SEATTLE, Nov. 07, 1996 -- Boeing has completed production of the wings for the world's first F-22 air dominance fighter.
Machinists today loaded the wings into a specially designed transportation box. Tomorrow, Boeing will fly the wings out of Boeing Field in Seattle aboard a military cargo jet for delivery to Marietta, Ga. There, F-22 team partner Lockheed Martin will join the wings to the F-22's fuselage. The delivery is on schedule to support first flight in May 1997.
"As our last major delivery for the first F-22, the wings represent a Boeing commitment to designing and building state-of-the-art fighter aircraft," said Frank Statkus, Boeing F-22 vice president and program manager. "Beyond the wings, our team is proud of every single component and system we've provided for the F-22 -- the most capable fighter in the world."
Other Boeing deliveries for the first F-22 include the rear fuselage, power supplies, auxiliary power units, auxiliary power generation systems, airframe-mounted accessory drives and the fire-protection system.
Boeing also provides the radar, avionics integration and test, 70 percent of mission software development, and the training and life-support systems as part of its overall participation on the fighter program.
The F-22's wings, which function as fuel tanks, have undergone a series of pressure tests to ensure they are leak proof. Qualification testing to ensure all other systems are functional also has been conducted.
Boeing applied several advanced manufacturing processes to build the wings, which are made primarily of titanium and composites.
The wings are the first to contain spars produced by resin-transfer molding (RTM), an advanced process for manufacturing complex composite parts that reduces cost and improves quality and consistency. Also, the spars use a corrugated "sine-wave" design that makes them stronger and lighter than the traditional "I-beam" design.
The wings, along with the first F-22 rear fuselage built by Boeing and delivered Oct. 16, herald industry's first use of an automated, laser-guided drilling machine. Developed by Boeing, the system uses lasers with a targeting feature and automated data feedback software to guide the drill exactly to the correct location before drilling. It does so by measuring the relative position of the drill to the structure and automatically making positional adjustments. Holes are drilled to within .007-inch tolerance of engineering specifications and their location, size and depth are controlled by engineering data fed into a computer. Operated by machinists, the system drills about 7,000 holes in each wing. The holes are used for wing-skin, fairing and door attachments.
Laser-guided precision drilling eliminates expensive tooling, ensures quality and eliminates the costly rework associated with manual drilling.
The F-22 program also heralds the first application of titanium castings in aircraft primary structure. Using an advanced process that involves subjecting castings to intense heat and pressure in an autoclave, the F-22 team was able to cast multiple complex shapes as a single high-strength titanium structure. The process avoids weight by eliminating mechanical joints and reduces material costs and machining time.
This is the first of 11 sets of wings Boeing is building under the current F-22 Engineering and Manufacturing Development program for the U.S. Air Force.
The F-22 is designed to ensure U.S. control of the skies over any battlefield against any potential adversary well into the 21st century.