PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 01, 1995 -- Employees at the Boeing Defense & Space Group, Helicopters Division, plant in suburban Philadelphia will deliver the first production-representative V-22 Osprey fuselage to their team members at Bell Helicopter, Textron in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, Dec. 4.
The fuselage will be towed from the Boeing plant to Philadelphia International Airport by truck and loaded aboard a U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft for the flight to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth. After arrival at the Bell Helicopter facility in Arlington, Texas, the wing, which is being assembled there, will be installed on the fuselage.
Integrated Product Teams (IPTs) using advanced manufacturing technologies and new, world-class processes have reduced the V-22 fly-away cost by 23 percent during the initial three years of the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase. Cost reduction efforts to-date represent a $5 billion procurement cost savings over the life of the program.
IPTs also have reduced the weight of the V-22. Currently, the empty weight is 524 pounds below the planned design weight for this stage of the program and 1,313 pounds below the contract guaranteed specification weight.
Stu Dodge, Bell Boeing V-22 program director, says "IPTs have consistently driven weight and cost out of the program. We expect to go into production at a weight significantly below the specification weight and are committed to meeting our unit fly-away design-to-cost target of $29.4 million."
The aircraft is one of four flying Ospreys and two ground-test articles being produced under the EMD program initiated in October 1992. Its first flight will be in December 1996.