Newest version of MyBoeingFleet.com was released on Dec. 9 by the Boeing Co. With the latest release, users can access fleet reliability statistics, product standards, a loadable software information site and more maintenance documentation. Site, launched in May, now contains 79,000 maintenance documents, airplane flight manuals, 5.6 million engineering and tooling drawings and access to the Boeing Web-based parts ordering system, the PART Page.
When it comes to safety equipment that must be carried on an aircraft, the name of the game is to get as small as possible and as light as possible, while at the same time offering safe and reliable performance. Survival Products Inc. has worked hard to meet both standards, said Donna Rogers, vice president of marketing for the Hollywood, Fla.-based company, and the latest result is the introduction of two new rafts for corporate aviation that perform like their competitors, yet are up to 20% lighter and more compact -- and cost less, too.
As it works to analyze what went wrong with a US Airways CF6-80C2 last fall, GE is making progress on a pair of other nagging problems with the venerable engine family. The manufacturer has redesigned CF6-50 low-pressure turbine nozzle locks, blamed for three engine failures on Continental DC-10s last year when they broke and allowed the nozzles to rotate freely in the casings, and made them available to operators, a GE spokesman confirmed. The new locks feature stronger materials as well as a new design.
Advanced Technical Products' Lunn Industries division won qualified supplier status on Northrop Grumman F-5 and T-38 ``Total Support'' Supplier Team. Lunn will manufacture metal bonded honeycomb assemblies including landing gear doors, aileron panels, access covers, horizontal stabilizers, and leading edge panels for the F-5/T-38 fleet.
O&M: How do you view the MRO market? Giorgi: I can't say for certain how the maintenance market will shape up, but the trends suggest that the big OEMs will progressively increase their market share. The independent sector will shrink and the big airline engineering&maintenance organizations (EMOs) will consolidate again -- then expand and eventually find a way to complement the big OEMs. I expect this to happen within the next decade. Alitalia aims to be part of the airline segment, probably within a pan-European maintenance alliance.
The Defense Evaluation&Research Agency (DERA) was formed at Farnborough April 3, 1995, within the U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD). It was tasked with ``providing scientific and technical advice to ensure that Britain has the military capability necessary for successful implementation of the U.K.
Air France Industries has finalized details of a project to move its activities at Montaudran, France, to a new facility at Toulouse Blagnac Airport. The new center will host heavy airframe maintenance on narrowbody commercial transports. Also, AFI selected Villeneuve-le-Roi, outside Orly Airport, as the new site for its component maintenance facility. The facility will open in 2003.
The aircraft engine component repair business these days is not for the faint of heart. Heightened customer expectations and aggressive competition from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are forcing companies -- OEMs included -- to find ways to decrease turntimes, lengthen part life cycles, lower prices and bolster customer service. Businesses also are developing new technologies to repair parts that even a year ago routinely were replaced when damaged.
Jet Aviation named Michael Gregory senior vice president of FBO services. He previously was vice president/general manager of Jet Aviation's West Palm Beach, Fla., facility.
Rolls-Royce won a $50 million contract to provide total care support to South African Airways' fleet of RB211-524H engines that power its six 747-400 airliners. The engines are being upgraded to -524H-T standard.
An uncontained failure during a routine post-maintenance engine run-up by US Airways mechanics has NTSB concerned about the adequacy of General Electric's CF6-80 high pressure turbine (HPT) stage 1 disk design.
The technical content -- illustrated parts catalogs, repair manuals, service bulletins -- accessed by customers on GEAE's Customer Web Center is automated by Enigma, Inc., an e-commerce software provider headquartered in Burlington, Mass. with offices worldwide.
Bombardier Aerospace named Pierre Beaudoin president of Bombardier Business Aircraft; and Steve Crawford regional vice president, technical services. Beaudoin previously was responsible for all customer support activities at Bombardier's Wichita, Kan., facility. Crawford will retain the responsibility for support oversight of Bombardier business aircraft he had in his previous role of director, technical services, customer support, Bombardier Business Aircraft.
Alitalia's search for a partner goes on following a breakdown in negotiations with SAirGroup, parent company of Swissair and SR Technics. Whether the talks about a possible SAirGroup investment in the Italian carrier can be resurrected is a moot point, but Alitalia's recently announced strategy for the next three years envisages a ``stand-alone'' stance for the immediate future.
Having operated a squadron of a dozen or so Sukhoi Su-24MK ``Fencer D'' variable-geometry strike fighters and four Su-24MR ``Fencer E'' recce aircraft for several years from Laghouat air base, the Algerian air force is now receiving another 22 refurbished examples of these Russian-surplus advanced deep-penetration types. Three additional Su-24s, probably attrition replacements, were delivered last year from a $12 million contract placed with Russia's Promexport surplus arms sales organization.
A ball is round, presumably, but Roundball One is an airplane. The story of how it was converted from an Indonesian airline DC-9 to a posh transport for the Detroit Pistons basketball team, with an interior customized for an NBA-percentile human body, is a fascinating saga of resourcefulness, endurance, and lessons learned.
One of the things I love about this job is that it affords me the opportunity to meet and talk with an array of people involved with the spectrum of activities that comprise the aviation/aerospace aftermarket. From these conversations, I have developed a deep appreciation for the resourcefulness and innovative thinking that permeate every level and sector of the MRO industry. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't have an idea for how things can be done better.
Aerospace Industries Association named United Technologies Corp. President and COO Karl Krapek chairman of its board of governors and Marshall Larsen, president and COO of BFGoodrich Aerospace vice chairman. John Douglass and George Copsey were renamed president/CEO and secretary/treasurer, respectively.
