Japanese aerospace conglomerate Jamco is unsure when its facility at Sendai Airport can restart, but it says the tsunami destroyed the MRO's equipment and nearly every aircraft that was there. “Our MRO is on the other side of the runway, away from the passenger terminal. We have two hangars and a three story-office building,” says Jamco Executive VP George Funahashi. Jamco's MRO business at Sendai works on aircraft used by the: Japanese Coast Guard, Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japanese police forces, corporate clients and the Japan Civil Aviation College.
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.
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.
The Persimmon Group appointed Ray H. (Tray) Siegfried director, aerospace services. Siegfried joins the Oklahoma-based business management consulting firm from The Nordam Group, the Siegfried family business, which he most recently served as vice chairman of the board.
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
Standard 1926.502 of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulations for Construction (part 1926, subpart M) contains specific guidelines for lifeline systems, including the requirement that fall protection must be provided to an employee working more than 6 ft. off the ground. OSHA Standard for Occupational Safety and Health Standards (part 2010) also covers fall systems and personal protective equipment such as harnesses.
Sifco Applied Surface Concepts in Cleveland completed its fifth consecutive Nadcap aerospace chemical processing audit, which recognizes conformity for chemical processing.
Modern aircraft are generating much more data that can reduce maintenance costs by reducing downtime and improving repair efficiency. However, “there is more talking going on than listening,” stresses Peter Feldmann, VP of the Cavok division of Oliver Wyman. Translation: aircraft and everything on them talk, but systems are not fully exploiting the data because sometimes they are not even connected, and sometimes they speak in different languages.
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
Sargent Aerospace & Defense's aftermarket services group acquired more than 1,200 Boeing 737 line-replaceable units worth approximately $4 million in mid-March. Sargent's Miami facility was expected to receive the majority of these components—which range from avionics, fuel pumps, electromechanical actuators and engine components to landing gear top assembly units—in overhauled condition, ready for outright sale and exchange and lease programs.
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.
LONDON—Aircraft docking systems can substantially boost an MRO's profitability, especially if they are tailor-made to enhance the business. The advantage such systems provide can be considerable, according to Robin Wohnsigl, president and CEO of Laurentian Aerospace Corp., who is backing his belief with hard cash. His new MRO is not only investing in an automated, laser-guided, self-positioning docking system for its state-of-the-art maintenance hangar in Plattsburg, N.Y., but it also has acquired Contec Multidocking Ltd. (CML), the company that made the system.
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.
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.
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.”
In June 2009, the Air Transport Association published its Spec 2000 Chapter 9 data standard for the permanent identification of parts, the identification of receiving/shipping information and traceability. Contrary to popular belief, Spec 2000 Chapter 9 is strictly a “data standard”—not a technology standard. Fourteen required fields of information have been defined, including a small section providing an option to record additional information.
Flexible Lifeline Systems offers a range of fall protection systems for aircraft hangars, including lifeline and platform installations. It works with aircraft operators to design, fabricate and install customized systems and provide on-site training. Along with its overhead fall protection systems, the company has products that anchor to the wing when it is not possible to anchor fall protection devices in the ceiling. www.fall-arrest.com
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%.
Air BP Lubricants launched software that helps customers measure how high-performance lubricant BPTO 2197 is performing in their engines. Air BP says the BPTO lubricant is in use on more than 9,000 installed engines and more than 30,000 engine accessories.
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.
Last July, PPG launched a new transparency for the Airbus A320 family that now is available for new-production and replacement applications. PPG has outfitted these windshields with its new, chromate-free PR-2060 and PR-1425CF sealants, which use a different interlayer system to guard against moisture compared to the preceding windshield that equips Airbus A318, A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. S-123 urethane holds together the transparency's outboard and middle glass plies. www.ppg.com/coatings/aerospace/transparencies/Pages/default.aspx
