Jet Engineering Technical Support Ltd. (JETS) started operations at Southampton Airport on Oct. 1 as a new maintenance and technical support organization for Hawker 125s. Its 30,000-sq.-ft. hangar can accommodate up to seven of these business aircraft and its first customer will be U.K.-based club328. JETS also will offer line support.
Iberia will inspect, modify and repair Luxor Air's JT8D-219 engines that power the Egyptian airline's MD80-83 fleet. The five-year contract has the option of extending it to six years.
Air New Zealand signed a $500 million contract with Rolls-Royce to provide long-term TotalCare service for the Trent 800 engines powering Air New Zealand's Boeing 777-200ER and for the Trent 1000s that will power its 7E7 fleet.
SR Technics Switzerland and SWISS referred their dispute over a ``full support'' maintenance contract to the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. SR Technics will continue to support SWISS' maintenance until the arbitration concludes ``in a mutually acceptable fashion.''
Aviall Services is spending $2 million to expand its repair facilities for batteries, hoses, wheels and brakes. The investment is targeted at providing broader supply chain efficiencies and ``filling in gaps.'' It relocated its battery shop and wheel and brake shop from Teterboro, N.J., to Parsippany, N.J., to double its space; expanded its Houston battery shop this summer; opened a larger hose batteries, wheels and brakes facility in Los Angeles in June; and plans to expand its wheel and brake shop in Chicago next year.
AMETEK Aerospace & Defense developed a new liquid-level probe that is much lighter weight than its previous ones, which should make it easier to use. The probe also features built-in tests with fault isolation, so the probes do not need to be calibrated on the aircraft. The new-generation fuel probe includes reduced minimum gauging height, an insulating end cap, all-electronic calibration, self-shielding design and laser-engraved nameplate data.
Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics Center selected Pemco Aeroplex as a partner to pursue and execute military aircraft maintenance contracts. The team recently won a $45 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to perform C-130 unscheduled depot level maintenance. Other participants in this contract include L-3 Spar Aerospace, Crestview Aerospace and Aerospace Integration Corp.
Polytec's PSV-400-3-dimensional scanning vibrometer measures vibration characteristics of aerospace structures, such as aging aircraft, components or preproduction products. Three independent sensor heads map vibration at high-spatial resolution. By auto-positioning laser light instead of using tri-axial accelerometers, the device is designed to decrease set-up and data acquisition time, while increasing data accuracy. Polytec, 1342 Bell Ave., Suite 3A, Tustin, CA 92780 Circle 504 on Reader Service Card
Mohawk Aviation Carpet, in partnership with AkroFireguard, introduced a new woven nylon carpet that is designed to meet FAA, Airbus and Boeing requirements. The carpet, called Skylon, has AkroBak, which is a patented carpet backing that helps protect against fires. Mohawk recently won a contract from British Airways for the carpet, which is Mohawk's first non-U.S. airline customer. Mohawk Aviation Carpet is a division of Mohawk Industries, which makes various carpets, including Karastan, which is used in residential and commercial applications.
An industry working group representing 11 aviation organizations and a cross-section of the maintenance community has sent FAA proposed new policy guidance on how Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA) distribution should be handled. The guidance, forwarded to FAA in late August, ``is consistent with existing FAA policy in many respects,'' the group said in a cover letter sent along with the filing. ``However, it is significantly different in its treatment of components and other articles that have their own FAA design approvals.''
BAE Systems won a Dept. of Defense contract to be a prime contractor under the Advanced Technology Support Program III, which is a government-wide contracting vehicle administered by the Defense Microelectronics Activity.
American is bringing certain GE CF6-80C2A engine maintenance tasks in-house after executives at the carrier's Tulsa maintenance base convinced airline management that the work could be completed faster and cheaper at the Oklahoma facility. Technicians in Tulsa will refurbish compressor rear frames, compressor stator cases and fan blades on the engines powering American's 34 Airbus A300s. Oliver Martins, managing director of the GE engine shop in Tulsa, credited American's version of Lean -- Continuous Improvement -- for the return of the work in-house.
EDigital and APS introduced a new version of APS' digEplayer that they say is the first independent hand-held video-on-demand system, which doesn't rely on a central server.
L -3 Avionics Systems introduced its new LandMark Terrain Awareness & Warning System (TAWS) with a WAAS-GPS sensor on Oct. 11 at the National Business Aviation Association convention. The Model 8100 TAWS, designed for FAA Part 91 and 135 six- to nine-passenger fixed and rotary wing turbine aircraft flying in Class B airspace, received Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval on Oct. 7, so the system is available now.
Registration Info: Cynthia Arbulu, Registration Producer, 800-240-7645 ext. 6 in U.S. only or 212-904-3589; fax 212-904-3334; e-mail [email protected] Sponsorship Info: Joan Foley, Conference Sales Manager, 800-240-7645 ext. 4 in U.S. only or 212-904-2997; fax 212-904-3334; e-mail [email protected]
M7 Aerospace won a $11.2 million contract from Tinker Air Force Base to provide full contractor logistics support for the C-26 Army National Guard and Air National Guard aircraft.
ARINC and AeroMech introduced two RVSM solutions for Hawker 700s that take about two days to install. ARINC said that less than one-third of the North American-registered Hawker 700 fleet have done the RVSM modification.
Britain's Defense Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) claims to be Europe's largest government-owned "one-stop shop" facility. It deals with not only maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and upgrades of U.K. Defense Ministry and other aircraft, systems and components, but also for engines and avionics. DARA is part of the MoD's Defense Logistics Organization (DLO). It operates from four main centers throughout the U.K., each dealing with different equipment areas.
The National Institute for Aviation Research took over Raytheon Aircraft's former aircraft structural testing facilities in Wichita. The new operation will be called the Aircraft Structural Testing and Evaluation Center. The Institute will relocate its Aging Aircraft Research Laboratory to the new fatigue test facility. The center's launch customer will be Raytheon Aircraft.
Boeing received a $8.4 million modification contract for two CH-47 structural Tier 2 and 3 kits to support the overhaul and repair of crash damage and on-condition maintenance.
