AMECO-Beijing completed the first of 11 cockpit door modification of an Air China Boeing 747. AMECO recently completed the same type of modification for two 747-300s owned by Air Atlanta Icelandic, which just awarded AMECO a $20 million contract for 747 heavy maintenance. Air Atlanta Icelandic operates 16 Boeing 747s.
CFMI hopes to receive certification of its thrust reverser and chevron nozzle in the second quarter for its CFM56-5B acoustic upgrade program. The program's objective is to meet Stage 4 requirements that will take effect Jan. 2006 for new and derivative aircraft. In addition, the manufacturer hopes to receive certification in Octo- ber for its CFM56-5C/P upgrade that is designed to be interchangeable with current -5C models on Airbus A340-200300 aircraft, provide 13C lower EGT and maintain -5C noise standards.
IT AQT Solutions released version 4.0 of its Aviation Training Management System, which offers improvements to its record keeping and scheduling areas.
Duncan Aviation's Technical Training Coordinator Bob Elrod received FAA's Maintenance Technician of the Year for the Nebraska district and the North Central Region. He has worked in aviation maintenance for 47 years, including 29 years in the U.S. Air Force.
Helicopter Association International (HAI) awarded Steve Wile, maintenance director of Northern Airborne Technology, the 2002 aviation repair specialist. The association also named Robert Amedeo, chief inspector for Chevron USA, the 2002 helicopter maintenance award recipient and Jim Chadwick, president and founder of Chadwick-Helmuth, its 2002 Lawrence D. Bell memorial award winner.
IFR is introducing a radically different navigation communications ramp test set to replace its NAV-402AP platform that can be seen in hangars around the world. The older unit weighs 18 pounds and was introduced in 1974. The new hand-held unit weighs only eight pounds, features a lithium battery that operates for 10-plus hours and costs $11,500, which is $1,700 less than the older unit.
Asiana Airlines and AMECO-Beijing signed a contract for AMECO to perform eight S4C/S8C checks and strut modifications for the carrier's Boeing 767-300ERs.
Derco completed a major upgrade to five Lockheed C-130Es of the Brazilian air force (FAB) from a 1998 contract. Costing $42 million, the FAB's C-130 upgrade program was Derco Aerospace's largest contract to date, and also claimed as the most extensive undertaken by an international Hercules support organization. It was a subcontract of the $1.4 billion SIVAM (System for the Vigilance of the Amazon) program.
The industry and FAA are joining forces to clear up questions regarding the new Part 145 final rule and accompanying AC interpretation. The National Air Transportation Association (NATA), in conjunction with the Aircraft Electronics Association and FAA, will host a series of meetings around the U.S. between April and September.
Renegotiation by the recently elected Hungarian government of its original 10-year lease/purchase of 12 single-seat and two twin-seat JAS 39s, signed by its predecessors with Gripen International in November 2001, has confirmed basic details of the original program. Main changes in the amended contract, announced in February, comprise installation of more advanced and NATO-interoperable equipment in Hungary's Gripens, towards later Batch 3 JAS 39C/D standards.
LanChile has struggled with a financial crisis in its Argentine market and with a currency devaluation in another major market, Brazil. Yet despite these severe economic stresses, LanChile eked out a profit of $11 million on $1.4 billion of revenue in 2001. And in 2002, the airline actually increased its net profit to $30.8 million, with cost cuts offsetting a sharp decline in demand. The airline has not chosen to weather difficult times by running its business side cautiously.
Keystone Helicopter plans to move into the first phase of its new Heliplex facility in Coatesville, Pa., by mid-April. The 50-year-old company is moving 19 miles west from its West Chester home and plans to fully relocate to the Heliplex by mid-2004. Steve Townes, Keystone chairman and CEO, said Keystone needs more space to grow from its current $75 million in annual revenue to $120 million over the next few years. Townes said Keystone tripled its engine business over the last three years and grew 30% in 2002.
U.S.-based Derco Aerospace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft, completed a two-year $13 million avionics upgrade contract for a third Lockheed C-130B for the Air Wing of South Africa's Botswana Defence Force (BDF). The BDF received the three ex-USAF Lockheed C-130s from AMARC storage in 1997. Derco developed an advanced avionics package using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment. The use of COTS equipment reduced program costs and assured system supportability and complete CNS/ATM compliance.
An increase in the amount of airline work being outsourced to third-party aircraft maintenance providers may necessitate a shift in FAA surveillance priorities, said the DOT Inspector General's office (OIG). ``In the past five years, there has been a significant increase in air carriers' use of these facilities,'' DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead told the House aviation subcommittee in a hearing on FAA reauthorization.
The Performance Engineering Group, Inc.'s address for its Thaw-Pak radiant heating for hangar doors product should have been listed as 32995 Industrial Rd., Livonia, MI 48150-1617 (``Radiant Heating for Hangar Doors," O&M, Jan/Feb, p. 60)
Marshall Aerospace's heritage includes an entrepreneurial legacy left by its founder, David Marshall, who began one of the world's first car-hire businesses in 1909. The shift into aviation began when his son, Arthur, learned to fly in 1927, bought an aircraft and started training pilots. Just like his father, he was among the first to serve a market that subsequently boomed. Sir Arthur Marshall, the company's life president, will celebrate his 100th birthday this year two weeks before the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight.
Austrian Airlines and Tyrolean Airways extended an agreement with Fokker Services for three years for a logistics spares services program called ABACUS. The deal affects 10 Fokker 70 aircraft.
The military also is paying closer attention to inventory management to improve supply chain efficiency and responsiveness and to reduce inventory costs. In January, the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) and the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) implemented a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) program called the Supply Maintenance Aviation Reengineering Team (SMART).
Aviall Services, Inc. and Rolls-Royce launched Model 250 ePubs, an e-commerce and web-based document delivery system that costs less than the traditional paper-based documents it replaces. Available to all Model 250 owner/operators and authorized maintenance centers, ePubs, developed by Command Technology, Inc. of Groton, Conn., provides an e-commerce link to www.aviall.com for the purchase of the OEM's Model 250 parts.
For years, regional jets (RJ) were considered the Dorian Gray of airliners: Since beginning service in the U.S. and Europe in the early 1990s, these slender twin jets never seemed to age. Today, hundreds of RJs, 50-seaters mostly, operate worldwide. Daily utilization has increased dramatically. The heavy maintenance honeymoon is over, and older RJs now require multiple visits for major airframe, engine and component repair service.
AeroTurbine is acquiring Emery Worldwide's fleet of DC-8-70 aircraft, which includes seven aircraft and their CFM56-2C1 engines. AeroTurbine recently parted out three other ex-Emery DC-8s.
The Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) reaffirmed its commitment to Northrop Grumman's AN/ALQ-162 electronic countermeasures (ECM) system to protect its fleet of upgraded F-16A/B MLU combat aircraft. A Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract was signed by the RDAF with the U.S. Navy for 20 pulse-Doppler/Power Plus retrofit kits as an initial upgrade to the 82 AN/ALQ-162 V(1) ECM systems installed in its F-16s. Target completion date for deliveries under the $7 million contract is year-end.
