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May 2012
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Aviation Outlook: Composites in General Aviation 2011-2020 : CompositesWorld 15/11/16 21:45
market, in 2007 and in 2011. adoption of composites on new programs as they entered the
Source: Composites Forecasts
and Consulting (Feb. 2012) market. Although I tried to account for a number of economic
and technical factors in my predictions, the collapse of the
global economy was not among those factors.
The events of the past four years have required massive
reactions by all aircraft manufacturers in order for them to
survive. The ramifications of these changes are becoming clear.
So this seems to be an appropriate time to rechart the GA
A comparison of the aircraft
composites structures industry’s likely demand for composite goods and services.
requirements for the years Economic conditions are slowly improving, and the industry is
2007 and 2011. Source:
Composites Forecasts and
starting to recover (that’s the sunny news). But, as GA history
Consulting (Feb. 2012) shows, the number of elegant but ultimately ill-fated programs
will continue to mount (these are the clouds on the horizon).
And, as always, there is the very real but not so predictable
impact of business cycles, natural disasters and international
policymaking and conflict that can destabilize markets (a chance
of rain).
• Private jets
• Turboprop passenger aircraft
• Piston-engine airplanes
Chris Red’s forecast of annual • Light sport aircraft (LSA)
aircraft composite structures
requirements, 2011-2020. • Experimental and home-built
Source: Composites Forecasts aircraft
and Consulting (Feb 2012)
Today’s weather
For this forecast, more than 80 major factory-certified aircraft
programs were investigated; about three-quarters of these
Chris Red’s forecast of models were also represented in the 2008-2017 forecast. Sales
composite structures and manufacturer delivery figures were quantified for the period
requirements by original
equipment manufacturer for from 2008 to the present and were used to create a new 10-
general aviation aircraft year outlook. As intimated above, the overall forecast is sunny.
during the 2011 through 2015
timeframe. Source: Globally, more than 320,000 GA aircraft are reportedly in
Composites Forecasts and
Consulting (Feb. 2012) operation, two-thirds of which are based in the U.S. According
to records kept by the Federal Aviation Admin. (FAA), the
average age of these aircraft is approximately 40 years. This
fleet age would be older were it not for the business-jet subsegment, which has an
average age of about 17 years. GAMA statistics show that during 2011 its members
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Aviation Outlook: Composites in General Aviation 2011-2020 : CompositesWorld 15/11/16 21:45
delivered about 2,000 GA aircraft, representing approximately $18 billion (USD) in sales.
Comparing 2011 to 2010, the GA market suffered another double-digit decline. From the
peak in 2008, annual GA aircraft deliveries declined by nearly 2,200 units (55 percent),
with sales values dropping by $7 billion (28 percent). And although the market signs are
improving, these figures underscore the desperate challenge of the past few years.
To put things into better perspective, production estimates for the LSA, experimental and
home-built aircraft subsectors drive the total GA deliveries up to 3,134 units. At this level,
GA aircraft represented 44 percent of all manned aircraft delivered last year (28 percent of
unit production, if unmanned aircraft systems are figured in). Obviously, not all of these
aircraft carry significant percentages of composite structures. This forecast focuses on
programs that are notable consumers of composite goods and services. The 80 aircraft
models tracked for this outlook represent deliveries of 2,100 aircraft, or about 68 percent,
of the total estimated GA unit deliveries. It is interesting to note that during 2007-2008, the
number of GA aircraft deliveries with significant composites applications represented only
about 50 percent of the market. Clearly, there is a very strong correlation between
advanced composites and successful GA programs!
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Aviation Outlook: Composites in General Aviation 2011-2020 : CompositesWorld 15/11/16 21:45
Aircraft’s (Vero Beach, Fla.) PiperJet (now being developed as the Altair) — have seen
significant delays and could face additional challenges before serial production can begin.
Further up market, Carlsbad, Calif.-based Spectrum Aeronautical’s bid to sell jets with an
innovative filament-wound fuselage in the light aircraft segment stalled after a fatal crash.
Grob Aerospace’s all-composite airframe SPn Utility Jet similarly ground to a halt. Shortly
thereafter, Grob’s operations were shuttered but subsequently purchased by H3
Aerospace and renamed Grob Aircraft AG (Tussenhausen, Germany). Today, only a few
examples of this once-vibrant product line are produced, mainly for military training
operations.
The collapse of production and deliveries from these programs has made a rather
dramatic impact on the demand for composite aerostructures from GA programs. It also
has depressed the potential purchase prices of these companies and their assets. It
appears now that the improving business environment is bringing with it a resurgence of
interest in GA and a resurrection of some of these promising but stalled programs.
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Aviation Outlook: Composites in General Aviation 2011-2020 : CompositesWorld 15/11/16 21:45
In all, this outlook forecasts that approximately 56,000 GA aircraft will be built between
2011 and 2020, an increase in unit production of 115 percent (averaging 9 percent per
year). This certainly is good news, but it is important to note that when the GA market
reaches its anticipated peak (circa. 2017-2018), the unit volume will be about the same as
that during the 2006-2007 time period. Further, the 10-year outlook presented here differs
significantly, in several major aspects, from the one I presented in 2008:
In terms of numbers, this current market forecast has shed approximately 6,000 LSA
aircraft; 8,000 piston-powered and small turboprop aircraft; and 17,000 experimental or
home-built planes compared to the 2008-2017 forecast. This adjustment had a huge
impact on the resulting calculations for the manufacture of composite aerostructures, as
illustrated in the figure titled “Forecasted General Aviation Aircraft Deliveries, 2005-2020.".
Based on deliveries reported between 2008 and the end of 2011, and forecasted
production through 2017, the loss of nearly 50,000 aircraft units results in a 17 percent
reduction in forecasted composites demand. From 2011 through 2020, aircraft OEMs and
their suppliers are expected to produce more than 28 million lb (12,700 metric tonnes) of
composite primary and secondary structures for the GA market. Significantly, as the GA
market reaches its peak in 2017, composite structures manufacturing will represent
roughly the same amount of business reported in 2008, despite an anticipated 30 percent
reduction in the total number of aircraft deliveries. We can conclude from this observation
that the adoption of composite materials systems on aircraft that are now in the design
and development phase is expanding faster than anticipated in 2008.
Assuming the actual GA production rates conform to the adjusted forecast, the composite
aerostructures market represents an estimated $503 million in composites manufacturing
business during 2011. This figure is expected to grow 16 percent to $580 million this year,
and it represents about 11 percent of the total market for composite structures on all
aircraft types (commercial, military, rotorcraft, etc.). At the peak in 2017, the calculations
indicate that the GA composites market will be valued at more than $1 billion. During the
remainder of this decade, approximately $8 billion in composites structures will be
delivered to GA programs. This will be the result of production volumes that are expected
to more than double during this decade. Yet in the bigger picture, the GA market will
represent only about 7 percent of the total aircraft structures market.
Material opportunities
A large portion of this business will be increasingly outsourced to Tier 1 and Tier 2
manufacturing partners that have specialized skills to produce these structures cost-
effectively. Some companies, such as Bombardier; Wichita, Kan.-based Hawker
Beechcraft; and Tarbes, France-based Daher Socata (formerly EADS Socata), are able to
leverage internal expertise in producing large composite assemblies and in-place
advanced manufacturing processes, such as fiber placement, tape laying and infusion
molding. Those who can are likely to keep much of the composites manufacturing in-
house. However, for the HondaJet, Embraer’s Phenom 100 and 300, Gulftream
Aerospace Corp.’s (Savannah, Ga.) Gulfstream G650, GECI Aviation’s (Onville, France)
Skylander SK-105 and other platforms, their respective OEMs will partner with composites
manufacturers to design and construct major aircraft sections. Throughout much of the
industry, production of secondary structures and flight-control surfaces is frequently
outsourced. Secondary structures present some of the most numerous — and safest —
opportunities for part manufacturers.
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Aviation Outlook: Composites in General Aviation 2011-2020 : CompositesWorld 15/11/16 21:45
Worldwide, there are roughly 100 companies that produce GA aircraft. The top 10 GA
manufacturers, however, represent about 63 percent of the market for composite aircraft
structures. Chief among them are Cirrus Aircraft, Diamond Aircraft, Cessna and
Bombardier. For the rest of this decade, growth in the LSA segment is expected to
continue at the expense of more traditional one- or two-passenger aircraft designs. The
high end of the GA market, particularly the large luxury and intercontinental business jets,
escaped the past four years of turmoil relatively unscathed. These subsectors of the
business jet market are expected grow an average of 7 percent annually throughout the
forecast period, including about a dozen transcontinental supersonic business jets and
prototypes.
These trends signal opportunities both for new, small aircraft companies to enter the
business and for manufacturers, whose forte isn’t composites processing, that can cost-
effectively produce aerospace-certifiable composites for aircraft OEMs. The current
forecast, however, also indicates that active Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers have enough
combined manufacturing capacity to handle most of the predicted new business.
Beyond the opportunities and challenges for GA OEMs and their suppliers, the 2011-2020
outlook also offers some insight for suppliers of raw materials, equipment, tooling and
software, as well as suppliers of testing, engineering and other services.
For the remainder of this decade, this market outlook expects OEMs to build
approximately 55,000 jets, turboprops, piston aircraft, LSAs and experimental aircraft. A
pantheon of smaller aircraft design prototypes will appear at trade shows. Historically, the
chances of successfully pushing a GA design through certification to production is low.
Given that fact, only 17 programs (currently in the design, development or certification
phases) are included in these projections. In addition, it is assumed that OEMs will
continue developing existing platforms to remain competitive in an evolving marketplace
and, as a result, there will be additional opportunities for composites manufacturers to
provide goods and services to the GA industry.
To support production of these planes, manufacturers will need to produce — in-house,
outsourced or both — 400 to 600 complete shipsets of tooling and production jigs for all of
the composite components in this forecast. That does not include tooling for the many
small-program prototypes that are likely to pass into obscurity. And, of course, the
component manufacturers will need to continually invest in increased productivity. This will
present myriad opportunities to replace obsolete design-simulation technologies and
adopt automated lamination, infusion, cutting, curing, trimming, drilling, testing and other
solutions.
Finally, carbon fiber-reinforced composites represent about 62 percent of the total aircraft
structures volume predicted in this forecast. From this, we can calculate that this year,
carbon fiber suppliers can be expected to deliver about 1.17 million lb (530 metric tonnes)
of intermediate- and standard-modulus materials to secondary processors to manufacture
prepregs and infusion fabrics for GA applications. That figure represents about 7 percent
of all CFRP material shipments to aerospace firms. During the period from 2011-2020 in
this forecast, about 15.87 million lb (7,200 metric tonnes) of carbon fiber materials will be
consumed. Similarly, glass suppliers are expected to deliver about 727,520 lb (330 metric
tonnes) of E- and S-glass reinforcements this year, and a total of about 99.21 million lb
(4,500 metric tonnes) of glass product during the forecast period. These reinforcements
will be combined with approximately 3 million lb (1,336 metric tonnes) of performance
resin systems, primarily epoxies.
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Aviation Outlook: Composites in General Aviation 2011-2020 : CompositesWorld 15/11/16 21:45
With the imminent withdrawal of fighting forces in Afghanistan, one might assume that
there will be a moment of relative peace, which would be good for business aviation. It is
unfortunate, however, that new disputes in the Middle East could disrupt oil exports from
the region that helps moderate oil prices. The inevitable increases in the price of aircraft
fuel could have a dramatic impact on the viability of private aviation, potentially cancelling
out the gains I’ve predicted for the next several years. The probability of such a disruptive
event during this decade seems fairly high. As many a picnicker can attest, sunny days
can turn cloudy and rainy with little warning. Here’s hoping that this composites market
forecaster has it right this time.
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