Spectrum's Business Jet: Smart Engineering

When elegance and engineering get together the results can be simply astounding as in the case of a new jet by Spectrum. The Spectrum 33 is an engineering marvel featuring a completely new manufacturing process using advanced composite materials that result in an ultra light, extremely high performance 9 – 10 passenger business jet. The jet is made up of three basic components; the fuselage, the wing and the tail section or empennage. Using proprietary tools and processes the fuselage is made from winding specially impregnated strands of carbon fiber material over a mandrel. Once the winding is complete, the entire fuselage, including ‘grid stiffening’ techniques, is cured in a large pressure chamber resulting in a monolithic, light, super-strong and wonderfully aerodynamically finished part. There are no rivets, bolts, nuts or other aluminum parts in the design. The fuselage weights in at a mere 306 pounds. The wings, both left and right sides are made as one unit in a similar fashion. The Spectrum 33 is powered by twin Williams FJ-33 jet engines. This engineering marvel is the way that all future aircraft will be made. After seeing for myself how Spectrum does it I agree that "Rosie the Riveter," made famous during WWII, should retire after 98 years on the job. Rivets will be a thing of the past on aircraft. Spectrum is a great example of smart engineering.