Premier/West Star is collaborating with Universal Avionics and Honeywell on a synthetic vision program for the Falcon 50. The MRO based in East Alton, Ill., also is offering Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 installation for Falcon 50s.
Honeywell's Primus Epic Control Display System/Retrofit can be installed on Dassault Falcon 50 and 900B aircraft. Chippewa Aerospace performed the installation and flight testing of the system on the Falcon 50 and Duncan Aviation in- stalled and performed STC testing on the Falcon 900B.
Industry groups are pushing the Federal Aviation Administration to go back to the drawing board on a proposal to mandate widespread fatigue damage (WFD) inspection and prevention programs, saying the current proposal turns the regulatory process upside down and lacks justification.
Jet Aviation named Thomas Rimmi senior vice president and general manager of its Zurich maintenance operation, effective Jan. 1, 2007. He succeeds Werner Aerne, who is retiring but will serve the Jet Aviation group in various functions.
Goodrich won a U.S. Air Force contract to manufacture additional C-5 aircraft landing gear axle beams for use as spares. The contract, which is in addition to awards received in 2003-2005, is expected to generate up to $16 million in revenue by mid-2011.
Volvo Aero plans to close its engine overhaul site in Bromma next year. Estimated costs to close the site are SEK250 million (US$34 million), reported Aviation Daily. The Bromma site specializes in overhaul of Pratt & Whitney JT8D and JT9D engines. Demand for the powerplants has fallen sharply. Introduction of PW4000 overhauls was "more difficult than expected," Volvo Aero said, and volumes haven't reached required levels.
When All Nippon Airways (ANA) became Boeing's 787 launch customer in May 2004, the Tokyo-based airline also was in line to become the first operator of a commercial aircraft equipped with electric brakes as standard equipment.
T o say that "ramp rash" is a wide spread human factors problem in the commercial airline industry is one thing. To put a dollar sign on the slang term for ground incidents is another.
Composite airframe components have been around for more than two decades, but with new aircraft coming online that feature greater composite content, getting ready to operate and support such planes will require more training, new repairs, more inspection equipment and better ground handling. Researchers also are working on more sophisticated nondestructive inspection (NDI) techniques to test the composite repairs.
This year was a busy one in the world of MRO, but as I look back on the almost completed 2006, the most intriguing development of the year -- notice I didn't say best or worst, but most intriguing -- was the launch of the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE). Why? First of all, there's the sheer size of the venture: a $15 billion, government-backed investment to create a global aerospace manufacturing and services corporation.
L-3 Vertex Aerospace received a $28.6 million ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for logistics services covering the U.S. Navy's E-6B fleet. Work should be completed in October 2007.
PAS Technologies in Kansas City named Mark Greene, manger of marketing and business development; Chris Eppard sales manager of the U.S. Southwest; and Bill Lodwick, currently managing director of Asian Surface Technologies, as Asia-Pacific regional director, as well.
Universal Avionics, Comm- ercial Jet and ARC Avionics announced receipt of an FAA STC on Oct. 19 to retrofit a flat panel display flightdeck on a Boeing 737-300F. The installation includes four Universal Avionics EFI-890 flat panel displays, a Vision-1 synthetic vision system, dual UNS-1F flight management systems and Class A terrain awareness and warning system. The existing autopilot stays.
While electric braking systems are considered state-of-the-art technology, manufacturers also are making improvements to the carbon heat stacks that ultimately make airplanes stop. For Honeywell, those improvements are focusing on longer life spans, according to Henry Steele, director of marketing and product management for Honeywell's wheels and brakes product line.
Aerospace Products International announced that it will open a 172,000-square-foot facility in Southaven, Miss., 2.5 miles from the Memphis International Airport and the FedEx Express hub. API will consolidate four of its warehouse facilities in early 2007 into a recently completed distribution center.
In October, Aero Vodochody presented its upgraded L-159BAT project to the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) as a suitable candidate to replace or supplement about 40 Greek Rockwell T-3C/E Buckeye advanced jet-trainers. L-159BAT development is based on a general agreement on the 25-year Follow-on Support Service for the Czech Air Force L-159/L-39 fleet, signed between Aero and the Prague Defense Ministry in December 2005. It involves using wings and tail sections of surplus Czech Republic Air Force (VSACR) single seat L-159As, with newly built tandem two-seat fuselages.
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Lufthansa Technik appointed new senior vice presidents for two of its six product divisions. As of January 2007, Dr. Johannes Bussmann will take over managing the Aircraft Component Services group. He succeeds Uwe Mukrasch, who joins the board of Lufthansa Technik as chief executive of human resources and information management. Dr. Andreas Heizner will head the Aircraft Overhaul division. Heizner, former president and CEO of Lufthansa Technik Philippines, takes over responsibility from Andreas Meisel, who becomes general manager of Ameco Beijing.
Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics received FAA Supplemental Type Certification on the new Bombardier Learjet 60 XR business jet. The installation was completed by Rockwell Collins' certification center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The first of 69 single-seat Harrier GR7 V/STOL ground-attack fighters upgraded to GR9 standards returned to service with the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm on Sept. 27. This is part of a £500 million ($938 million) improvement package to Capability B2+ standards for the aircraft. Together with 12 two-seat Harrier T12 (from T10) combat trainers, the GR9s emerge from upgrades in an incremental program by BAE Systems Customer Solutions & Support (CS&S), partnered with the Ministry of Defense (MoD), at RAF Cottesmore in Lincolnshire.
Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) already makes a difference in U.S. Army aviation -- despite the fact the program still is in its formative stages. An aviation unit from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) confirms CBM is working, said Col. Frank Atkins, director of Condition Based Maintenance for the Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
