Method and apparatus for assembling aircraft airframes

An assembly method comprising:

• providing a digital model of at least part of an aircraft airframe, the digital model of the at least part of the aircraft airframe comprising a respective digital model of each of a plurality of component parts of the aircraft airframe;
• providing the plurality of component parts of the aircraft airframe, each of the plurality of component parts comprising one or more predrilled fastener holes;
• fixing a first component part to a support structure;
• fixing a second component part to an end effector of a robot arm;
• using the digital model of the at least part of the aircraft airframe, controlling the robot arm to move the second component part relative to the first component part thereby moving the second component part into a position relative to the first component part specified in the digital model of the at least part of the aircraft airframe, and causing one or more predrilled holes in the second component part to align with one or more predrilled holes in the first component part respectively;
• and
• attaching the second component part to the first component part by inserting a respective fastener through each pair of the aligned predrilled holes, thereby producing an assembled at least part of the aircraft airframe.