Pratt & Whitney’s first PurePower PW1000G engine is “doing very well” at the OEM’s West Palm Beach, Fla., facility, where it just left the test stand after running well for more than 200 hr. This engine, destined for a Bombardier CSeries installation, now heads to Plattsburgh, N.Y., for icing tests. A second PW1000G, designed for the MRJ platform, moves to the test stand. It is targeted to run for fewer than 200 hr., but as Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners VP Tom Hutton says, “We'll let it run as long as it’s giving us good data.”
GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems offers transparencies for Airbus, Boeing and Embraer aircraft that guard against “crazing,” fine cracks that form during flight as the window material's water content changes. To guard against this cracking, GKN coats its windows with CrystalVue coatings. GKN has been the sole OEM for new cabin transparencies on the Boeing fleet since 1996, and it offers OEM programs for Embraer and Airbus long-range aircraft. GKN plans to unveil new CrystalVue transparencies for the Bombardier CSeries and the Airbus A350XWB.
Eaton Corp. will provide engine-driven hydraulic pumps as well as pump repair and overhaul services for Berlin-based airline Germania's new fleet of Airbus A319s. The value of the contracts was not disclosed. Eaton Corp. manufactures hydraulic pumps for the Airbus A319 in Bedhampton, England, where the repair and overhaul services for Germania also will take place.
Eaton Corp. will provide engine-driven hydraulic pumps as well as pump repair and overhaul services for Berlin-based airline Germania's new fleet of Airbus A319s. The value of the contracts was not disclosed. Eaton Corp. manufactures hydraulic pumps for the Airbus A319 in Bedhampton, England, where the repair and overhaul services for Germania also will take place.
EADS in late March completed the acquisition of Canadian helicopter repair company Vector Aerospace. Vector will become part of Eurocopter, which has a mandate to increase its services activity. EADS says the deal for Vector Aerospace values the business at C$625 million ($641 million), or a 15% premium over the March 25 closing price. The price already had increased on takeover rumors and represents an 80% premium above the Dec. 2 price, when Vector Aerospace said it would consider a sale.
Simplified Safety distributes Gorbel's Tether Track fall protection anchorage system, which uses an overhead, shock-absorbing lanyard or self-retracting lifeline to keep workers safe while they carry out maintenance on top of aircraft fuselages. Simplified Safety also sells personal protective equipment and hazard-containment products for multiple industrial work environments. www.simplifiedsafety.com/store/fall-protection.html
Navairsyscom reissued STCs to install dual universal UNS-1D flight management systems and Raytheon APX-119 IFE transponder on various DC-9 aircraft, STCs ST01513AT and ST00022MC
Boeing announced the availability of GoldCare services for 737NG operators in late March. The tailor-made aftermarket program first rolled out for the Boeing 787, but now the OEM is offering it for its next-gen narrowbodies. TUI Travel became the launch customer for the 787 aftermarket management program last April, when it selected GoldCare coverage for its 13 787s. The OEM says it is having “advanced discussions with multiple customers” for 737NG GoldCare, but it has not announced a first client for the service.
United Airlines promoted Michael Lorenzini to managing director of United Technical Operations, maintenance control. He also serves as director of maintenance. Airframes
Nordam offers cabin windows and transparencies for most types of commercial aircraft, either directly to airframe manufacturers for installation during production or to third-party MRO providers as PMA parts. The company's capabilities include Airbus A320, A330, A340 and A380 models; Boeing 737, 747, 757 and 777 aircraft; Bombardier CRJ regional jets and Dash 8 turboprop aircraft; the Comac ARJ21 and Embraer 145. Nordam's transparency division supports American Airlines' Boeing fleet and Delta Air Lines' A320s and 747s. www.nordam.com
For life-limited consumables, more airlines and MROs are looking at small kit packaging as one approach to inventory control that saves money and reduces waste, says Randy Wilt, director of corporate marketing for Graco Supply and Integrated Services.
Boeing added Ethiopian Airlines as the 13th customer for its 777 Component Services Program, a parts-provisioning service offered by Boeing and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance designed to reduce airlines' upfront investment in inventory. For Ethiopian Airlines, the program initially will support three Boeing 777-200LR aircraft delivered since November 2010; the airline expects to receive two more aircraft of the type this year, one in late April and another sometime in the third quarter.
Lufthansa Technik's Hamburg auxiliary power unit (APU) shop added the Hamilton Sundstrand APS2300 to its repair portfolio with certification from the German Federal Office of Civil Aviation. The APS2300 APU equips Embraer 170/190 family aircraft. Lufthansa Technik says it has signed a contract with Air Dolomiti for APS2300 services, and work on the first APS2300 started in March.
Solo Aviation in Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela, became a GE Aviation authorized service center for M601 and H80 turboprop engines. Solo Aviation now offers line maintenance, removals and re-installations of engines and LRUs and engine spares for the M601 and H80 engine families; GE Aviation will provide Solo Aviation with comprehensive material support and training.
Super98, a group of mostly ex-McDonnell Douglas and Boeing engineering veterans, said in March that it is in discussions with potential launch customers for an aerodynamic improvement kit designed to reduce the drag of MD-80 family twinjets by at least 3.5%. The kit is about to be certificated and offered for retrofit for both passenger and converted freighter models. It is the first of a potential two-phase improvement plan that could ultimately see MD-80 drag reduced by as much as 7.5%.
Like many major carriers, United Airlines had developed its own in-house tools for doing diagnostics on its fleet. But around 2005 and 2006 the airline was starting to fly more routes to very distant destinations where the costs of having a grounded aircraft, and ferrying parts and repair crews, could be very high. So it took a look at Boeing's Aircraft Health Monitoring, speaking both to the airframe manufacturer and early adopters of the system.
Complacency has been called “the silent killer” and “the greatest threat to the survival of organizations today.” It seeps quietly into maintenance hangars over time as technicians become more comfortable in their jobs and begin taking shortcuts, such as not using checklists or using an out-of-date tool rather than making the trek to get a serviceable replacement. And complacency spreads: other technicians witness these shortcuts and figure they can get away with them, too.
Diversified Fall Protection designs, fabricates and installs custom fall protection systems for aircraft operators. Its rigid trolley beam fall arrest system is the most popular type of product for aircraft maintenance hangars; this system complies with OSHA standards. The company's Cartesian trolley system gives workers the freedom to move about on two axes. Diversified Fall Protection also supports fall systems for tarmac maintenance. www.fallprotect.com/aircraft-hangar.html
As a long-time supplier of measuring and stacking equipment for engine overhaul shops, Axiam has helped companies such as Delta TechOps, Lufthansa Technik and Pratt & Whitney improve the engine assembly process. Now Axiam is upgrading its Engine Core Restoration (ECR) software, which two commercial engine repair shops use. Axiam will add two new assembly processes called Flow Path Management and Geometric Rotor Stacking and Balancing to its software suite.
The lines separating major carriers from regional carriers continue to blur, and that's having an impact on the way the latter look at maintenance. Consider that larger regional jet aircraft such as the Embraer 170 and 190 family and Bombardier's forthcoming CSeries are—or soon will be—ranging farther afield. These types supplant major carriers' mainline jets on routes that were once a sole province.
