Manufacturing the mold for the composite leaf spring

The AERONOVA team visited the contractor’s production site in the city of Zhukovsky, where the composite leaf spring for the NOVA-2 airship is being manufactured. First, a mold (tooling) was produced for this purpose.

About the manufacturing process in brief:
• from MDF, individual elements of the mold were cut and bonded together,
• the blank is re-machined on a milling machine, the 3D shape of the tooling is cut, the geometry is formed,
• the mold is impregnated with epoxy resin for reinforcement,
• after curing, the tooling is brought to precise dimensions and undergoes finish machining.

The finished mold will be transferred to the production shop, where the following will take place: layer-by-layer layup of composite materials, forming, and curing of the spring. At the current stage, half of the spring is being manufactured, which will then be tested for strength.

Zhukovsky readings 2026

April 9–10, AERONOVA will take part in the XXIII conference “Scientific readings on aviation dedicated to the memory of N. E. Zhukovsky,” which will be held in Moscow at the Moscow State Technical University of civil aviation. The conference will bring together leading research and engineering centers of the aviation industry. The program includes plenary sessions and meetings of thematic sections.

The AERONOVA team will present a series of presentations in the section “Problems and challenges of lighter-than-air flight.”

We will share more details about the conference shortly — stay tuned for our news.

Learn about the project “New Generation Airships” and join us on attractive terms.

*The translation is done with the help of artificial intelligence.

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