Spirit of the future
First glimpse of new wing air spoiler plant
This is how the next generation of aircraft factory will look.
It will be built in the heart of the Spirit Aerosystems plant at Monkton.
By the middle of next year the plant will be producing composite modular wing spoilers for the next generation Airbus A320 singleaisle fleet.
In September we exclusively revealed up to 150 new jobs are being created in Monkton after Spirit landed the Airbus contract.
Plans lodged with South Ayrshire Council for the new production line are the first concrete evidence it is happening.
The new plant - Building 12A - will be built in an old yard and car parking area of three acres within the former British Aerospace factory.
A vast solar array is planned for the roof to help keep energy costs down.
The two- storey building will cover 91,000 square feet and plans drawn- up by Scottish architects Hypostyle show two main production areas.
One zone will be a clean room environment including a kitting cell and preformer.
The other will be the main workshop with oven, test area and assembly cell.
A reception and training area and a 3842 square foot innovation centre.
Upstairs there is office space for a team of 200.
The new plant will make five composite top surface air spoilers for the skinny jet, with the first coming off the line “half way through 2019.”
Sp i r i t has completed demonstrations at its Advanced Technology Centre.
An initial 100 new posts are being created as a result of the deal.
But we understand another 50 positions could be added to the mix.
Scottish Enterprise provided £ 2.1million in research and development support to Spirit.
The Kansas- based firm has pledged to establish a “worldclass manufacturing platform” capable of delivering more than 600 spoilers per month.
Production on the Airbus A320 single aisle fleet is scheduled to begin by 2019.
The contract further secures the company’s long term future at the Monkton/ Prestwick site and will take the staff number to 850.
The spoiler will use new resin technology rather than needing to be fire in a giant autoclave oven.
Engineers currently develop both leading and trailing edges of wings at the Prestwick plant.