On the Road
Harley-Davidson® Motor Co.’s new cruiser-class V-Rod™ cycle, named Best Motorcycle Design of the Year at the 2001 Paris Motorcycle Show, takes full advantage of Alcoa’s 6022-T4 bright and highly formable aluminum sheet. Alcoa worked with Harley-Davidson supplier American Trim on several parts for the V-Rod. Electrical distribution systems from Alcoa Fujikura Ltd. (AFL) are helping power several members of Harley-Davidson’s Dyna Glide and Touring families of motorcycles. AFL also will provide wiring for Buell Motorcycle Co.’s new Firebolt™ XB9R cycle. Buell is owned by Harley-Davidson.
Forgings for Airbus
Airbus awarded a number of titanium and aluminum die forging contracts to Alcoa Wheel and Forged Products for its A-380 program, including structural wing and fuselage components. A wing component will be one of the largest closed-die aluminum forgings ever made.
Windows of Opportunity
Alcoa’s Hernando, Miss. soft-alloy extrusion plant, a recent addition to Alcoa’s Kawneer architectural aluminum building products business, is expanding capabilities in the hung commercial window market. The $16 million expansion includes improved extrusion, painting, and anodizing capabilities, new fabricating lines, and state-of-the-art emissions controls.
USWA Agreement
Alcoa forged new five-year labor agreements with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). The contracts, covering 12,000 employees in 19 U.S. operating locations, are retroactive to June 1, 2001, run through May 31, 2006, and include reopener provisions in May 2005. These agreements extend and amend contracts originally scheduled to expire May 31, 2002.
Stamp of Quality
Alcoa’s Southern Graphic Systems (SGS) played a key role in the record-breaking production of a new 34 cent U.S. stamp commemorating September 11. The stamp, featuring a U.S. flag and the motto, “United We Stand,” was released nationwide in November. SGS’s speed in producing color separations and printing cylinders for the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing and its prepress analysis of the Bureau’s equipment performance helped compress what is normally an 18 month process into fewer than two months.
The Wright Stuff
Alcoa’s Michigan Casting Center added its technical knowledge to efforts currently under way to fly a replica of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s Flyer, the aircraft that opened the era of manned flight. The original Flyer was built of wood, sheathed with aluminum-painted cloth, and powered by a four-cylinder engine with cast iron cylinders threaded into an aluminum block. The aluminum was supplied by The Pittsburgh Reduction Company – now Alcoa. Working from a block cast from the original tooling, photographs, and dimensional sketches, Casting Center employees “reverse engineered” the foundry tooling and cast three blocks for the Wright Experience, the group recreating the aircraft. The plan is to fire up the engine and take off precisely at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, 2003… exactly 100 years after the first flight.
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Joanne Sore
Exeter, UK
Lindsay Cooper, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Ana Kelly Mara de Araujo, Itapissuma, Brazil
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