Designing On Tulsa Time
Each project SAS handles doesn’t mean we are always involved in final manufacturing and installation. Or, putting it in the words of familiar TV ad campaign a few years back, “we didn’t make the stand, we made it better.”
That was the case on a recent design job in Tulsa, OK. Our end user needed their existing 737 wing stand to work with new 737 MAX aircraft. Changes had to be made to accommodate the aircraft’s new winglet design.
The challenge was the new design involved a split scimitar winglet that turns both up and down. The downward portion of the winglet presented an interference problem with the existing wing stand. After a sight visit, we determined the needed changes would include:
- Modifying the outboard access stairs and creating a design which allowed the inboard handrails of the stairs to be folded down by removing a single fastener.
- Creating a new design which allows a portion of the existing guardrails to be slid to the side. This solved the problem of the aft guardrails getting in the way.
- Finally, the 2nd level working platform needed to be notched, and our design gave the customer a way to complete this modification.
The designs were prepared promptly. Our drawings were given to a pleased customer, allowing the company’s local workers to make the modifications themselves. That resulted in time and money saved. “We didn’t make the stand, we made it better”.
