Latest news about Midlands aerospace

GE Aviation has placed an order with ITP Engines UK to undertake critical tests on its latest new aero engines. 

ITP will be conducting a series of tests including bird strike and fan blade-out tests, focusing on GE’s next generation composite fan blades.

The tests will be performed over the next two years at ITP’s Rugby fan test facility.

Rolls-Royce has won a US$2.6bn order, at list prices, from Singapore Airlines for Trent engines to power 20 Airbus A350-900 and five Airbus A380 aircraft.

Nick Devall, Rolls-Royce Chief Commercial Officer – Civil Aerospace, said: "We are very pleased that Singapore Airlines has continued to select Trent engines. This order further demonstrates the airline’s commitment to both Trent XWB and Trent 900 technology and our comprehensive TotalCare ® support services."

Midlands aerospace supplier Advanced Chemical Etching Limited (A.C.E.) is investing more than £1m to plan for future growth.

The company has taken on two new adjacent factory units and is acquiring additional state-of-the-art equipment that will enable it to reduce lead times and further improve quality.

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne has announced that Rolls-Royce and the University of Birmingham are establishing a new £60m High Temperature Research Centre.

The centre will help develop future generations of aero engines, and is focused initially on investment casting, design for manufacture and systems simulation.

Moog Aircraft Group has opened its new facilities at the prestigious i54 development site near Wolverhampton.

Moog Business Unit General Manager Stuart Mclachlan, who is also a Midlands Aerospace Alliance director, says: "this is a key strategic move for Moog, and this world class facility will allow the business to support and grow our market leading position in actuation systems.”

The Midlands Aerospace Alliance exhibited at this week's ILA Berlin airshow for the first time, alongside an excellent group of UK companies, including Castle Metals, Cinch, Delcam, Indestructible Paint, Maycast and Tritech.

The UK aerospace suppliers village was located within the excellent International Suppliers Centre (ISC) hall, which had its own busy schedule of "meet-the-buyer" meetings for exhibiting companies to meet German primes and tier 1s one-to-one.