Moog's key role in Chinese passenger jet project

The C919 is being created by Comac – the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China – and hopes are high that the first aircraft will fly next year.

Before then technicians have to carry out crucial integration testing, to ensure the huge and complex array of thousands of components all work together properly. For the team from Moog, which has designed and developed the flight deck computer and wing surface flight controls, it is the culmination of six year's hard work.

The Wolverhampton factory is a centre for designing, developing and manufacturing flight control actuation – the components that physically control the flaps and slats on an aeroplane's wing. Teams at the site, on the i54, have worked on aircraft such as the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, providing their high-lift flight control systems.

Andy Hughes, Moog's director of programmes for China, said the C919 project involved teams from a series of Moog factories, including the Philippines and the Torrance facility in California which has developed the flight computer.

Mr Hughes said: "We are just about the release the first hardware to start integration testing. It's a landmark for the programme and, if all goes well, we are hoping for flight testing next year."

He said the integration testing would involve an 'iron bird' of the C919, a fuselage simulator test platform that sits in a hanger at the Comac plant on the outskirts of Shanghai.

The C919 is the first commercial airline programme in China, which is hoping the jet liner will be able to compete with the likes of Boeing and Airbus, securing sales with airlines outside of its home country.

It is a groundbreaking project, said Mr Hughes: "We are very proud of our relationship with our Chinese manufacturing partners. We have worked very closely together."

It also puts Moog in pole position to win work on other new projects as China's fledgling aerospace industry takes off. "The potential for the Chinese aviation industry is huge," said Mr Hughes. "Over the next 10 years over a billion people will get on an aircraft for the first time in China, so growth is going to be significant in that region."

The testing will involve around 30-40 people on the team at Wolverhampton as well as colleagues working on the 'iron bird' in China and others at the other Moog facilities. "This project has really leveraged Moog's global capacity," said Mr Hughes. "It has drawn on our skills and technical abilities around the world."

If the C919 is as big a success as the Chinese hope, it could be worth up to $250 million to the Moog site just in Wolverhampton over the aircraft's 20-30 year lifespan of the aircraft.

Meanwhile the workforce at the Moog factory has risen to around 420 as it works on actuation systems for Boeing – its biggest single customer – and Airbus.

The factory is also playing a significant role in the development of the new F-35 joint strike fighter – the biggest defence contract in the world. The F-35B variant of the jet has a short take-off, vertical landing (STOVL) capability, and the JSF team at Moog has developed the actuation that controls the jet engine's Rolls-Royce liftfan, allowing it to change direction and providing that vertical landing ability.

The plane is already lined up for use on the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers.

Moog has just built a 200 sq m facility at the Wolverhampton site to carry out further test and development work on the 'fueldraulic' system that uses fuel rather than traditional hydraulic fluid to enable actuator movements controlling the F-35B's exhaust system.