Bae Systems, Inc.

Alistair James Fletcher

Jonathan Michael Carberry

Graham Peter Coulier

Jack Richard Sharples

A method of producing a shim for use in an aircraft, the method comprising: providing an aircraft airframe; measuring a surface of the airframe; creating a digital model of the airframe using those measurements; providing an aircraft skin; measuring a surface of the aircraft skin; creating a digital model of the aircraft skin using those measurements; digitally assembling the digital model of the airframe with the digital model of the aircraft skin; using the digitally assembled models, creating a digital model of a shim, the digital model of the shim substantially filling a gap between the digitally assembled digital models of the airframe and the skin; and producing a physical shim using the digital model of the shim.

Method and apparatus for producing shims

A method of producing a component part () of an aircraft airframe (), the method comprising: providing a first digital model, the first digital model being a digital model of the component part (); producing an initial physical part using the first digital model; measuring a surface of the initial physical part; creating a second digital model using the measurements of the surface of the initial physical part, the second digital model being a digital model of the initial physical part; specifying one or more fastener holes () in the second digital model; and drilling one or more fastener holes () in the initial physical part using the second digital model with the one or more fastener holes specified therein, thereby producing the component part () of an aircraft airframe ().

Method and apparatus for producing component parts of aircraft airframes

A method of producing a shim for use in an aircraft airframe () comprising: providing a plurality of component parts () of the aircraft airframe (); measuring a surface of each of the component parts () and creating a digital models of the component part () therefrom; digitally assembling together the digital models of the component parts () thereby to produce a digital model () of at least part of the aircraft airframe (); using that digital model (), creating a digital model of a shim (), the digital model of the shim () filling a gap between at least two digital models of component parts () in the digital model () of at least part of the aircraft airframe (); and producing a physical shim using the digital model of the shim ().

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Balderstone, United Kingdom

Alistair James Fletcher