Spirit North Carolina

Photo: Janet S. Carter / The Free Press 

Gov. Bev Perdue presents Jeff Turner, president and CEO of Spirit AeroSystems, with an aerial photo of the Kinston facility on Thursday at the Spirit grand opening ceremony.  

July 2, 2010

David Anderson / Chris Lavender

Staff Writters

With the push of a button, a machine began laying strips of material that are the foundation of one of the world’s newest passenger aircraft, and — if it is successful — the foundation of Kinston and Lenoir County’s future.

“It has been two years of dedicated hard work by a lot of people to get here, and it’s become a reality from an idea,” said John Lewelling, senior vice president and general manager of the Aerostructures Segment of Spirit AeroSystems, which is now the newest industrial employer in Lenoir County.

Lewelling represented the Wichita, Kan.-based worldwide aircraft components manufacturer two years ago when then Gov. Mike Easley announced that Spirit would establish a manufacturing plant at the N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston.

Easley’s successor, Gov. Bev Perdue — who was also present at the May 2008 announcement as the lieutenant governor — called Thursday a “red-letter day in the life of the TransPark.

“I believe that Kinston and the Global TransPark will become synonymous with aerospace around the globe,” Perdue told an audience of about 500 guests invited to attend Thursday’s grand opening of the 500,000-square-foot plant.

The facility, one of about nine Spirit has established around the world, will be where hundreds of workers will manufacture fuselage and wing components for the Airbus A350 XWB passenger aircraft.

Company officials have committed to hiring more than 1,000 people for their “North Carolina business unit.” Those not working on A350 components will be added as Spirit wins more contracts for the Kinston plant.

“Let me just say, ‘Welcome to the Spirit team, and I’m proud to have you,’ ” Spirit President and CEO Jeff Turner told the audience, which included about 60 current employees clad in light blue T-shirts emblazoned with the Spirit and A350 XWB logos.

“Spirit and North Carolina indeed have a bright future together,” he continued.

The A350 will enter service in 2013; more than 30 airlines and aircraft leasing companies have placed orders for more than 500 A350s.

“The A350 will truly be Spirit’s aircraft, and Kinston, North Carolina’s aircraft,” Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders said.

Thursday also served as the first day of production in Kinston. The opening ceremony concluded with the unveiling of a composite layup machine.

A curtain was whisked back, and after the audience counted down and the dignitaries pushed an animated button marked “launch,” a large robotic device spun and laid down small strips of the carbon fiber material that will be the basis of the components manufactured locally.

The strips were laid over a mold of the fuselage panels; the complete layout will then be taken to an autoclave where the strips will be fused together under intense heat and pressure, trimmed and drilled, then sealed and painted, and prepared for shipping.

The raw components will be placed on trucks and trains, then taken to the Morehead City port. From there, the wing components will head to Spirit’s facilities in Scotland for final assembly, and the fuselage components to Spirit’s French facilities.

Both components — along with the wing’s leading edge made in Scotland — will then go to Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France, for the final assembly of the A350.

“This is red hot for the world, not just for America,” Perdue said.

Dan Wheeler, vice president and general manager of the North Carolina business unit, emceed the ceremony, and used an Autonomous Sales Kiosk device to make a high-tech presentation on the A350 and Kinston plant.

Wheeler also noted the low-technology side of building the plant, which required the importation of tons of dirt to serve as a foundation and turn a cornfield into a 21st-century manufacturing plant.

“We have brought hundreds and hundreds of tons of good North Carolina dirt so we can make a foundation — a foundation for the building, a foundation for the equipment and a foundation for our future,” he said.

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

BREAKOUT BOX 1:

Watch for a special section on Spirit AeroSystems coming in the Sunday, July 11 edition of The Free Press.

BREAKOUT BOX 2:

These are the following dignitaries who spoke during the Spirit AeroSystems grand opening ceremony on Thursday.

Jeff Turner

Spirit CEO

John Lewelling

Senior VP & GM

Spirit Aerostructures Segment

Dan Wheeler

Vice president & GM

Spirit N.C. business unit

Tom Enders

Airbus CEO

Bev Perdue

N.C. governor

BREAKOUT BOX 3:

Fast Facts:

n Spirit North Carolina

n 2600 AeroSystems Blvd., Kinston

n 500,000 square feet of space on a 304-acre site

n 7,000 tons of steel used, enough to build Eiffel Tower

n Enough insulated metal panels to cover 200 homes

n Enough concrete for a 24-mile road

n Enough cooling capacity to cool 800 homes

n Enough boiler capacity to heat 533 showers in one hour

n Enough electric capacity to power 2,667 homes