Airbus has awarded Tulsa, Oklahoma-based aerospace supplier Nordam a contract to manufacture a lightweight composite part that supports the A350-1000’s cargo floor. The new contract represents Nordam’s first provision of a structural component for Airbus.
Nordam’s Interiors & Structures Division fabricates the part—known as a “crutch”—for HexMC, a proprietary Hexcel product that transforms AS4 carbon fiber strips into a randomly oriented mat that can be cut and compression-molded into complex geometries. Nordam is one of only two licensed molders of the material in the world.
The first A350-1000 started final assembly in Toulouse earlier this year. Nordam has been ramping up its crutch program since 2015 and has completed more than 1,000 parts. Under the terms of the deal, full production will entail the manufacture of more than 1,500 crutches per year over the life of the program.