(At a later stage, when we have had the opportunity to assess your model, we will loan you a "Baby Bee" engine to give you the opportunity to learn to fly your model. We also hope that there will be enough enthusiasm generated by the project to run a flying competition.)

The planning of projects is a very important aspect of an engineer’s job. While this assignment is not a complex project, it will require the use of project planning and time/resource-management to get the model to test-flight status within the given time constraints. The assessors will be looking for clear evidence of this. The 45 man-hours (6 people for 6 x 45minutes lectures + 6 people for 2 x 90 minutes homework) that you have been allocated for this assignment is more than enough time to complete the model if the group adopts a co-operative approach in which each group member contributes to reaching this goal. In the ISE lectures that you attended earlier in the year, you were given notes on "Working as a Team" and "Effective Group Work". We suggest that you re-read these at the first opportunity.

The Airbus range of aircraft is made by a co-operative of three major European countries. Read the following description of how the Airbus is made and relate this to your production of the "Li'l Satan" control-line model aeroplane. The form of the assessment will follow this description.

Airbus Industrie's founding European firms realised they would disappear if they were to continue competing against each other. They decided to co-operate in order to share development costs, while setting their sights on increasing the market share for the aircraft that resulted from their combined efforts. And, they saw an excellent opportunity to fill a market niche overlooked by the other producers. This niche was a short- to medium-range aircraft with a capacity of 250-300 passengers and the operating economics of a twin-engine transport.

Their task was a daunting one. Never before had Europe worked together on such a large -- and truly co-operative -- scale for a civil aircraft program. Each participating company would have to make compromises, putting aside national pride and working hard to overcome difficulties posed by different languages, cultures, and even systems of weights and measures.

Airbus Industrie is owned by Europe's four leading European aerospace companies. Aerospatiale of France and Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus of Germany each have a 37.9 percent share, British Aerospace holds 20 percent, and Spain's CASA has a 4.2 percent share. These four partners have dual roles as shareholders and industrial participants, carrying out most of the design and all aircraft manufacture work under Airbus Industrie's management and co-ordination.

Each partner company operates under the laws of the country in which it is incorporated. The partners are responsible for their own financing of the research, development and production phases of the aircraft programs. Some 32,000 people work directly on Airbus Industrie aircraft within the partner companies.

Italy's Alenia, Fokker of the Netherlands, and Belairbus in Belgium are risk-sharing associate members who participate in selected programs.

Airbus Industrie's production system is one of the most efficient -- and flexible -- in the world. Approximately 96 percent of the aircraft work is performed in plants operated by the partner companies. Fully equipped sections of the Airbus Industrie aircraft are produced in these factories throughout Europe, then transported either to France or Germany for final assembly. The production network is set up in an innovative way that uses the specialised skills of each partner and associate.

Headquartered in Southwest France near the city of Toulouse, Airbus Industrie's role is to manage, market, sell and support the operation of the consortium's aircraft. With some 2,700 staff -- including 33 different nationalities at its headquarters and subsidiaries -- it is the single point of contact for customers on all matters. Spare parts centres are located in Germany at Hamburg, in Singapore and near Washington DC. Training for pilots and maintenance staff is conducted at facilities in Toulouse and Miami. A support and training centre has been built in the People's Republic of China.

Aerospatiale is responsible for the cockpit, forward fuselage sections, some centre fuselage/wingbox sections, engine pylons and lift dumpers. The French company performs final assembly of the A300, A310, A320, A330 and A340 at its facilities next to the Toulouse Blagnac Airport. Outfitting of the A330 and A340 cabin interiors -- including seats and galleys -- also is handled at Toulouse.

Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus builds major fuselage sections, the vertical tail, tail cone, rudder, flaps, spoilers and flap fairings, and assembles wing sections. Final assembly and cabin interior installation for the A321 and A319 are handled at the company's Hamburg facility. Cabin interiors for the A300, A310 and A320 also are installed at Hamburg.

Wings are manufactured by British Aerospace, while CASA in Spain is responsible for production of horizontal stabilisers and elevators, nose landing gear doors and the forward cabin entry doors.

One of the keys to Airbus Industrie's industrial success is that final assembly represents less than four per cent of the work on each aircraft, with the Airbus Industrie partners performing much of the subassembly within their own factories on the portions they produce.

The components produced at the various European sites are flown to Toulouse by a special fleet of transport aircraft. As a result, no major subassembly is out of the production cycle for more than 48 hours. The airlift significantly cuts down on transportation time and eliminates damage that could occur during handling and ground shipment. Four turboprop-powered Super Guppy aircraft performed this service for years. They have been replaced by the Airbus Super Transporter -- a highly modified version of the A300-600. The first of four Airbus A300-600ST Super Transporters entered service in 1995, and three currently are in operation. Delivery of the fourth is planned for the summer of 1998. A fifth A300-600ST was ordered for delivery in 2001.

A subsidiary of Airbus Industrie has been created to offer excess capacity of the A300-600ST fleet for commercial operations.

Airbus Industrie has more than 1,500 suppliers in 27 countries and co-operative agreements exist with aerospace industries in 19 countries. An estimated 100,000 employees internationally are involved in production for Airbus Industrie's programs.

More than 35 percent of components for the consortium's aircraft are supplied from over 500 American companies. Every transport that Airbus Industrie builds brings a return to U.S. industry at least equal to that of the program's European partners. American suppliers include General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, AlliedSignal, BF Goodrich, Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Sundstrand, Westinghouse, and Rohr.

Numerous suppliers also are located in the Asia-Pacific region -- where Airbus Industrie has developed a strong customer base. Singapore Technologies Aerospace produces wing ribs and passenger doors for the A320, and engine mounts and thrust reverser doors for the A340. India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited also builds A320 passenger doors.

The manufacture and sub-assembly of upper fuselage shells for one section of the A330/A340 family is handled by Korean Air Aerospace Division. Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries builds skin panels for one of the fuselage sections on the new A321, while Sumitomo Precision Products supplies landing gear jacks for the A330/A340 program.

To support the growing number of aircraft in the Chinese market, Airbus Industrie made a $50 million investment in the CASC-Airbus Beijing Training & Service Centre. It includes two simulator bays and an area for overhaul and handling of spare parts.

Components for Airbus Industrie aircraft, along with maintenance equipment are acquired from three Chinese companies. The Guizhou Aviation Industrial Group is supplying maintenance jigs and tools for the A320 and A330/A340; while Shenyang Aircraft Corporation is a supplier of emergency exit doors and wing ribs for the A319/A320/A321 family, access panels for the A300, and machined parts for the A310. Another Chinese supplier is Xian Aircraft Company.

In Australia, Aerospace Technologies of Australia developed and produces A330/A340 main landing gear bay structures and doors, and also makes the A320's wing shroud box. BTR Industries builds a range of components -- including wing ribs, carbon fiber fairings and wingtip fences -- for both the widebody and single-aisle models in Airbus Industrie's family. British Aerospace Australia produces electrical wiring for the A320, and Lucas Aerospace Australia handles major overhaul and repair of Airbus aircraft.

Airbus Industrie has provided technical consulting for flight tests of the N-250 turboprop regional airliner developed by the country's Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN).

Co-operative efforts are underway with the Russian Federation's long-established aircraft industry. An order has been placed for 200 shipsets of a Russian-produced main rib to be used in engine pylons on the A319/A320/A321 aircraft family. The rib will be manufactured by Tupolev from forged titanium supplied by metals producer VSMPO. A program with Tupolev to build a specimen of an A321 forward cargo door frame also is in progress.

In a similar way to that followed by the Airbus co-operative, you must form into two subgroups of three people, with one group responsible for construction of the wing and the other for the construction of the nacelle and tail assembly.

The first assessment will be will be based on how well the subgroups have performed their tasks and on how well they have conformed to the plans, neatness and accuracy of construction. The second assessment will be based on the progress the whole group has made on the model during the six lectures and the 2 homework periods. This assessment will be made at the end of Assignment 23.

The final assessment will be made during an assignment in Cycle 4. The assessors will be looking at the air-worthiness of the model and whether or not to loan an engine to the group for flight trails.

As part of this assessment, the group will be required to report on the contribution made by each member to the construction of the plane. The final marks will be awarded accordingly.

Each Group will receive a kit of materials to build the model. The kit will comprise the following:

Note: All measurements are in mm unless stated otherwise.

Visit the Mec104W web site on a regular basis for further instructions and for product information such as "How to use Solar Film". It is too expensive to provide each group with this sort of information.

Note: If you photocopy rather than trace the templates to aid cutting out of the parts, make sure the photocopier is making copies with the same scale 1:1. Again, measure twice and cut once.