Boeing Commercial Airplanes has selected Liebherr-Aerospace to supply three components for the folding wing tip system of the Boeing 777X. The components chosen are the fold subsystem, the latch pin actuator and the secondary lock actuator.

Relying on its experience in high-lift systems, gears, torque tubes and hydraulic power drive units, Liebherr-Aerospace will design a compact, extremely reliable and powerful fold subsystem. With its motor and rotating actuator, this system will fold the wing tip after landing, thus reducing the wingspan of the new wide-body aircraft by 7 meters (3.5 meters on each side) from 71.8 meters to 64.8 meters. When it comes to the development of the actuators, Liebherr-Aerospace can rely on its extensive know-how in flight control systems.

All three components will not only be designed, but also developed, manufactured and serviced by Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH, Lindenberg (Germany), Liebherr's worldwide center of excellence for flight control and landing gear systems. With this new contract, Boeing and Liebherr are strengthening their decade-long collaboration.

The extremely large wingspan is one of the factors defining the Boeing 777X, and this would normally exclude the aircraft from using the same airport gates as the current Boeing 777 model. However, thanks to its special wing tips, which can be folded up after landing, the 777X will still be in the same wingspan category as the 777. For take-off, the wing tips will be extended back into the horizontal position, providing the benefit of an extended span to increase fuel efficiency.