Major Project 1978-1980
Location – United Kingdom
Project Value – £8million

I have worked on major projects for Rolls Royce for nearly 20 years. These projects all involved the manufacture of high precision components and assemblies made from exotic materials.

RB211-535 project

In 1979 I was appointed the Project Manager to manufacture a batch of 6 prototype aero engines for Rolls Royce. This was a further development of the world famous RB211 engine that was to achieve 35,000lbs of thrust. The development was required for a new order from Eastern Airlines (USA) and I was responsible to deliver the main fabrications and machined parts directly onto the Test Bed at Sinfin A site, Nottingham, ready for start-up.

RB211-524 Lightweight Thrust Reverser Project

In 1978 I was appointed to manufacture the first lightweight thrust reversers for the RB211. Conventional lightweight aluminium structures had always used rivets for attachment, but the challenge for this project was to use bonding for the first time. The forces exerted on these parts during landing are immense and the effectiveness of the bonding material is directly related to the fit condition of the components. This project used new forming and heat treatment processes to ensure consistency of the parts prior to assemble and successfully demonstrated this now robust process.