Conferences and Exhibitions March 11-12 Defense Technology & Requirements Conference, Washington, D.C. March 18-19 Aircraft Data Management Forum, Phoenix, Ariz. March 26-27 ADS-B Management Forum, Washington, D.C. April 14-15 Helicopter Safety & Operations Management Forum, San Diego, Calif. April 21 2009 Lean Six Sigma for Military April 21-23 MRO Americas Conference & Exhibition, Dallas, Texas April 22-23 MRO Military Conference, Dallas, Texas Contacts
SR Technics plans to close its MRO operation at Dublin Airport , where it does airframe base and heavy maintenance, landing gear and APU overhauls, and line maintenance. The Feb. 12 announcement came just weeks after SR Technics confirmed that it was losing the Dublin facility’s remaining primary load customer, Gulf Air. The Bahrain-based airline opted to terminate early a five-year, $750 million full support contract announced in March 2006.
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.
Designed Metal Connections offers a new series of miniature end fittings and tooling that should be simple to use to create a leak-free metal-to-metal seal. DMC’s miniature end fittings can be used to design a mechanically attached, lightweight, flareless and reconnectable end fitting system for aircraft fluid systems.
Emergency locator transmitters that operate on frequencies 121.5 and 243 MHz can no longer be used, as a notice of final rulemaking by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority informs operators in the region. The changes took effect Feb. 1, meaning that all ELTs used in Australia now must operate on 406 and 121.5 MHz.
Star Aviation, amended STC to install a Universal Avionics Systems Corp. EFI-890R electronic flight instrument system and dual IS&S air data computers on Falcon 10 aircraft, STC ST02194CH
The U.S. Marine Corps in January awarded Norwegian communications firm Nacre a contract worth $4.3 million for its QUIETPRO intelligent hearing system. The Marine Corps currently is the largest user of the system, which is designed to provide high-level hearing protection and full situational awareness in noisy environments. But, Nacre is going through the process of developing QUIETPRO technology for industrial applications, said Neal Muggleton, VP strategic marketing and product management.
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.
BURBANK, Calif.—Imagine walking into a white-walled hangar with floors resembling polished grey granite. The shiny floor reflects sunlight cascading through rooftop windows/panels, obviating the need for fluorescent lights. More than 95% of regularly occupied spaces, even center offices, are daylit—connecting the indoors and outdoors.
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.
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).
Avenger Aircraft and Services, to install Avenger Extended Performance Front Spar Enhancement Kit (new wing front spar lower caps, center splice and doublers) on various Thrush S-2R aircraft, STC SA03654AT
Avidyne Corp., amended STC to install Avidyne TWX 670 Tactical Weather Detection System, consisting of an Avidyne processor and antenna with doubler plate and mounting tray, on numerous general and business aviation models, STC SA00269BO
The Federal Aviation Administration is on target to release four rulemakings, three final rules and an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), in June. The agency originally planned to release an ANPRM on Safety Management Systems in April, but delayed the date until June. The ANPRM would be the first step toward requiring aviation businesses to adopt SMS. FAA also slipped the release date for a final rule that would change the certification procedures and identification requirements for aeronautical parts and products.
Late last year, Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aerospace), received a $51 million (about S$75 million) contract to perform maintenance and modifications, and to return to service four Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) Lockheed C-130B transports. The program was due to start immediately for scheduled completion over 30 months, involving work performed by ST Aerospace subsidiary, ST Aerospace Engineering (STA Engineering).
LONDON—It’s a sign of the times when a big landing gear services provider says it wants to become equally well known for component services. According to Alan Doherty, SVP sales and business development, the focus at Messier Services during 2009 will be components, despite its involvement in landing gear.
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.
In December, the Spanish government’s Council of Ministers authorized the Ministry of Defense, or whomever it designates, to award the contract mentioned in the memorandum of understanding between France, Germany and Spain for Tiger attack helicopter MRO. At the same time, it also approved related payments totaling about €155 million ($201.1 million), divided into seven annual payments between 2009 and 2015.
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.
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
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.
