Dallas Airmotive celebrated the opening of its Boynton Beach, Fla., regional turbine center on Sept. 4. Marty Jones is managing the facility, which is a Honeywell-authorized major service center for the TFE731. The site also offers Pratt & Whitney Canada-authorized PT6A, PT6T and JT15D maintenance.
A major Boeing upgrade of 12 Egyptian Air Force (EAF) CH-47C Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to CH-47D standards reached an advanced stage in July with entry into service of three more modernized Chinooks at their main base of Kom Awshem, about 100 km south of Cairo. The three Chinooks, one of them delivered six weeks ahead of schedule, officially joined their new squadron on June 4, and began military missions and training operations almost immediately. A team of specialists from the EAF, Boeing and the U.S.
Smiths and Shaw Aero Devices teamed to provide onboard inert gas generating systems for transport aircraft to comply with SFAR 88. The system provides Nitrogen Enriched Air to fuel tanks to reduce oxygen in fuel vapors.
Jouve Aviation Solutions received a contract from Southwest Airlines to supply its AirGTI platform to support publishing and delivery of repair and maintenance information via the Internet to facilities maintaining Southwest's aircraft. They will deploy the service in the fourth quarter.
Honeywell announced that China-based AVIC I selected it and Parker Hannifin to jointly develop primary flight control systems for its new 70- to 90-seat ARJ21 airliner. The contract could be worth up to $200 million.
General Dynamics Aviation Services' West Palm Beach service center received FAA approval to maintain Hawker 800XPs. The center also is authorized on Challenger, Citation, Falcon, Gulfstream, Learjet and other business aircraft.
Boeing delivered on Sept. 5 the first F/A-18E/F with a redesigned forward fuselage, which should reduce life-cycle costs. In addition, ``The redesigned forward fuselage is key to the incorporation of spiral development systems in the F/A-18E/F Block II configuration,'' said Tony Parasida, vice president of the program.
O&M: Why did the Hirschman family decide not to sell Jet Aviation, and what impact has this had on your business? Staub: It's a family business, and there was no particular reason to sell the company. Obviously the reason they haven't sold the company was because of the market situation, and that they didn't get the price they wanted. O&M: Jet Aviation North America is restructuring its business into geographic regions and is expanding its maintenance capabilities. What is the motivation for these changes?
Both Honeywell and Rockwell Collins are delivering mature products to Bombardier for the Challenger 300. Honeywell's 8,000-lb.-thrust AS907 engine completed 26,000 hours of testing to prepare for its entry into service, which is three times more than other Honeywell engines entering service, said John Ricciardelli, Honeywell director of the AS900 product line. Honeywell enlisted an operators' advisory board and 20 mechanics from seven service centers from the program's first day to provide input into the engine.
IAI received $1.4 million from the Israeli government to perform advanced flight test of Elta's commercial aircraft Flight Guard protection system. After the system receives certification, Flight Guard is scheduled to be installed on Israeli airlines to protect against shoulder missiles.
Gulfstream Aerospace received a contract worth up to $473 million from Israel's Ministry of Defense to supply and support four Gulfstream G550s. Israel will use the aircraft as compact airborne early warning platforms. The contract includes a 10-year logistics support program worth up to $18 million.
Sabena Technics signed a five-year contract with Yemenia to provide component repair, overhaul and testing as well as component exchange for four Airbus A310s plus a Boeing 737-200.
Decades of airline operation under socialism, where support from the manufacturer was virtually non-existent, have taught maintenance organizations in Eastern Europe the value of improvisation. It is that ability, coupled with significantly reduced maintenance-cost-per-manhour rates, that have helped MRO operations in Hungary and the Czech Republic, in particular, capture business that might ordinarily go to companies further west.
FAA on Aug. 13 grounded all U.S.-based Learjet 45s pending an investigation of the horizontal stabilizer actuator assembly (HSAA) on each of the business jets. In the airworthiness directive grounding the fleet, FAA said, ``This action is necessary to prevent structural failure of the HSAA, which could result in possible loss of control of the airplane.'' The HSAA on the Bombardier-built Learjet 45 is manufactured by MPC Products Corp. of Skokie, Ill. According to AvData, Inc., there are more than 170 Learjet 45s operating in North America.
Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems delivered the 300th AH-64D Apache Longbow multi-role combat helicopter to the U.S. Army on May 22 from its Mesa, Ariz., facility. Boeing is delivering 269 AH-64Ds to the Army through 2006 from the second of two multi-year contracts. The first, MYC I, covered 232 Apache Longbows, for an overall total of 501. The latest Apaches, including #300, are in Block II configuration, which contains enhancements to improve situational awareness and meet the Army's future digital requirements.
Kenya Airways selected Rockwell Collins to upgrade three Boeing 767s to include Total Entertainment System and also supply its TES and traffic alert and collision avoidance system on three Boeing 777s.
