Construction work has started on Airbus’s industry-leading £38m wing structure test centre at its giant Filton plant.
Around two hundred Airbus employees who will work in the Airbus Wing Integration Centre (AWIC) gathered at the site to mark the start of building work.
The new facility will be an advanced testing centre for large structural components. It will enable Airbus and its partners to develop new and cutting-edge ideas for wings of the future, helping underpin the UK as one of the world’s leading aerospace sectors.
The centre, which will open next year, will feature the latest stress-testing technology to speed up and improve structural testing of Airbus aircraft wings, fuel systems and landing gear.
It will house a massive ‘strong’ wall and floor capable of testing a complete aircraft wing as well as large one-off test rigs for new materials and wing parts for next-generation planes assembled, as one Airbus executive described, like a “giant Meccano set”.
Airbus also said it would be a proving ground for future innovations and would be open to its suppliers and universities to perform fatigue tests.
Airbus UK HR director and general manager Mark Stewart said: “Creating the wing of the future will be no easy task. The teams will explore the best materials, manufacturing and assembly techniques available, as well as new technologies in aerodynamics and wing architecture. The Airbus Wing Integration Centre will provide the team with the latest equipment to perform a range of diverse and extensive testing.”
Attendees at the ceremony included Galliford Try, the contractors for the construction of AWIC, the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK, part funders of the project.
Pictured: Airbus employees celebrate the start of construction of the Airbus Wing Integration Centre
