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The company for the transportation and delivery of goods DHL provides delivery of spare parts for aircraft in the United States. The first batch included 80,000 tons of various parts, which successfully applied in practice for the construction of aircraft.
Airbus plant in mobile Alabama: the principle of aircraft assembly
The full production cycle of one plane (from the assembly of the first part to the delivery of the aircraft to the customer) is about a year, and the main components of the aircraft are made in 4 countries: the nose and front fuselage in French Saint-Nazaré, the middle and tail fuselage in Hamburg, the horizontal stabilizer in Spanish Getafe, the vertical stabilizer in the German Stade, the wings in English Broughton, the flaps in Bremen.
Airbus was formed in the late 1960ies through the merger of several European aircraft manufacturers. The headquarters of the company is located in the city of Blagnac (suburb of Toulouse, France), as well as the main assembly facilities. At the same time, the company has as many as four assembly sites in:
- Toulouse (France)
- Hamburg (Germany)
- Mobile (Alabama, USA)
- Tianjin (China).
Three assembly sections of the fuselage, two wings, a keel and two stabilizers enter the assembly production. Seven parts get aircraft ready. Engines, salon and more on the details are mounted in another hangar. Here the final assembly of the aircraft takes place, from connecting the fuselage parts to equipment, electronics and interior trim.
Large elements of aircraft – parts of the fuselage, wings, and stabilizers are delivered by air truck Beluga.
The 150-seat Airbus A320 was the best-selling Airbus Alabama airplane in its history. This is the first aircraft in the world, on which the electric remote control system was installed. The planes were not controlled directly from the steering wheel, but by taking readings from the handles installed on the sides of the cab and then transmitting the impulses to the hydraulic drives.
Unlike all the other wide-body aircraft being developed at this time, this was the first narrow-bodied aircraft.
For initial deliveries, two modifications were created: A320-100 and A320-200 with passenger capacity of 130 and 150 passengers respectively. Later the capacity of both airliners became equal to 150.
The first flight was carried out on February 22, 1987.
Based on this model, elongated A321 and truncated A318 and A319 were created.
The modification of the Americas A320neo is distinguished by new, more economical engines, allowing increasing the range of flight by more than 500 miles, reduced noise and emissions.
Airbus plant Alabama: transportation
In the process of transportation, five components, which will later be used to assemble the aircraft, are to be loaded on board. Their total weight does not exceed 30 tons. They are firmly fixed, and after that, for several hours, the details are transferred to a cargo ship.
After the cargo is delivered, it is unpacked and transported back. In addition, up to 4,000 different pieces of cargo can also fit into the containers. For transportation, various containers are used, which are subsequently re-applied.