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
Aviation maintenance is a high-pressure business, focused on turnaround times and throughput. Time is of the essence. To use time wisely and make work environments as safe as possible, it’s important to focus on communication.
Bell Helicopter closed out 2008 with delivery of the ninth OH-58D armed reconnaissance aircraft to be modified under the current Kiowa Warrior Safety Enhancement Program contract. “[The] nine OH-58s we delivered in 2008 were six more than required by the contract schedule,” said Amy Tedford, director of Bell Helicopter Military Fielded Systems.
There’s nothing like expediency to foster innovation. Take BAE Systems Regional Aircraft, for example, which, after 15 years of leasing, managing and re-marketing passenger aircraft, is moving into the market for fire-fighting aircraft. The move follows the sale of a BAe 146-200 to Minden Air Corp. of Nevada for conversion to an air-tanker/aerial water bomber. The aircraft was delivered in early January.
Shedding, integrating and consolidating should be major themes of aircraft maintenance in the next few years. Some airlines want to shed technical tasks and management burdens that others can do more economically. Maintenance providers will need to integrate repairs, materials, logistics and management to take over these tasks. And because there are so many parts suppliers, efficient support will require some consolidation of the supply chain to make it all workable.
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
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.
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.
One of the first lessons I learned at O&M is that it’s tough, if not impossible, for a monthly magazine to report the news. We’ve tried a few times without success. Between the time the magazine goes to press and the time you receive your copy something will happen—a new development or significant turn of events—that will render our “news” story out of date or, in the worst case, just plain wrong.
Bird Air Services, a subsidiary of New Delhi-based Bird Group, signed a marketing agreement with Pacific Propeller International (PPI), a repair and overhaul services provider for several regional airline and military aircraft types, to facilitate MRO services for propeller engines for aircraft in India. A recent report by Ernst and Young on the Indian aviation sector says the country’s airlines spending on MRO will increase to $1.2 billion in 2017 from $440 million in 2007, an annual growth rate of 11.8%. ◗
Honeywell International, reissued STCs to install various performance management systems on Boeing 737-200, Boeing 737-200, and Boeing 727-200 (Air Canada configuration) series aircraft, STCs SA2407NM, SA2018NM, SA2001NM, and SA1984NM
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
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.
CORRECTION: Delta AirElite won a contest held by PPG Industries' aerospace transparencies business to promote PPG's new glass-faced heated acrylic replacement windshield for Bombardier Challenger 600, 601, 604 and 605 aircraft. Terry Bowling is director of maintenance for Delta AirElite.
Aircraft End-of-Life Solutions in the Netherlands is working with the International Centre for Emergency Techniques to use real aircraft to train fire fighters and rescue workers. The used aircraft should provide better training vehicles than old buses and cars, which are typically used to simulate aircraft crashes, got rescue training in the aviation sector. AELS will supply the training aircraft and dismantle them using high environmental standards once the crash simulation is complete.
BALTIMORE—“Customers are looking for revolutionary enhancements” to their F-16 radars, at affordable upfront and life-cycle costs, which is part of the reason Northrop Grumman has created the Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), said Arlene Camp, director of advanced F-16 systems for Northrop Grumman.
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 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.
The French Defense Procurement Agency (Délégation Générale pour l’Armement, or DGA) has confirmed initial deliveries of production Dassault Rafale F3s to the French air force (AdlA`) and navy (Aéronavale) from early 2009. Qualification of the full standard F3 multi-role version of Rafale combat aircraft was announced on July 1, 2008. Earlier Rafale F2s, operated by AdlA since June 2006 and Aéronavale since May 2008, also are being upgraded to similar standards.
