Derco Aerospace in Milwaukee, Wisc., has been nominated prime contractor to provide an avionics upgrade and programmed depot maintenance for a Gabonese air force-owned Lockheed C-130H and an L-100-20. Gabon acquired the first of four new C-130Hs and commercially equipped L-100-20/30 Hercules in 1975, but is now believed to operate only two of these aircraft.
Independent shops obviously have large stakes in the movement of OEMs into the aftermarket. But their interests and views are hardly uniform. Generally, major airframe shops see value in greater OEM interest in maintenance -- as long as the OEMs know what each company can do best.
Lockheed Martin Aircraft&Logistics Centers said goodbye to its president, Daniel Patterson, who served in that role for more than 30 years and retired in September. David Posek, president of Lockheed Martin Systems Support&Training Services, became the new president of LMALC.
During a tour of Varig's maintenance facilities here, a lone Embraer ERJ-145 in Rio Sul livery sat off to the side on a ramp adjacent to the hangar waiting for resolution of a tax issue.
CH-47F Chinook prototype heavy-lift helicopter, the sixth Chinook type designed for the U.S. Army, recently completed its first flight at the Boeing Philadelphia manufacturing facility. The CH-47F modernization program includes aircraft remanufacturing, vibration reduction, improved avionics with integrated digital mission management systems and a digital map, and installation of more powerful Honeywell T55-GA-14A-714 engines.
Delta Air Lines selected Xelsus software and business process consulting services to optimize its parts supply. Delta hopes Xelsus' services reduce its maintenance inventory without hindering maintenance service.
Decisions, decisions, decisions. Bizjet operators have so many decisions to make when deciding how their aircraft interior will appear. They're spending millions of dollars and often change their minds multiple times during the completions project. This drives up the cost and downtime -- hindering the operator's and the completion shop's schedule. To save valuable time and money, airframe manufacturers and interior shops are developing kits to expedite the process.
Piaggio American named two Stevens Aviation locations -- Greenville, S.C., and Denver -- as authorized service centers for the Avanti twin turboprop pusher. In addition to maintenance and warranty work, the Greenville facility also will be responsible for completion packages for the aircraft that will include paint and interior.
Smiths Aerospace named Janco a distributor of aftermarket spares for Boeing 737-300, -400, -500, -600, -700, -800 and -900 flight management systems for its Pacific Rim customers.
Willis Aeronautical Services, Inc., has been renamed Avioserv San Diego, Inc. by SR Technics, which acquired the material distribution company late last year from Willis Lease Finance Corp. Avioserv, which provides an asset management base in the Americas in support of SR Technics' global aircraft component asset management network, operates in a new 42,000-sq.-ft. facility and manages an $80 million inventory. In June, Avioserv completed the purchase of 18 Pratt&Whitney JT8D engines and a parts package from Continental Airlines.
There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes and the fact that if you have aircraft and ground equipment moving in close proximity to one another, eventually they're going to make contact. With the number of passengers and flights in the U.S. continuing to rise, that means more aircraft and equipment moving around the ramp and thus more potential for aircraft damage.
Delivery was recently completed by Israel's Elbit Systems of 12 digital map systems, for installation in SAFAAC's dozen Eurocopter SA 532 Cougar Mk 1 transport and utility helicopters. Elbit's Swiss contract also included ground-based equipment and infrastructure for digital mapping operation and maintenance, plus provision of pilot manuals, technical documentation, and maintenance training.
Surplus Acquisition Venture and Government Liquidation, subsidiaries of Liquidation.com, were awarded the Commercial Venture II (CV2) contract for the sale of an estimated $23 billion of military surplus property by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS). The DRMS is the agency responsible for the disposal of all excess property generated by the U.S. military. The surplus DOD property identified under the CV2 contract includes aircraft parts, vehicles, and other items.
Turbomeca Engine Corp. appointed Doroteo Rodriguez as field representative for Mexico and Central America. He will provide field support for the region.
TWA's 757 reconfiguration line at its Los Angeles maintenance base was finishing one aircraft per weekday by late July, the carrier said. TWA is fitting its 757s with American's ``More Room Throughout Coach'' seating configuration. TWA's Kansas City overhaul base is reconfiguring three MD-80s per day. All TWA MD-80s, 757s and 717s were scheduled to be converted by Sept. 3.
AeroTraderOnline.com added an Inventory Management Tool so dealers can advertise their inventory of aircraft on the company's database (and update it any time) and monitor sales leads. This function costs dealers $149 per month.
Delta Air Lines, through its Delta Technical Career Academy, will donate two Rolls-Royce RB211 engines to New York's Aviation High School and Atlanta Technical College.
JetCorp, an FBO located at Spirit of St. Louis Airport, has moved its aircraft interior and completions operations to a new 15,600-sq.-ft. facility at 708 Goddard Ave., across the street from its main location.
TRAX announced two new customers for its Maintenance and Engineering System software: Miami Air and Lufthansa Technik Philippines. The software is designed to provide an integrated application for all maintenance department business functions.
In competition with BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, the Boeing Company was selected in June by the USAF Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, as prime contractor for USAF's C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP). With a total potential value of approximately $4 billion, final contracts to develop modern common cockpit avionics system for some 519 C-130 USAF transports were due to follow, pending program approval by DOD's Defense Acquisition Board. AMP will help the U.S.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) named Anthony J. DiNota vice president maintenance and engineering. DiNota has been with ASA's parent company, Delta Air Lines, since 1991, most recently as general manager-aircraft engines.
Flight development started on June 12 at Agusta Westland's Yeovil airfield of the company-funded Super Lynx 300 demonstrator prototype, fitted with LHTEC CTS800-4N turboshaft engines. Jointly developed by Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, the new CTS800-4N powerplants, equipped with FADEC systems, each have a maximum rating of 1,620 shp, compared with 1,120 shp from the Rolls-Royce Gem 42s of the current Super Lynx.
