News: Dreamliner set to take off with help from Rotherham researchers

A bit of Rotherham is set to take to the skies over the USA today in the shape of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, when the new generation of aircraft makes its first flight.

The new jet, the first to be made with a majority of composite materials, is set to take off about 10am (around 5pm UK time) from Everett's Paine Field. It's expected to fly for about five hours before landing at Boeing Field in Seattle.

There are some 840 Dreamliners on order, with the first scheduled for delivery late next year.

What most people in the UK don't know about the 787 is that a quarter of the value of the aircraft comes from the UK. And, regionally, many also don't realise is that a very important part of that value comes from South Yorkshire.

When bidding for the landing gear was opened, manufacturer Messier-Dowty came to the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, to see if it was feasible to make landing gear parts from a new grade of titanium alloy.

Boeing were looking to reduce the weight of the landing gear components whilst crucially retaining the strength and durability. Titanium was the preferred material and AMRC engineers worked with Messier-Dowty to help reduce the machining of the titanium 5553 components by a factor of 18, and reduce their tooling costs by 30 percent.

As a direct result of this, Messier-Dowty became the first British company to win a contract to supply the entire landing gear for a Boeing aircraft.

So, the first time that South Yorkshire holiday makers land while onboard a 787 they should take heart and pride in the fact that one of the most important parts of their flight, the landing gear, was developed in Rotherham.

AMRC website
Boeing 787 website
Rotherham

Images: boeing.com