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GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.) reported on June 3 that its thermoplastic components, delivered to aerospace manufacturer Bell Flight (Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.) in 2019, were successfully flight-tested on Bell’s V-280 Valor military aircraft. The newly installed components have now flown more than 12 hours on V-280 test flights.

The tiltrotor is one of the first military aircraft flying with thermoplastic technology, including a pair of induction-welded, thermoplastic ruddervators— control surfaces for V-tail configuration aircraft — and two compression-molded, thermoplastic access panels, which were developed in a Dutch TPC-Cycle research program led by Saxion University (Enschede, Netherlands). The access panels are manufactured from recycled thermoplastic waste material. (Read “Recycled thermoplastic composites for production”.)

As a partner in Bell’s Team Valor, GKN Aerospace also designed and manufactured the complete thermoset composite V-Tail for the aircraft, which has significantly reduced weight, cost, production time and parts count. Further, the successful flight testing suggests the application of thermoplastics on a military platform could leave potential for wider applications in the defense market.

With Bell V-280 Valor competing for selection as the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), GKN will continue to optimize the aircraft’s V-Tail design to meet FLRAA’s requirements.