning the contract to supply landing gear actuation and control systems and the high lift actuation system that powers the flaps and slats.
In addition to Rolls-Royce, other UK suppliers so far selected for the 7E7 include Messier-Dowty, which is developing the landing gear, and FR-HiTemp, which is providing pumps and valves.
When the full list of suppliers is finalised there could be as many as 40 different UK companies working on the 7E7, says Jenkins.
Source: Flight Daily News
