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Ferchau Engineering, operated by Bournemouth-based KDC Group in the UK, formed part of the Airbus-Wing-Level team that has received a bronze award from the Royal Aeronautical Society Award. The award was presented for the work done on testing the wing structure on the A350XWB Airliner.
Ferchau Engineering in the UK provide engineering project services and support to the Aerospace industry. The team at Ferchau, led by Darren Bowes, have been working alongside Airbus and partners from six other countries since 2012, to plan and execute the Major Tests campaign on the A350XWB. The campaign is a key part of the certification process for the airliner, with the most significant achievements include enabling A350 First Flight and delivering certification documents critical to the type certification of the A350XWB.
In the Award nomination, Andrew Williams from Airbus was clear how successful the project has been and in particular how well the team has worked together for the benefit of Airbus:
“This multi-disciplinary team has forged new ways of working, not just across different operational departments but often across trans national boundaries and also different companies (suppliers and Risk Sharing Partners) to ensure that the Wing organisation is ready for the start of the major test programme. The team set an example for clear communication within their own organisation and also with external stakeholders and was a key contributor of ideas to compress overall timescales for the test programme by removing applications of lower load levels and optimising instrumentation and inspection requirements during the campaign.”
Peter Burden, UK Chief Executive Officer, is delighted with the award and commented “this is testament to the dedication and commitment the team has shown in providing Airbus with a first class service. We have demonstrated again our ability to offer customers the most cost effective quality engineering solutions. We look forward to developing our relationship with Airbus in the future.”
The Royal Aeronautical Society has been honouring outstanding achievers in the global aerospace industry since 1909, when Wilbur and Orville Wright received the Society’s first Gold Medal. In the years that have followed, honouring world aerospace achievers has become a permanent tradition of the Society. As “the world’s most prestigious and long-standing aerospace awards honouring achievement, innovation and excellence”, the awards continue to be ground-breaking in recognising outstanding achievement in a fast changing industry. Awards and Medals are presented four times a year in conjunction with the Society’s Lectures.
[Caption: Airbus A350XWB pre-flight trials]