High flying quality from LCL

Citation

(2000), "High flying quality from LCL", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 72 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2000.12772eaf.010

High flying quality from LCL

High flying quality from LCL

Keywords Liquid control, British Aerospace Airbus, Wings, Aviation fuel, Storage, Sealing

As well as providing lift, the wings produced by British Aerospace Airbus provide massive internal volume for fuel storage. Each wing set must be perfectly sealed and impervious to leakage.

A number of static spiral head mixers and cartridge-filling dispensers supplied by Liquid Control Limited mix and dispense some 50 tons of two-component sealing compounds annually.They provide the level of precision needed for this critical application, eliminate waste and optimise mixing consistency.

British Aerospace at Broughton recently invested in further static mixers from LCL. Many other LCL mixing and dispensing machines are used throughout British Aerospace plants.

British Aerospace Airbus at Broughton have state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities dedicated to the manufacture and assembly of wings for all variants of the Airbus family of aircraft, as well as wings and fuselages for Hawker 125 executive jets.

That is a total of 290 wing sets every year. The British Aerospace Airbus workforce know every nook and cranny – and so they should, because they have to ensure that the wings have a perfectly tight and impervious seal at every tiniest point of internal surface.

That means using huge amounts of different kinds of specialist sealants. Some 50 tons of two-component sealing compounds are used each year. It all has to be mixed and dispensed for immediate use with utmost precision and care. And that is where high-flying Liquid Control Limited come in.

British Aerospace Airbus Co-ordinator Peter Round takes up the story: "We are big users of sealant, mixing 55,000 litres a year. Remarkably, years ago, sealant was hand-mixed in pots as required. But when the British Aerospace's Hatfield site shut down, we took over the LCL bulk mixing machines that had been used there. The static spiral head mixers and cartridge-filling dispensers were just what we needed to eliminate unnecessary waste and optimise mixing consistency and quality.

"Whenever operatives need a particular kind of sealant, they just check into the stores to be issued with freshly-filled cartridges of precisely mixed product."

British Aerospace at Broughton recently invested in two more static mixing machines from LCL, who also supply the company with specialised paint mixing machines for aircraft production.

All the machines at Broughton and the many others used throughout British Aerospace at Filton, Brough, Preston, Stevenage and elsewhere are inspected and serviced twice a year by LCL. And British Aerospace look set to remain satisfied customers.

Details available from Liquid Control Limited. Tel: + 44 (0) 1933 277571; Fax: +44 (0)1933 440273.