Textron Innovations Inc.

Spirit Aerosystems, Inc.

Spirit Acrosystems, Inc.

Clark Ray Miller

David Scott Anderson

Michael Arthur Champa

Mark Kenyon Venskus

Aaron Paul Shirley

Troy Lynn Wampler

Edwin H Fenn

Jennifer Lynn Graham-Rateliff

Shawn Durwin Doggett

Craig James Brownell

Zachary Richard Matson

Stephen Eldred Walters

Royce Heick

Ryan Plourde

William Richardson

Jason Short

An aircraft skin alignment system includes a support structure to support one or more aircraft skins, a puller tool, and a clamp tool; the puller tool having a base, the base supporting a holding mechanism to releasably engage with a first aircraft skin and a pulling mechanism to apply a pulling force to the first aircraft skin when the first aircraft skin is engaged with the holding mechanism; and the clamp tool having a body supporting an edge locator; the puller tool is to pull the first aircraft skin such that a first edge of the aircraft skin abuts the edge locator, the edge locator preventing the first edge from being pulled past the edge locator; and tool holes can be drilled into the first aircraft skin such that the tool holes are aligned based on an edge index due to a position of the edge locator.

Aircraft skin alignment system and method with edge indexing

An engine support truss assembly for aircraft includes a mounting plate having a front side and a back side opposite the front side, a truss structure mechanically coupled to the front side of the mounting plate, and a backup structure mechanically coupled to the back side of the mounting plate. The truss structure includes a plurality of structural members each including precipitation-hardened stainless steel. The backup structure is configured to provide mechanical support to the truss structure.

Engine truss for aircraft

An automated method of verifying a part includes scanning the part to create a three-dimensional computer-based model of the part, indexing the computer-based model of the part to a three-dimensional nominal part design, and adjusting the shape of the model to generate an adjusted model with a shape corresponding to the shape of the nominal part design. The adjusted model is compared to the nominal part design to identify variations between the size and configuration of the adjusted model and the target part design are determined. Furthermore, it is determined whether adjusting the part to conform to the nominal part design would compromise the structure of the part.

Method of part verification

A system and method for assembling a 360-degree section of an aircraft fuselage or nacelle by properly positioning a plurality of assembly panels relative to a machine datum representing an assembly-level datum schema, drilling full-sized holes proximate to a second skin edge of the panels with the machine, net-trimming a second edge of the panels with the machine, then using the full-sized holes proximate to the second skin edges as alignment features to properly orient and attach pairs of the panels together proximate to first skin edges, opposite of the second skin edges with an auxiliary machine, forming panel pairs. Control systems may be installed into the panel pairs separately and independently, then the panel pairs may be joined together, aligning the full-sized holes proximate to the second edges, and inserting fasteners through the aligned full-sized holes proximate to the second skin edges.

System and method for assembling aircraft components

Growing community of inventors

Wichita, KS, United States of America

Clark Ray Miller