A Symbol of Excellence in Aviation

AMF


AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING FACTORY


mrf

Introduction


AMF was established in 1975 to undertake manufacturing of a primary flying trainer aircraft under license from SAAB SCANIA of Sweden. The aircraft was named Mushshak, (meaning proficient) and was initially produced from the kits provided by SAAB. After successfully producing 92 Mushshak aircraft, AMF acquired the status of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in 1981.


Within 40 years of its establishment, AMF has produced more than 345 Mushshak aircraft which are successfully flying not only in Pakistan but also in foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, South Africa, Qatar, Nigeria and Azerbaijan. The Mushshak not only meets the requisites of international aviation standards but also conforms to Pakistan and South African civil aviation standards and that is why it is the front line aviation product of Pakistan. During the course of manufacturing, AMF, in order to improve the design and performance produced an upgraded version of aircraft in shape of Super Mushshak.


AMF Aircraft Manufacturing Factory

Equipped with Lycoming 260 HP engine, advanced avionics package, Garmin, Dynon and Genesis Glass cockpit and side by side seating for instructor and student pilot, Super Mushshak forms an ideal platform for a variety of roles. Short takeoff and landing distance, higher g load bracket, excellent stall and spin recovery, enhanced structural life of 9500 hrs and above all excellent after sales spare and structural repair support are some of the key features rendering super Mushshak aircraft to be far superior than its contemporary primary trainer aircraft of same class.


The aviation industry in Pakistan has experienced a tremendous growth in last 30 years. Over the years, AMF's stature as aircraft manufacturer grew manifold with successive capability achievement to manufacture Jet aircraft trainer K-8 in late 80s, unmanned aerial Vehicle FALCO in 2008 and the modern Jet fighter aircraft, named JF-17 Thunder. Today, AMF has the capability of manufacturing structural parts and aero-structure assemblies such as the Horizontal Stabilizer, Elevator, Vertical Stabilizer, Rudder and Front Fuselage of K-8 aircraft.


AMF Aircraft Manufacturing Factory

Keeping abreast with the evolving trends in aviation, AMF decided to venture in manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles through the latest carbon composite material. PAF after a comprehensive operational & technical evaluation process decided for establishment of FALCO UAV manufacturing facility at AMF. During the first phase, eight FALCO UAVs were received in form of semi-assembled kits. The Final assembly and system integration of these UAVs was successfully accomplished at AMF PAC Kamra under the supervision of OEM in 2007-2008 timeframe. During the same time period, state of the art equipment was also purchased to start co-production activities. After commissioning of the equipment and training on parts manufacturing, the newly established manufacturing facility was qualified by OEM to manufacture FALCO UAVs on European Quality Standards.


An aviation industry is considered at its pinnacle when it has the capability of manufacturing a modern fighter aircraft. Today, AMF has complete infrastructure, core capabilities and state of the art technologies for manufacturing of JF-17 aircraft. Machining centre for production of aircraft parts is equipped with state of the art conventional and CNC machines. Parts with relatively lesser accuracies are manufactured on conventional machines whereas complex parts involving higher accuracies and profiles described by higher order polynomials are manufactured utilizing CNC machines, integrated with Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing Systems.


AMF Aircraft Manufacturing Factory

Sheet metal workshop for JF-17 parts houses an array of conventional and CNC machining facility. Machines such as Guillotine and Nibbling Shear, Conventional and CNC Stack Routers etc are utilized for processes like Shearing, Routing and Sawing techniques. Whereas CNC shot peen forming, Hydraulic Quintus Fluid Cell press, CNC Stretch Forming and CNC punching etc are used for manufacturing of parts involving sheet forming processes.


Pipe manufacturing emerging recently as a separate technology of manufacturing, caters for the requirements of aircraft hydraulic, pneumatic and oxygen systems. It involves Pipe Bending, End Fitting, testing, Marking and Covering. The most typical equipment being used in pipe manufacturing is CNC Pipe Bending Machine.


Special processes form an integral element of any modern manufacturing facility as almost all sheet metal and machine parts undergo Heat Treatment, Surface Treatment, welding and various other types of special processes during manufacturing. Vacuum oil quenching furnaces, Air Circulating and Conventional Furnaces etc are employed for Heat Treatment whereas chemical Treatment facilities include Anodizing, Chromating, Bluing, Phosphating, Pickling Passivation, Electroplating, Primer Painting and Chemical Milling etc.


AMF Aircraft Manufacturing Factory

Every manufactured part has to undergo a series of testing and inspection procedure from raw material till final stage at Material Testing Centre (MTC). MTC has the capability to conduct all kinds of Physical, Chemical and Non Destructive Testing (NDT) of material including testing capabilities of all heat and surface treatment equipment for periodic qualification.


The first phase of aircraft assembling starts at Aero Structural build up facility. Hundreds of sheet metal and machine parts, pipes and components etc are skillfully put together with the help of thousands of rivets to build aircraft sub-assemblies such as fuselage, wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers and ailerons etc. The aircraft starts to take shape at final assembly set up where sub-assemblies, all system parts, engines, piping, cabling are installed and integrated before sending the assembled aircraft to Flight Test Station (FTS) for stringent power ON and functional checks of each and every system of the aircraft. This is followed by series of aircraft ground runs and quality shake-downs before finally handing over it to the test pilot for yet another series of functional check flights (FCFs) to ascertain the airworthiness.


The manufacturing of JF-17 Thunder fighter at AMF has brought Pakistan among select group of countries of aviation world. Attainment of this capability in less than a quarter of a century itself speaks of the highest standards of dedication that PAC Engineers and technicians showed since the word go.