Defence Business: Helicopter assembly 101 in Brisbane | ADM Nov 2010

To state that assembly of the MRH90 utility helicopters destined for the ADF takes place in Brisbane gives the impression of a relatively simple procedure; one in which large sections of aircraft are bolted or riveted together to create the completed product.

Julian Kerr | Sydney and Brisbane

The reality is a complex, sophisticated 16,000-manhour process which is constantly being tweaked to improve efficiency as the production run for 42 of the 46 MRH90s on order for Army and the RAN progresses.

The first four helicopters were manufactured at Eurocopter’s headquarters at Marignane in France.

Thirteen MRHs had been delivered to the Commonwealth by the end of September, and the last is scheduled to be completed in mid 2014.

Should the NHIndustries’ NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) primed by Australian Aerospace be selected as the RAN’s new naval combat helicopter, this would neatly dovetail with the requirement for the first Australian-assembled NFH to be delivered in the second half of the same year.

While technical skills for the MRH90 assembly process were initially transferred from Europe to Australia, senior managers from Australian Aerospace are set to spend extended periods at Eurocopter plants in France, Germany and Finland to pass on the expertise that has been developed locally.

The creation of an MRH90 begins in four locations.

The forward structure is produced at Marignane, the centre structure is produced by Eurocopter Deutschland at Donnauworth in Germany, the rear fuselage is manufactured by Agusta at Brindisi in Italy, while the pylone (foldable tail) is made by Stork Fokker at Papendrecht in the Netherlands.

The three components not produced in Germany are transferred to Station 1 in Donnauworth where all four sections are placed in a robotically-controlled mating machine which draws them together, drills the rivet holes and installs the rivets to form the whole structure.

The underfloor area is fitted with fuel bags and electrical harnesses and the fuselage shell is then transported to Australian Aerospace’s facilities at Brisbane Airport.

These consist of three separate buildings – Final Assembly Line (FAL); Production facility for Ground Test, Inspections and Flight Test; and the MRH Software Support Centre (MSSC) used for Software Development and Test. 

These facilities are also used in the assembly of the 22 Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters (ARH) being delivered to Army.

Local work

Some 95 per cent of assembly takes place in the FAL, with the aircraft spending about 28 weeks in the assembly bays there before being moved to the Production building for Ground Test, Inspection and finally Flight Test where the final five per cent of the process is undertaken.

Completion of the first Brisbane-assembled MRH90 took about 28,000 man-hours from arrival of the fuselage to delivery to the Commonwealth.

Since then, enhanced skills, techniques and familiarity with the aircraft have reduced the average production period to around 16,000 man hours, with a target of 10,000.

This follows the implementation last year of a so-called “go-fast” project which analysed the processes and lead times in FAL and Production and implemented what Mark Arthur, Australian Aerospace’s Director Production, believes is world’s best practice.

“The improvement in the number of hours we’re putting into the aircraft and also the duration in terms of working days is significant,” he comments.

“The first and second aircraft spent about 300 working days in FAL and Production.

“We now have that down to a target of around 130 days and we’re pretty much achieving that, and we believe we can get that down to 110-120 days.”

These results, according to Dr Martin Werner, the company’s vice president government helicopters, mean that Australian Aerospace is now setting the benchmarks for Eurocopter’s European factories.

Part of the go-fast initiative was to refine the workstation concept in FAL.

After completion of the preparatory airframe work at Station 1 in Donnauworth, the fuselage shell is then delivered to Station 2 in Brisbane, where it undergoes final structural fit out prior to commencing the mechanical/electrical installations.

Undercarriages and hydraulics are also installed over a seven-week period.

Aircraft then move to one of three assembly bays, where three flowing teams sequentially each perform seven weeks’ work.

Team One is responsible for the main avionics bays, harnessing, pylon installation, hydraulic testing, and main gearbox buildup and installation.

Team Two completes harnessing and handles driveshafts, tail and intermediate gearboxes, auxiliary power unit, cockpit buildup, and upper deck hydraulic components.

Finally, Team Three undertakes equipment installations, power-off tests, cabin close out, upper deck cowlings, sponsons, doors, fairings, after which the aircraft is 95 per cent complete and is moved to Ground Test.

Approximately 260 harnesses are installed during assembly.

This equates to about 30 per cent of the assembly effort.

The harnesses consist of conventional aircraft harnessing, fibre optics, RF cabling and Mil Bus, and play a vital role in the MRH90’s fly-by-wire operating system.

At Ground Test, aircraft power is applied for the first time and hydraulics, flight controls, undercarriages, instrumentation and indication, fuel, communication and mission systems are tested over approximately 35 days.

During final inspection, specially-qualified inspectors perform detailed checks of the entire aircraft and systems for serviceability and build standard over about 15 days.

The process generally identifies a number of damaged parts or faulty boxes which are repaired or replaced before the aircraft is released for Flight Test.

The four-strong flight test team – two pilots and two flight test engineers – put both the MHR90 and Tiger ARH through their paces and is led by Jim Holden, a former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot who subsequently served with the RAN before joining Australian Aerospace as chief test pilot.

“When you’re in the Tiger you’re still wearing a silk scarf; when you’re in the MRH90 you’re really managing systems,” he commented.

Testing

Flight testing takes up to 20 flight hours and includes ground runs, weight and balance tests, and flight tests of basic and mission systems.

Innovations introduced to enhance the assembly process include the establishment of what the company calls the container marketplace.

This was designed to rectify the problems caused by the arrival in Australia from Europe of containers with work packages missing vital parts and components which then had to be air-freighted to avoid disrupting production schedules.

This resulted in Australian Aerospace embedding two staff at Marignane to coordinate all the parts arriving at Eurocopter for the Australian operation.

“We put them into an Australian Aerospace-type warehouse to organise and package according to the workpacks or kits that we require,” Arthur said.

“It’s shrink-wrapped on a cardboard base so it’s easy to confirm that the necessary parts and documentation are in there.

“Back in Australia, a team leader will issue a number of workpack orders and the following day the store will have the workpacks ready in the required zone.

“Team members will take the relevant workpack to the aircraft, they know what work is required, and the parts are right there in front of them.

“It’s a lot different to the process we used to have which is probably more traditional in aerospace, where parts were simply pushed from the warehouse and stacked around the aircraft, people had to search out the right things from multiple boxes and there was a lot of rubbish.

“It’s had a dramatic impact here on the efficiency of the guys on the floor.”

Faster throughput in FAL has raised concerns about a possible bottleneck forming in the Production area.

This became evident late last year, and a re-management process is underway aimed at reducing lead times in ground test and final inspection.

“The current lead time from arrival of the fuselage to delivery of the Commonwealth is about 14 months and I believe we can get that down to about 12 months,” Arthur said.

“There are some fundamental things we can do differently and I expect to start seeing the results of that very shortly”.

Cost concerns

So what are the cost differences between assembling the MRH90 in Australia rather than importing it fully assembled?

Dr Jens Goennemann, CEO of Australian Aerospace, says there's no doubt that the greatest economic benefit to the nation comes from local assembly.

“Building the helicopter here in Australia creates value and worth to the economy through jobs and technology transfer and strengthens both the nation's independent defence capability and its industrial manufacturing capacity,” Goennemann comments.

A report by leading economic consulting firm Access Economics shows that the MRH90 helicopter project would see Australian Aerospace spending an estimated $908 million in 2006 dollars on ‘Local Industry Activities’ (LIA) over the current 10 year contract period, he says.

"This includes $400 million in acquisition of local content and $508 million for sustainment,” Goennemann said.

Deliveries on the mark

Australian Aerospace delivered its 13th MRH90 on 3 September 2010.

Another three helicopters are scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2010.

A total of 46 MRH90s have been ordered by the Army and Navy to replace existing Black Hawk and Sea King helicopters.

Dr Jens Goennemann, CEO of Australian Aerospace said he was pleased to report that the delivery program was progressing well despite a temporary cessation of flying operations earlier in 2010 when an MRH90 experienced a shutdown of one of its two engines.

Australian Aerospace is on track to deliver all MRH90s during 2010 as contracted in the schedule.

“The engine manufacturer, Rolls Royce-Turbomeca, is currently working with the ADF on the root cause, and, in the meantime, the MRH90s have resumed flying operations,” Goennemann said.

“Two helicopters have been accepted since the resumption of flying and the MRH90 delivery, testing and training program is now building momentum.”

These first 13 deliveries comprise aircraft assembled to Product Base Line (PBL) 01 and 02 standard.

The remaining 33 aircraft will be assembled to PBL 03 standard incorporating enhanced avionics and other systems designed to ease and lighten crew workload.

Eventually, the initial 13 MRH90s will be returned to Australian Aerospace and upgraded to PBL 03 standard.

Dr Goennemann said he was also pleased to report that work on a strengthened floor being developed for the Australian MRHs was progressing smoothly and on track for serialised production in 2011.

The new floor also provides additional equipment tie-down points.

It will be incorporated in the yet-to-be assembled PBL 03 MRHs and, later, retrofitted to the PBL 01 and PBL 02 aircraft.

“In a huge program such as this one, involving complex and advanced technologies, one is often confronted with unexpected engineering challenges,” Goennemann said.