Airbus -A300/A310


Airbus A300/A310 Spar Cell

Chadderton had a unique history of long bed machining and was automatically trace milling 30ft spar booms as far back as 1948.

In the mid 1970's with the launch of the Airbus project they were a natural selection to produce major wing components.

Significant investment was necessary to update the facility for the future.

At this time, all spars required 3-axis Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining configuration.
X Axis- Length
Y Axis- Width
Z Axis-Height

(Colour Photograph - Top Left)
Long bed machining in Chadderton Machine Shop Pre-Airbus.

(Colour Photograph - Top Right)
Chadderton Bay 1 - A 3 spindle, 3-Axis Max-E-Trace machine sculpturing an A300 Front Spar.

(Colour Photograph - Bottom Right)
Manual Inspection of A300 Front Spars. Following major investment during the 1980's this process became automated with substantial savings in time and documentation.


The containment of swarf was a significant issue imposing a constant delay to cycle times and occasional machine breakdowns.

Striving for a solution was an area of substantial investment but given the vast amount of material being removed in the machining process it remained a difficult issue.

An automated swarf removal system was used in later years with limited success.