Carboman Group, a collection of five businesses with varied manufacturing technologies, is diving further into the business of developing, prototyping, and manufacturing advanced composite aerostructures. Its first full fuselage application, the nine-passenger electric Eviation Alice, is on display this week at the Paris Air Show.
Carboman (Hall 2B, Stand B67) has worked with Eviation over the past year to develop the fuselage and assemble Alice at its plant in Vannes, France. Israel-based Eviation, meanwhile, completed the integration of the systems in Vannes. The aircraft subsequently will be shipped to Prescott, Arizona, where a two-year flight-testing certification program will take place under an agreement with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. First flight is anticipated later this year.
For Carboman, the work was the culmination of combining companies, including three over the past decade, that could help facilitate its move to become more deeply involved in the aeronautical structures market, said Gregoire Metz, managing director of Carboman Decision.
The Alice fuselage pulled together expertise from Carboman’s Multiplast, Decision, and SNE-SMM companies. Capabilities include CNC machining, autoclaves, ovens, a TPT plotter, and a paint booth.
Decision SA has a history of producing carbon fiber structures for aircraft, including the Solar Impulse models. SNE-SMM, a Brittany, France-based composite tooling specialist, is the most recent company, joining the group in late 2017. Its addition brought five-axis CNC equipment, including one that enables ultra-large prototype molds.
With a background producing large racing yachts, longer than 22 meters each, Yann Penfornis, director general of Multiplast, said its equipment could easily handle the airframe for the 12.2-meter-long Alice. The fuselage was made in two halves, reducing weight. In fact, nearly 60 percent of the airplane’s 6,350 kg (14,000 lb) MTOW comes from battery weight.
Eviation has ordered a second fuselage and work on that is expected to begin in September, Penfornis said. Carboman will develop the manufacturing process in preparation for full production of the Alice. In addition, Carboman is in discussions and has projects under way on other aviation models. But Carboman is not yet ready to discuss those efforts.
As this work continues, Carboman has been investing in increased tooling, including plans for a new 250-degree-Celsius autoclave that will be placed at the company’s Ecublens, Switzerland site.
“Our mission at Carboman has always been to develop the construction methods for tomorrow’s composite structures and we are excited to be working on so many aerospace projects now,” said company chairman Dominique Dubois.
