Cirrus Composite Airframes

I found a very interesting Youtube peek inside of the Cirrus airplane assembly factory in Minnesota.  While it would be cool to learn more about the actual composites fabrication of the individual parts, there is some great information about part bonding, inspection, and final assembly of the Cirrus aircraft.  They use fiberglass and carbon fiber reinforcements to create a very strong and durable fuselage, and it is great to see in action.

Personal jets made of composite materials offer many advantages and unique properties.  Design of complex shapes and anti corrosion of aluminum are two advantages.  Disadvantages include repeatability and upgrading/modification.

Composites that are properly designed and fabricated can be used in many applications where safety is a big concern.  Proper design and inspection during production can create an airplane that can be easily maintained and have a very long life.

Great factory tour courtesy of Aero-TV:

5 Axis Filament Winder

Filament winding is a process that can be used to create round fiberglass shapes with exceptional strength characteristics.  Used for piping, tubing, and tanks, filament winding is normally an automated process that has computer-controlled equipment to place glass and resin around a mandrel- the piece that functions as the mold.

There are many variables that can be modified for filament winding, and these will affect the strength characteristics of the finished piece.  The angle of the glass, number of passes (thickness), use of glass mat, and type of resin will affect the finished product strength characteristics.

I found a short video that demonstrates the equipment and the process.

As you can see, the glass is applied in a consistent manner across the part, allowing for uniform strength characteristics.  As you can see, this is yet another process that the composites industry uses to create useful products with advantages over those of competitors.