What changes have you made during your three years as engineering director? Copeland: We have continued the evolution that began 16 years ago when we set up British Airways Maintenance Cardiff (BAMC) and the avionics and interiors facilities in Wales. This began a whole raft of changes aimed at making us more competitive. We have grown a continuous improvement philosophy from scratch, developing ‘local lean’ activities to make our processes and the way we handle our aircraft and components much more efficient.It has delivered significant benefits.
Avionics Support Group to install International Communications Group’s ICS-220A Iridium satcom on Boeing 747-400 and -400F series aircraft, STC ST03700AT
Low-Density Fuel Tank Sealant Royal Adhesives and Sealants’ Hardman WS8032 Light Weight Rapid Curing manganese dioxide cured polysulfide aircraft sealant now is fully qualified to SAE International’s aerospace material (AMS) 3281D type II Class B aircraft fuel tank sealant specification.
ExelTech interim CEO Robin Wohnsigl stepped down on Aug. 17 to revert to his role on the company’s board of directors. He is succeeded by Sylvain Duval, who served as ExelTech’s president and COO since April 2008. Stephen Hops also joined the company as VP operations, responsible for maintenance in both Montreal and Quebec, supply chain, quality assurance and training, planning, continuous improvement and customer relations.
Nov. 30–3 ➤ National Training & Simulation Assn.: Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference; Orlando, Fla. Contact: Barbara McDaniel, director of conferences and programs, +1 703-247-2569 or [email protected]. Web: iitsec.org/index.cfmOM
The Federal Aviation Administration released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking for potential Safety Management System requirements. The agency sent the ANPRM for Office of Management and Budget review in early July, and OMB cleared the advanced proposal within a few weeks. Comment period ends Oct. 21.
Delta TechOps says it has become a partner with Lambda Technologies of Cincinnati to be the exclusive commercial aviation provider of a technology that was developed to extend the service life of landing gear, propeller hubs, turbine engine blades and other metal components. Called Low Plasticity Burnishing (LPB), the process is described as an economical alternative to shot peening and laser shock peening for imparting a thermally stable pattern of residual compressive stresses to the surface layers of parts, reducing fatigue and damage.
Rockwell Collins received an STC for its Wide Area Augmentation System Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance upgrade for Hawker 800XP aircraft equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system, following the completion of its flight test program at the end of June. The STC now is available through Rockwell Collins authorized dealers and Hawker Beechcraft Services. Parts/Components
—Airbus aims to achieve “an unprecedented level of system maturity” for its A350XWB twinjet well before the aircraft’s first flight, according to Didier Evrard, who heads the A350XWB Program. “Maturity at first flight will be a major challenge because, at that point, lots of components for the aircraft will already be in production and repair schemes agreed,” he says.
Garmin AT to install Garmin Model 400W/500W Series GPS-WAAS navigation systems on various Agusta, Bell, Enstrom, Eurocopter, MD Helicopter and Robinson model helicopters, STC SR02232LA
Houston Precision Fasteners gained Lockheed Martin approval for the MS14181 spline bolt for the F-35 program. Bombardier also selected Houston Precision Fasteners for two proprietary fasteners for the aileron on the CRJ1000 NextGen.
Aero Precision Industries formed a stocking distributor agreement with Honeywell Defense and Space that allows all international military users to meet their rotary wing logistics needs on multiple platforms, including the UH-60 (S70), MH-60, HH-60 and SH-60. The agreement also supplements Aero Precision’s current fixed wing agreement by providing stocking distribution for all Honeywell fixed and rotary wing military aircraft products worldwide.
ST Aerospace will support Jeju Air’s Boeing 737NG aircraft under a new $45 million maintenance-by-the-hour contract. The 10-year agreement, which commenced in August, covers component maintenance, asset lease and access to ST Aerospace’s global inventory pool. Jeju Air became the fourth carrier to pick ST Aero’s maintenance-by-the-hour offering in June and July. Icelandic carrier Primera Air picked a similar arrangement for its six 737NG aircraft.
FFC Manufacturing reissued STCs to install fuel cell assemblies and modifications on various Bell, Hawker Beechcraft, Piper, Twin Commander and Cessna aircraft, Several STCs
Extended-life Reading Lamps Welch Allyn reading lamps for Boeing, Airbus and ATR aircraft now feature longer lifetimes, which translates into less maintenance. It increased the lifetime ratings for three models of its halogen lamps to up to 10,000 hours, around 20% more than previous generation models. New lifetime ratings and extended warranty offers apply to lamps produced since June. Lamps 998502-4 and 998502-8, original equipment on Boeing 777 and 747-400 aircraft now feature a lifetime rating of 10,000 hours.
OEM Defense Services, formed in October 2008 by five European equipment manufacturers to cooperatively support the aviation assets of national militaries, is fully operational. The companies—Diehl Aerospace, Liebherr Aerospace, Safran, Thales and Zodiac Aerospace—was intended to provide logistical support and services that include MRO for the Airbus A400M military transport aircraft and the NH90 and Tiger helicopters. Its service offerings and equipment capabilities in many cases match the contractor support requirements for other fleets in service.
Component Control upgraded its Internet-based parts database StockMarket to include more than 80 million records of U.S. government procurement data, including Master Cross Reference List, characteristics and CAGE Code, following the integration of Resource Data Services’ AvRef National Stock Number database with StockMarket.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to develop an authoritative safety oversight system, in accordance with recommendations made by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the U.S. FAA after an ICAO safety audit in October 2006. An FAA team is scheduled to review the safety systems this month.
Learjet amended STC to install a Honeywell enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) software upgrade and/or optional Runway Awareness and Advisory System with GPS interface, EGPWS software upgrade or Runway Awareness and Advisory System Inhibit on Learjet 45 aircraft, STC ST00195BO
Flightstar Aircraft Services inked a contract with Precision Conversions to convert a Boeing 757-200 from passenger to freighter configuration for a Chinese carrier, to be completed by November. Engines
