Composite tails prove airworthy

Citation

(2001), "Composite tails prove airworthy", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 73 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2001.12773aab.004

Composite tails prove airworthy

Composite tails prove airworthy

Keywords: Boeing, Northrop Grumman

A new, lighter horizontal stabiliser for the Boeing C-17 Globemaster IH has been developed by the US Air Force and industry partners. The hybrid composite/metal structure is 20 per cent lighter than the aluminium tail it replaces, and also eliminates 90 per cent (2,000) of the parts, 81 per cent (42,000) of the fasteners, and 70 per cent of the tools needed to produce the aircraft's tail.

The new tail, built by Northrop Grumman Commercial Aviation (Dallas, Texas), was installed on C-17 test aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base (Long Beach, California) recently. Test flights performed at altitudes ranging from 20,000 to 22,500ft (6,100 to 6,860m) at maximum C-17 speed confirmed that the tail performed as expected. The test flights followed extensive ground testing.

The C-17 composite tail was designed under the Military Products Using Best Commercial/ Military Practices pilot programme, with the goal of demonstrating a weight saving of 20 per cent and a cost saving of 50 per cent over the metal tail baseline.

The new composite tail is being installed on all C-17 aircraft. Boeing is under contract with the Air Force to build and deliver 120 C-17s in 2004.