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GKN Westland Helicopters (by Peter Munro / Tysun Chan)*
This section of the 1999 Gledden Tour report details the engineering excursion to the United Kingdom production subsidiary of GKN Westland Helicopters. The excursion included a tour of the materials, training and EH101 helicopter production facilities directed by David Gibbings, a retired chief flight test engineer, and Victor Dexter, a training coordinators.
GKN is a global industrial company with sales exceeding £3.7 billion. It designs and manufactures automotive and offhighway vehicle systems as well as aerospace products and provides a range of industrial services. GKN’s operations are located in more than 40 countries around the world, employing some 36,000 people in its subsidiaries and a further 16,300 in joint ventures.
GKN dates back to 1759 when the Dowlais Iron Company was set up in the vilage of Dowlais near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. The Guest family involvement with the business began in 1767 when John Guest was appointed as manager of Dowlais, his grandson eventually becoming sole owner in 1851. By that time the Dowlais Iron Company had become the largest iron works in the world.
The current company, GKN plc, was incorporated as Guest, Keen and Co.Limited on 9th July 1900 on the merger of Dowlais Iron Company with Arthur Keen’s Patent nut and Bolt company. In 1902 the Company acquired Nettlefolds Limited, one of the worlds leading manufacturers of screws and fasteners. Following the acquisition of Nettlefolds the Company changed its name to Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited.
In the course of the 20th century the Group acquired many famous industrial brand names and companies, including Joseph Sankey, Birfield and more recently Westland in the United Kingdom. Over the last 20 years, the Group has progressively focused its activities on three core areas; Automotive Products and Off Highway Systems, Aerospace; and Industrial Services. Following the exit from its traditional business, in 1986 the name of the Group was changed to GKN plc.
Today, the group remains the world leader in many of its products and services including the design and manufacture of the front wheel drive systems for passengers and light vehicles, agritechnical power take-off systems and powder metallurgy products. GKN is also co-owner of the world’s largest pallet pooling business, CHEP.
GKN Westland Helicopter Products and Services GKN Westland Helicopters Limited are concerned with the design, development and supply of complete helicopter systems and provision of total customer support. Their primary product offerings include the supply of the EH101, Super Lynx, WAH-64 and a variety of other military and industrial helicopters.
The EH101 is a new concept, a helicopter designed to be capable of civil and military roles without compromise. Based on a common airframe and core systems, EH101 is configured to meet the multi-role requirements of many diverse customers around the world.
The lynx is the fastest helicopter in the world, with a top speed of around 400 km/h. It is currently used in a variety of naval roles in countries such as Brazil, Malaysia and Germany. In collaboration with Boeing Westland Helicopters is involved in the manufacture of the WAH-64 Apache militiary grade helicopter. As is the trend in modern helicopter assembly, the vehicle is built in a modular fashion, allowing fault diagnosis and parallel assembles to be executed efficiently.
Modularity is a key design advantage in the manufacture of modern aircraft.
Westland Helicopters has been involved for 50 years in the continuous training of customers. From the Dragonfly to the Merlin, Westland has placed a heavy emphasis on taking the training to the customers and tailoring education systems for specific clients. Westland Helicopters recent multi-million pound investment in training infrastructure, utilises the latest training technology, providing high quality training and a range of services.
Westland Helicopters utilises the following training techniques
As a traditional means by which background, practical and theoretical information is disseminated, academic classrooms provide and effective means by which data concerning flight scenarios, mathematical and theoretical calculations and navigation techniques can be presented.
Computer Based Training Classrooms
Computer based training provides helicopter operators with basic simulation software interfaces to experiment with before physical hardware operation is realised. Current PC simulation software involves Radar, ESM, NCDU and Armament operation.
Westland Helicopters provides clients with fully operational detached helicopter control and computer systems for first hand operator experience with actual vehicle hardware.
Client side repair and re-equipping education plays a major roll in enhancing the operational effectiveness and maintenance quality of Westland’s products. The trainer hall allows technical personnel to gain experience in aircraft assembly, repair and operation.
The Gledden Tour contingent was given the opportunity to examine electrical/electronic/mechanical sensor and control components used in various Westland products. The display area serves as another training facility for technical personnel to learn about the operational characteristics of the various boxed devices fitted to aircraft for variety of applications.
An understanding of the materials used in aircraft construction is vital for personnel assuming a maintenance/repair role in the operation of various helicopters. The composite repair workshop allows clients to gain an understanding into the material construction of foils, rotors, perspex products etc.
Westland Helicopters has a number of clients opting for different Westland training systems. The Brazilian military is being taught how to re-equip and repair the Super Lynx, the German Navy is undergoing an avionics upgrade and retraining of pilots has been introduced. The Royal Malaysian Navy is converting from the Wasp to Lynx and required new technical expertise and the UK Royal Navy has almost finished training in the operation of the Merlin Helicopter.
The visit included a tour of the GKN Westland production facilities. They are very well laid out. At each stage of production the helicopter is positioned so that the technician has good access to the part of the helicopter that they are working on.
Seeing the size of the helicopters causes you to realise how good the technicians must be. The technicians must meet very fine tolerances that are much smaller the size of the helicopters. The accuracy of some components is vital to the performance of the helicopter.
It should also be mentioned that a core part of the helicopters are the flight control systems. These give the pilot a more intuitive, safer control of the helicopter. They are composed of sophisticated systems of hardware and software. This is one reason why electrical engineers and information technology engineers are gaining importance in the aviation industry and indeed other industries and they must work with mechanical / aeronautical engineers as a team.
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