Building a Family

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728JET making progress
Using a new digital mockup (DMU) capability, Fairchild Dornier is making headway with the development of its 70-passenger regional jet, the 728JET. "With our DMU, we greatly enhance the precision of our design work, resulting in a higher quality and more efficient assembly," said John Wolf, Fairchild Dornier COO. "We can instantly see any design concerns and make changes before the first metal is cut."

A numerically controlled gantry riveting robot, made by Brotje, will be used to join skin panel sub-assemblies into upper and lower half-shells that will form the aircraft's passenger cabin during final assembly.

Engineers are converting CAD drawings into 3-D digital mockups of the aircraft, enabling various integrated product development teams to see how the individual systems interact with the total aircraft system without having to build a physical mockup. To date, more than 15,000 drawings or models have been added to the DMU—essentially the entire aircraft. The DMU will enable data to be shared with designers and subcontractors in various locations instantly. Since the program is a multi-company effort, this system enhances the final product by letting the various locations see the results of their work as if they were located in the same facility.

Production of the first 728JET began in September 2000. Technicians at SABCA in Belgium manufactured the first aluminum components for the aircraft fuselage, while CASA personnel in Spain fabricated the first components for the wing. Other components being produced in Belgium include those for the empennage. Empennage sections will be assembled by SABCA using components and pressure bulkheads produced by Fairchild Dornier in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

The aircraft's wings will be fabricated and assembled in Spain by CASA before being shipped to Germany for assembly on the airframe in August 2001. Wing production began in October, with assembly of the first center wing box in January 2001 and the outer wing box in February. Final assembly of the first wing is scheduled to begin next month.

Fairchild Dornier completed initial testing on the aircraft's flight control system in November 2000 using its flight control test rig, Iron Bird. The tests, which were performed at the company's primary design and production facility in Oberpfaffenhofen, demonstrated aileron and multifunction spoiler actuators on the test rig, which was configured to represent full-scale primary and secondary flight control systems, landing gear actuation, and thrust reverser operation of the aircraft. The system will be used in conjunction with a cockpit simulator to allow engineers to check system functionality as well as provide assistance during the certification process.

In November, Fairchild Dornier technicians installed wiring harnesses for the rudder, elevator, multifunction spoiler, and ground spoiler and began installation of the hydraulic system. The company expects the test rig to be fully functional sometime this year.

Fairchild Dornier's fuselage team and its tooling supplier Brotje began assembly of the first aircraft skin panels.

The company has recently modernized its 7000-m2 Hangar 316 in Oberpfaffenhofen. Its fuselage team, along with tooling supplier Brotje, began assembly of the first aircraft skin panels. A numerically controlled gantry riveting robot made by Brotje will be used to join skin panel sub-assemblies into upper and lower half-shells that will form the aircraft's passenger cabin during final assembly. The riveter, which has been undergoing acceptance testing, was scheduled to be completely installed by this month.

Fatigue and damage tolerance testing of the 728JET's fuselage "barrel" section began in August 2000 at the Institute for Materials Science and Application Technologie in Dresden, Germany. A total of 200,000 flight cycles will be simulated to optimize the aircraft's fuselage skin and passenger window structure. These tests are scheduled for completion early this year.

The company is also examining an acoustic test specimen consisting of a structural skin panel section with windows, acoustic treatment, and interior trim panels. Different wall configurations will be tested at Dornier GmbH's acoustic test facility in Friedrichshafen, Germany, to determine the most efficient combination relating to noise and weight reduction.

The first 728JET tailcone assembly, built by MAN Technologie AG in Germany, was shipped to Honeywell in the U.S. for compatibility testing with the RA 220 auxiliary power unit. The first production tailcone will be delivered to the Fairchild Dornier facility in Oberpfaffenhofen later this year.

First flight of the 728JET prototype will be in 2002, followed by flight test, certification, and entry into service in 2003.

Frank Bokulich

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