Skyquest Aviation won a design and supply contract for airborne camera and closed circuit television systems on Royal Air Force (RAF) tanker variant TriStar aircraft. Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge, appointed by Lockheed Martin as the design authority for the RAF TriStar fleet, awarded the contract. A trial installation of the equipment was scheduled for October at Marshall's Airport in Cambridge.
Rolls-Royce Defense Services received a $66.3 million modification to a previously awarded fixed-price, requirements contract to exercise an option to provide Power-By-The-Hour logistics support for approximately 188 F405-RR-401 engines for T-45 aircraft. Naval Air Systems Command is the contracting activity.
DeWalt launched its first cordless 18 gauge XRP brad nailer, the DC608K. Powered by an 18V cordless battery system, it features a mechanical flywheel system designed to accommodate users' needed nailing rates and drive up to two-inch 18 gauge nails into hardwood. Its box-style magazine also should prevent dust and debris from clogging it.
The sheer magnitude of the fines commanded attention. Roanoke-based ITT Night Vision agreed to pay $100 million and plead guilty in federal court to a pair of felonies. At issue: the firm's unauthorized export of night-vision goggle component parts to China, via a Singapore contractor. If U. S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) weren't front and center before, they certainly are now. The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), the agency that administers the rules for the Department of State, is working more ITAR-related cases than ever these days.
Pratt & Whitney Canada Customer Services Center Europe, a joint venture of P&WC and MTU, signed a Fleet Management Program agreement with Sloane Helicopters to provide maintenance for the PW206C and PW207C engines that power its fleet of company owned and client helicopters.
DayJet and Pratt & Whitney Canada signed a Fleet Management Program (FMP) contract, under which P&WC will maintain the PW610F engines powering DayJet's Eclipse 500 very light jets. The FMP agreement includes overhauls, basic unscheduled engine removals and engine trend-condition monitoring.
Airborne Flying Services of Hot Springs, Ark., developed and now offers the Valve Wizard, a set of three valve spring compressor tools for Lycoming O-235, O-290, IO/O-320, IO/O-360, AEIO-360, O-435, IO-480, IO-540 series and Continental O-470, IO-470, IO-520, IO-550 and TSIO-520 series piston engines.
American Eagle Airlines plans to expand its Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) maintenance facility, driven in part by American Eagle's recently added service from XNA to Miami, Fla., Washington, D.C., and Raleigh/Durham, N.C. The $10 million investment in a larger hangar should allow American Eagle's XNA-based maintenance crew to take on more maintenance responsibilities.
STARCO broke ground on a new MRO facility in Shanghai. Located at Pudong airport, the RMB280 million ($56 million) facility should be able to accommodate three narrowbody aircraft and two widebody aircraft, including Airbus A380s. It is scheduled to begin operations by mid-2009.
SR Technics opened a second component overhaul center in Spain, close to Madrid Barajas airport. The 1,400 square meter facility will initially focus on wheels and brakes, and it quickly plans to grow capacity to 500 wheels per month.
John Holland Aviation Services picked EVO, the latest model of TRAX Maintenance software. The Australia-based MRO operation is the 64 th company to implement TRAX.
LONDON -- Headlines trumpeting huge growth in aviation have been a feature of the past two years, with predictions of the world civil airline fleet growing to more than 28,000 aircraft by 2020. In parallel, business aviation also is booming with the world corporate jet fleet growing by more than six percent to 14,421 from 13,549 in September last year, according to Ascend's CASE database.
Click Commerce announced four appointments to its aerospace and defense supply chain management team. David Barboro joined the company as general manager. Ted Anderson will serve as director of solutions marketing. David Nowicki will fill the role of director of product management. Judy Pitchford joined Click Commerce as account executive.
The University of Tennessee College of Business Administration added two directors in its aerospace program. Retired Air Force Col. James Cody returned to UT, where he received his B.S. in business, as the College of Business Administration's Aerospace/Defense Clearinghouse of Tennessee's new director, and Andy White, who retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel, now serves as the director of UT's Aerospace MBA program.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems of Marietta, Ga., was awarded a $6.8 million contract modification to retrofit and install Block 6.0 on all currently fielded U.S. Air Force and U.S. Air Force Reserve C-130J, EC-130J and WC-130J aircraft to be produced in the Block 6.0 configuration.
AeroTech Services has developed and now offers a wing modification for Boeing 737-200, -300, -400 and -500 series aircraft that is designed to reduce fuel burn and carbon dioxide emissions by up to four percent.
In a September Boeing 787 Dreamliner program update, Mike Bair, vice president and 787 program general manager at the time, commented on delays in the aircraft's production schedule. The Achilles' heel of its production problem seemed to be one of its smallest components: a shortage of fasteners, which certainly was not on the radar when Boeing started the production process, Bair said.
Finnair signed as launch customer for CF6 engines with TechCF6 upgrades. In a deal worth $140 million, Finnair selected GE Aviation's CF6-80E1 engines for its seven Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Engine delivery is scheduled to begin in March 2009.
BizJet announced The Maintenance Group joined its partnership network. The Maintenance Group, based in Atlanta, Ga., specializes in corporate aircraft maintenance and will provide ad hoc service to local operators.
Boeing shipped a CH-47D Chinook helicopter maintenance trainer to the U.S. Army National Guard. Modified from a retired Army CH-47D, it was expected to be ready for use in training soldiers, technicians and other flight personnel by the end of October.
Fokker Services signed an agreement for the VIP completion of a pre-owned Airbus A321 for an undisclosed customer in the Middle East. It is scheduled to arrive at Fokker Services at Woensdrecht in the Netherlands in July 2008 for delivery in the first quarter of 2009. Fokker Services also began an A318 VIP cabin completion for an undisclosed operator in the Middle East, scheduled for delivery to the customer in mid-2008.
Lufthansa Technik's nice cabin management and IFE system has been installed on eight Bombardier Challenger 300 aircraft delivered since August. nice technology includes an iPod docking station in addition to an Ethernet network with 20-inch LCD screens, amplifiers for its flat panel speakers and an interface to other aircraft systems to support cabin lighting, temperature control and a DVD player.
