Alcoa and Spirit AeroSystems Show the Future of Next Generation Jetliner Production is Now with an Advanced Aluminum Fuselage Panel at the Paris Air Show

Alcoa News Release
June 19, 2011

Alcoa and Spirit AeroSystems will debut for the aerospace industry a revolutionary fuselage panel at the 2011 Paris Air Show to highlight the promise of new aluminum-based production solutions for commercial airliners that are dramatically lighter, lower-cost and have lower production risks than composite-intensive aircraft. And importantly, which can be built using existing industry infrastructure.

This full-sized panel was produced with Alcoa’s third-generation Al-Li 2060 aluminum-lithium alloy, then stretch-formed by Spirit AeroSystems into the final curved shape for use in a jetliner’s fuselage. It demonstrates the compatibility of advanced aluminum alloys with the existing manufacturing supply chain of new commercial jetliners, delivering the strength, damage tolerance, and corrosion resistance of metallics at the lighter weight inherent in Alcoa’s new solutions. This new combination of performance attributes and aircraft operating costs available with advanced metallic solutions stands in contrast to earlier assessments that drove some airframers to increased use of composites.

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