Freedom Aero Services received FAA certification as an approved repair station. The Lincoln, Calif.-based MRO specializes in electrical aircraft components, electronic accessories and instruments for business jets and helicopters.
Gulfstream installed its 50th Synthetic Vision-Primary Flight Display . It began offering the system, which was developed with Honeywell Aerospace, in February 2008.
ARINC Inc. formed ARINC Technical Services (ATS) a new business designed to provide skilled field personnel and other technical support for customers from its base near Carlyle Group subsidiary ARINC’s primary military aircraft service center at Oklahoma City, Okla.
AVIATION PARTNERS, amended STC to install winglets, wing structural reinforcement and related system changes on Boeing 767-300 series aircraft, STC ST01920SE
Northrop Grumman received a $5.1 million foreign military sales contract in December to upgrade weather and navigation radar systems on Iraqi Air Force C-130 cargo aircraft. The contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit by Lear Siegler Services, based in Annapolis, Md., to deliver AN/APN-242 weather and navigation radars to replace obsolete AN/APN-59 systems in the C-130s. The contract also includes funding to develop a new high-resolution flat-panel cockpit display processor for the radars. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed by July.
Honeywell International, reissued STCs to install a Honeywell/Racal Aeronautical satellite communications systems on Boeing 767-300 and on various 747 series aircraft, STCs SA6086NM, SA5549NM and SA5473NM
Seaton Engineering Corp., amended STC to build, install new and/or replace instrument panel lights dimmer control on a variety of general aviation and business aircraft, STC SA01800SE
Turboméca and the Turkish Defense Ministry in December signed a contract to establish a repair center for the Makila 1A1 turboshaft engines equipping the 50 Eurocopter AS 532 Cougar helicopters operated by the Turkish Army. This new repair center is based in the Tusas Engine Industries governmental repair center. It offers up to Level 4 repairs for the Turboméca Makila 1A1 engines installed in Turkish Cougar helicopters acquired in the late 1990s.
Performance-based logistics (PBL) and lean maintenance are transforming the MRO business. At the same time, these new maintenance and business strategies have the potential to bring MRO supply chains in line with other industries that rely on supply chain technologies for coordination with suppliers as well as extensive parts tracking and record-keeping requirements, like automotive manufacturing and the pharmaceutical industries.
Two bills introduced in the Australian Parliament aim to give the country’s aviation safety agencies more power and to increase their oversight of airlines. The Civil Aviation Amendment Bill and the Transport Safety Investigation Amendment Bill, introduced on Feb. 12, include structural changes and additions to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB).
The Boeing Co. in Ottawa completed its Industrial and Regional Benefits program for Phase 1 of the Canadian Forces’ CF-18 Fighter Avionics Modernization Program a year ahead of schedule. Boeing has successfully implemented industrial participation (IP) programs totaling more than $29 billion in 35 countries over the past 30 years.
Supply chain software systems are designed to manage processes, people and assets. Service lifecycle management is a different kind of software system. Sitting at the junction of ERP, MRO and content management solutions, it is designed to put a comprehensive maintenance library of technical information in the hands of maintenance technicians, engineers and parts managers as they are performing their jobs.
Two new personal flashlights from Streamlight are designed to be super-bright, lightweight and durable. The lithium-powered devices should be compact, with a nylon polymer casing and high light output for use in a variety of industrial and personal settings. An LED model and a xenon incandescent bulb model are available.
Saab received a SEK 550 million ($67 million) contract from the Swedish Defense Material Administration (FMV) for program management, product maintenance, support, flight testing, pilot equipment and simulators to support the Swedish Air Force’s (SAF) Saab JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft. Work on this contract should be completed this year, but Saab is expected to continue further Gripen support and development for the SAF.
DUBAI—Middle Eastern carriers will spend about $2.2 billion on airframe, engine and component maintenance, repair and overhaul this year, which represents about 5% of expected global demand, according to forecasts presented at AVIATION WEEK’s MRO Middle East Conference & Exhibition in January.
More than 40 years ago, in 300-ft. ceiling fog on the morning of Nov. 22, 1968, a Japan Air Lines DC-8-62, s/n 45954, landed short of SFO runway 28L in San Francisco Bay following an otherwise routine flight from Tokyo-Haneda. According to the National Transportation Safety Board report of Dec. 31, 1969, “The captain reported that his speed at the time of water contact was 137 kts.” The report also indicates that Capt. Kohei Asoh, who had nearly 10,000 hrs.
Birds are more likely than bank bailouts to have caused US Airways flight 1549 to ditch in New York’s Hudson River on Jan. 15, but it’s the economy that has prevented the 10-year old Airbus A320 from being salvaged and returned to service. “Why repair this airplane when I have three of them on the ground?” asked Jim Jijawi, managing director of Source One Airplane Repair (SOAR) in Newport Beach, Calif., summing up the stance of the owners/operators. “The repairability decision on the airplane depends in large part on the economy,” he said.
If you have any questions as to the worth of the A-10 Thunderbolt II (a.k.a. Warthog), just ask the soldiers in Wanat, an impossibly mountainous region of Afghanistan. They were fighting for their lives this past July. U.S. Air Force A-10s and other craft flew into a river valley near the place and laid down withering fire, helping hold back the opposition until U.S. troops could evacuate their wounded. Absent the rugged, “low ‘n slow” Hog, what was a very bad day for these men could have turned out far, far worse.
Honeywell International, reissued STC to install dual Sperry EDZ-601/603 electronic flight instrument systems, a Global GNS-500A VLF/Omega navigation system and, a Sperry Data Nav IV system on a specific Hawker Beechcraft 200 aircraft, STC SA3235M
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Shangri-La Industries hosted a green business leadership roundtable at Avjet’s Burbank facility to explore ways governments and businesses can better support practice sustainable s. “Our goal was to facilitate a discussion with leaders from the political, business and environmental world where they could share challenges and start a dialogue as to how we meet those challenges,” said Tim Donovan, Shangri-La’s COO.
Panasonic Computer Solutions introduced upgrades for its Toughbook 30 rugged laptop and Toughbook 19 rugged convertible tablet computer. Both notebooks will incorporate anti-glare/anti-reflective screen treatments for viewability in sunlight, a necessity for a mobile worker in the field.
