The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) Composites and Advanced Materials laboratory at Wichita State University in Kansas is a 7,420-ft. facility that offers researchers the ability to perform comprehensive materials testing. The composites laboratory has a lay-up room and equipment for bonded repairs, and researchers can test heat and humidity on materials in the structures and fatigue laboratory. NIAR offers classes with universities through the FAA Center of Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials. www.niar.wichita.edu/
“Do More With Less”—that was the theme for a recent change management program at VAS Aero Services, formerly Volvo Aero Services. The economic challenges we all faced in 2009 provided the platform for VAS to focus on operational efficiencies. Our global customer base demanded solutions and encouraged partnerships that provided multiple value streams, along with discounted aftermarket material. The rules of engagement were changed and we set a course that answered the request of our customers and the market.
A J Walter Aviation decided to locate its new aircraft engine services division in Wales. It says it is targeting $50 million in business in the first year of the facility’s operations.
Apple just released its iPad 2 last month, and the aerospace industry is definitely taking notice of the tablet’s seemingly limitless applications, from the hangar floor to aircraft cabins and cockpits. The FAA has recently approved the use of iPads as electronic flight bags (EFB), which contain important aeronautical charts and manuals, for pilots. Because EFBs can cost thousands of dollars on the market today, many airlines find that the iPad presents a simple, flexible and economical alternative.
AFI KLM E&M was contracted by Philippine Airlines for long-term engine maintenance of the GE90 engines that power its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The contract covers on-site and on-wing maintenance, shop visits, component support, spare engines and engineering support. PAL has used AFI KLM E&M for GE CF6-80E engine maintenance work.
Avic Electromechanical Systems and Hamilton Sundstrand plan to begin developing a facility in Xian, western China, in June, following the formation of a joint company on March 3. The partnership will supply the electrical system for the Comac C919 airliner and also support programs outside of China. All foreign suppliers to the C919 program are required to work in China; most have chosen to do so with Chinese partners, usually subsidiaries of Avic. Avic Electromechanical is one of two aircraft system subsidiaries of the Avic conglomerate. The other is Avic Avionics.
The number of flights over Europe likely will be 1.8 times greater in 2030 than it was in 2009, according to Eurocontrol’s latest 20-year forecast. It sees a range of scenarios that project between 13.1 million and 20.9 million flights in 2030, assuming average growth of 1.6-3.9% annually. A 2.8% per year average growth rate is the most likely, it says.
Baines Simmons appointed Ivan Christiansen head of its quality consultancy division. Christiansen joins Baines Simmons from Rolls-Royce, where he was head of global quality for On-Wing Care.
GE Canada and StandardAero signed an agreement to build a $50 million aircraft engine research and technology development center in Winnipeg. The facility, slated to open later this year, will develop advanced testing methodologies and equipment for GE commercial and military aircraft engines; it will include test cell capabilities for engines up to 150 in. in diameter and up to 150,000 lb. thrust. It also will be equipped with a large wind generator for crosswind, ingestion and icing certification testing.
Aftermarket acquisitions in the second decade of the new millennium got off to a fast start. Aviation consolidation in early 2011 has been “even more robust than we predicted,” summarizes Chris Doan, president and CEO of TeamSAI. “Activity in the first month of 2011 is equal to that of the first quarter in 2010.” Doan sees that strength continuing throughout the year and predicts its aerospace acquisitions will double or triple the number in 2010
StandardAero named Rick Stine senior VP of its components sector in Cincinnati, one of six new divisions that group the company’s MRO services in six key industry sectors—airlines and fleets, Associated Air Center, business aviation, government and military, helicopters and energy, and components. Stine comes to StandardAero from Heico Corp., where he was senior VP technical operations.
The governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama established free trade zones where Coopesa, Aeroman and ST Aerospace Panama operate, speeding their access to parts. The strategy also provides a competitive advantage that other countries, such as Mexico and Brazil, can't offer due to long customs-clearing processes.
AeroTurbine signed a three-year, exclusive agreement with Webjet Linhas Aereas S.A. to provide engine management services including off-wing maintenance events for Webjet’s growing CFM International CFM56-3 fleet. Webjet is launch customer for AeroTurbine’s Flexible Engine Care Solutions, a tailored engine fleet maintenance product.
M&D Aviation and Avocet Aviation Services opened a VIP conversions center in Orlando. In March they were in final negotiations for a first contract to convert two Boeing 737-800s from airliner to VIP configuration.
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.”
Phillips Service Industries acquired Skytronics Inc. Technology firm Phillips sees the acquisition of the California maker and repairer of aircraft ball screws, actuator assemblies and transmissions as an expansion of its reach into aerospace; it also owns Beaver Aerospace & Defense, Sciaky Inc., Mountain Secure Systems, Evana Automation Specialists and PSI Repair Services.
Irving Place Capital appointed Jeffrey D. Wood a senior advisor for its industrial practice. Wood formerly was president of Airfoil Technologies International and has 20 years of experience in aerospace, having worked at Pratt & Whitney, Interturbine and General Electric.
Derco Repair Services and Universal Synaptics teamed together to offer a new product for detecting intermittent faults, called the Intermittent Fault Detection System. The device monitors electrical paths in the chassis of the unit under test to detect, log and isolate intermittent events then graphically displays the failing circuits to enable quicker, more efficient repairs.
CT Aerospace hired Björn Vandekerckhove as director of commercial programs for Europe, responsible for commercial engine and airframe sales and engine programs. Vandekerckhove worked at Sabena Technics and TPI Aviation before founding Jet Engine Trading & Support.
Rockwell Collins opened offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, initially for business development purposes with systems engineering and support activity to follow.
Timco Aviation Services began manufacturing its FeatherWeight 3500 aircraft seats in Greensboro, N.C., in February. The seats, which are headed to customers in Asia and the Middle East, were produced on a new Lean assembly line that is expected to continue to operate after Timco launches its new production facility nearby.
North State Aviation is getting into Boeing 737 maintenance at Winston-Salem, N.C.’s Smith Reynolds airport, as it moves into a facility formerly used by Piedmont Airlines and Pace Airlines. North State plans to hire 125 workers by the end of the year, says President Charlie Creech. “The majority of those jobs will be A&P mechanics, but we’ll have some support staff too,” he says. “We expect to have created 325 jobs in the next four years.”
Avtrade will support components for start-up Mega-Maldives’ fleet of Boeing 767-300s through 2016. The power-by-the-hour contract covers pool access, AOG services, logistics, component management and repair; Mega-Maldives also signed a multi-million-dollar lease with Avtrade to set up a base kit in Malé.
