GKN Aerospace to build HondaJet fuselage
15 Apr 2011
GKN Aerospace, a tier-I supplier to the global aviation industry has been selected to build the entire fuselage for the HondaJet, it said at a press conference in London. The all-composite fuselage will be built in two sections before being combined.
The UK-based specialist works on fixed and rotary-wing aerospace platforms and is a leader in composite and metallic technologies.
Production fuselage sections will begin being delivered in the second quarter of next year to Honda Aircraft for final assembly at its Greensboro, NC facility in the United States.
GKN chief executive, Marcus Bryson, said that the group had been working with Honda for four or five years before being confirmed as its production partner.
Meanwhile, GKN is continuing its future wing technology research programme with Gulfstream Aerospace. The partners are looking at future metal wings for business jets, focusing on friction stir welding techniques to improve cost efficiency.
GKN aerospace is equally focused on military and civil markets.
