Euravia Engineering & Supply Co. won a Royal Air Force contract to provide reduced cost of ownership for Garrett GTCP165-1A APUs on Sentry E-3D aircraft. The Sentry Integrated Project Team will support the APU until the Sentry reaches its out of service date in 2025.
Deflating aircraft tires can be a noisy task. For instance, a Boeing 747 wheel inflated to 195 psi can emit a loud 117 dBA noise when deflating. Kestrel Engineering of Ireland developed a silencer tool that can reduce the noise level to 94 dBA if used to remove the valve core. Within one minute, that level decreases to 86 dBA, and after 3.5 minutes, it declines to 74 dBA. A 747 wheel can deflate entirely in four minutes with the Saf-Deflat-Aer tool.
India's Coastguard Aviation, which celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 22, started an upgrade program for its fleet of Dornier 228s, with three of the 24 aircraft license-built by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) for patrol, search and rescue, and transport missions, being fitted with Swedish Space Corp.'s maritime surveillance system. HAL will work jointly with SSC to install the systems.
When Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of USAF Materiel Command, provided a review of MRO priorities for his command during AVIATION WEEK's MRO Military Conference in April, he mentioned that his team had identified issues to be resolved. MRO providers attending the conference began clamoring for the list before the general flipped to the next slide. The list of issues resembles a roadmap for defense MRO leaders in the U.S. but also for U.S. allies. It covers topics such as:
Nakash Group of America's Trent 1000 engine contract for two Boeing 787-9s and two optional Dreamliners that Arkia Israeli Airlines will operate includes two lifetime TotalCare services agreements. The total package is worth up to $160 million at list prices. One TotalCare agreement covers the Trent 1000s powering the 787s, and the other covers Arkia's existing RB211-535s on two Boeing 757s.
The U.K.'s Ministry of Defense hangs its ability to acquire new technologies on its ability to cut costs and run aftermarket sustainment of systems more effectively. MoD is working to service multiple aircraft from a single hub facility, looking for commonality and efficiency in maintenance, repair, overhaul and reset expertise. In the U.S., lifecycle sustainment is the buzz word, coupled with performance-based logistics contracts. Italy follows the U.K. model, and Canada blends the two with heavy reliance on prognostics and diagnostics.
Parker Hannifin released its 800-page Critical Hydraulic and Pneumatic Maintenance & Repair Components Catalog, also known as "The Parker Book," which includes more than 8,000 parts. It provides the MRO market with a range of hydraulic and pneumatic components and is available through authorized Parker distributors. "Parker authorized full line distributors already provide local engineering, system support and inventories to serve MRO customers," said Mark Kugelman, vice president of business development.
With operator acceptance growing and Pratt & Whitney getting closer to certificating its own parts for the CFM56-3, aircraft and engine leasing companies are under increasing pressure to relax, if not end, their long-time opposition to the use of PMA parts on their assets, particularly on powerplants. But when and how such a sea change takes place remains to be seen.
PPG Aerospace - PRC-DeSoto qualified its next-generation high-solid low-VOC exterior epoxy aerospace primer at Boeing. The company said the primer offers good adhesion, flexibility and rain-erosion resistance. The Desoprime HS CA7700 primer meets Boeing specification BMS 10-72 Type VIII and will soon be on all new Boeing aircraft painted with Desothane HS topcoat, according to Alan Schoeder, PPG Aerospace commercial coatings marketing manager.
Lockheed Martin will upgrade radar capabilities for the reconnaissance version of the Japan Air Self Defense Force's fleet of F-15 aircraft, from a new JASDF contract announced on June 19. As part of a Japanese-led team, Lockheed Martin will equip selected F-15s with external advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) pods.
Honeywell reduced the repair and overhaul turntimes for its Airbus and Boeing auxiliary power units by more than 30 percent. APU turntimes average about 20 days, compared to 29 days in early 2006.
Eurocopter was awarded an Assessment Phase (AP) contract by the U.K. Ministry of Defense in June, for a Life Extension Program for up to 35 of the RAF's fleet of Westland/ Aérospatiale SA 330E Puma HC.1 helicopters. The program will be based on comprehensive upgrades, including new Turboméca Makila engines, digital avionics and glass cockpits, plus new communications, navigation and defensive systems.
easyJet awarded a 10-year OnPoint Solution service agreement worth up to $1 billion to GE Aviation for the maintenance and overhaul of CFM56-5B and -7B engines powering the carrier's 192 A319s and 32 737-700s.
SEATTLE -- Boeing 787 customers are getting a guarantee that the Dreamliner's airframe maintenance costs will be 30 percent lower than both the Boeing 767-300ER it is replacing and other competing aircraft over its first dozen years. "We have offered this to every customer: a minimum of 30 percent maintenance cost savings," according to Justin Hale, 787 program deputy chief mechanic. "It's a real guarantee with financial remedies to the airline if we don't meet that commitment."
Airline mechanics who transition from the Boeing 767 to the 787 Dreamliner will find many of their old tasks significantly reduced, in part because of new materials, including composites, but also because of improvements in systems, which are more capable and less complex, smaller and lighter, and more reliable and more dispatchable, according to Justin Hale, Boeing 787 program deputy chief mechanic. In briefings in Seattle, Hale pointed to numerous changes in the 787, including:
Semler Industries says it shipped the first potable water cabinet designed to meet the needs of the Airbus A380. Semler said the A380 typically will have to carry more than 525 gallons of water to meet the passengers' drinking requirements. Because of that large volume, ground staff will need to fill the water quickly from a single point. Semler said typical water systems deliver 10 to 12 gallons per minute, which was too slow, so it delivered the SIFF-3000-A380 portable water cabinet that delivers 25 gallons per minute.
TIMCO Aviation Services is partnering with MacAulay-Brown and Kellstrom Defense Aerospace to offer a C-130 center wing box rehabilitation program. The modification should extend the service life for a C-130 for 35,000 more baseline hours without recurring fatigue inspections or flight restrictions.
SR Technics promoted Felix Amman to vice president of the company's maintenance base in Bahrain. As of Aug. 1, he will run the base that provides aircraft and component maintenance, as well as management and logistics services, for the Gulf Air fleet. Roberto Pace, who joined the company in 2005 as an area sales director in Europe, will succeed Amman in Hong Kong as vice president of sales and marketing for Asia-Pacific. Philippe Erni, who previously was in Bahrain, will become vice president sales and business development for the Middle East and India.
Who can argue with increased reliability, better performance and longer one-wing time at a lower maintenance cost? It's what the aviation industry strives for. When Clay Jones, CEO of Rockwell Collins, announced at AVIATION WEEK's MRO Conference in April that the company was launching Engineering Services Solutions, he gave an example of how inserting new technology into a 10-year-old weather radar could decrease the parts count by 65 percent, improve reliability up to 50 percent, decrease the amount of circuitry and drop power consumption from 720 watts to 85 watts.
The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) list of most wanted safety improvements is considered by many to be the gospel in terms of pinpointing the most prominent risks in aviation (and other transportation modes) that warrant industry attention. It's interesting to note, however, that aviation items on NTSB's list usually get there because they were central in the cause of a disaster, and they're most often removed based on what FAA (or industry) does about them.
Goodrich gained its first Airbus A380 support customer. Singapore Airlines awarded a long-term contract to Goodrich to provide asset management services, including component and system maintenance, for 19 A380s. The deal covers primary and secondary flight controls to sensors and evacuation systems. Goodrich's facilities in Singapore, France, the U.K. and U.S. will deliver the asset-based support program.
Rolls-Royce won TotalCare agreements from South African Airways for Trent 500s on three A340-600s leased from ILFC and a TotalCare package from Monarch Airlines for RB211-535s powering seven Boeing 757s.
