It's surprising to me how small the cargo-hold is. I've always imagined it to be a lot bigger, but now that I think about it (having seen it), it makes a lot of sense..
A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
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Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#12Looking at those pictures I wonder how assembly, from unloading cargo to final testing, could be fully automated. I came to think that until we automate automation it will be quite hard. Humans with assist of tools are flexible enough - especially on this scale.
The structure could be different. For example with latest composites you can assemble the dry fibers, maybe with some stitching to keep them in place, wrap them in a bag and use vacuum to infuse them with resin.
No fasteners and large monolithic parts. Sometimes you need an autoclaves, sometimes not. Things like point loads would need to be designed out as much as possible.
Likely because of large existing investments, politics and path dependence, the new airliners built differently will have come from somewhere else.
Airbus itself did disrupt the market with composites back in the day with their first plane, and they have a multi megawatt class electric ones in the works, so who knows, maybe they can renew?
Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#13Looking at those pictures I wonder how assembly, from unloading cargo to final testing, could be fully automated. I came to think that until we automate automation it will be quite hard. Humans with assist of tools are flexible enough - especially on this scale.
you will have to re-think the whole assembly process. And it's a bit far-fetched to think of an automated process for a A321.
I would try to design a small plane - such as the next-gen Cessna - that could be built mostly by robots. Maybe hire most of the engineers from the carkmaker industry (Mercedes-Benz, Tesla). Then move up from there.
Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#14Fascinating to see something made not in China, and even the components don't come from there. (I realize they also do assembly and produce some components in China too.)
Why the hostility?
Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#15Fascinating to see something made not in China, and even the components don't come from there. (I realize they also do assembly and produce some components in China too.)
You may be interested to learn that about 77% of the world's manufacturing happens somewhere that's not China.
Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#16The vivid color contrasts in these photos make them visually stunning, but do they serve any functional purpose?
Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#17> Almost a third of American factory workers now hold four-year college degrees, a trend that reflects the increasingly cerebral nature of the work. Wow.
Im waiting for "one third of factory jobs require a four-year degree" before getting to excites about cerebral natures. There are a great number of people with degrees out there. I want to see that the jobs require the education to do the work, not that market forces mean that unnecessary degrees make an applicant more competative.
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Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#18> Almost a third of American factory workers now hold four-year college degrees, a trend that reflects the increasingly cerebral nature of the work. Wow.
Im waiting for "one third of factory jobs require a four-year degree" before getting to excites about cerebral natures. There are a great number of people with degrees out there. I want to see that the jobs require the education to do the work, not that market forces mean that unnecessary degrees make an applicant more competative.
How would you tell the difference?
Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#19> Almost a third of American factory workers now hold four-year college degrees, a trend that reflects the increasingly cerebral nature of the work. Wow.
Don't you remember how much cerebralism you learned in college? /s
Re: A Look Inside Airbus’s Alabama Assembly Line
#20I'm disappointed American Airlines don't buy all Boeing planes, especially given their name. Although Airbus planes do have some American parts on them, they're mostly European. Considering they got USD$15 Billion in bailout money from the US Government, and just how good Boeing planes are at a very similar price point, supporting manufacturing in their country of origin seems like the right thing to do.