Yorkshire aboard Boeing 787 Dreamliner

A BIT of Rotherham will take to US skies today in the shape of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The new jet, which will make its first flight today, is the first to be made with a majority of composite materials – a quarter of which are manufactured in the UK.

Moreover, South Yorkshire has played a key role in designing its revolutionary landing gear.

Landing gear specialist Messier-Dowty approached Sheffield University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing to see if it was feasible to make landing gear parts from a new grade of titanium alloy. Previously, landing gear had been made from steel.

Using a combination of manufacturing techniques AMRC satisfied complex demands needs and substantially reduced the development time for working Ti5553.

Critically, this enabled the manufacturing times to be reduced along with the cost and enabled Messier-Dowty to win the order – the first time it has been won by a company outside the US.

There are some 840 Dreamliners on order with the first scheduled for delivery late next year.