Aeronautical Engineers Inc. started converting its prototype MD-80SF from passenger to freighter configuration. AEI purchased the aircraft, which American Airlines had operated, from GA Telesis. Commercial Jet in Miami is performing the conversion, which AEI estimates will take 12,000 man-hours or about 75 days. AEI expects to complete the supplemental type certification in July 2011.
The Air Force has placed an order for Hellas (Helicopter Laser Radar) obstacle-detection systems from EADS, which will be installed on three Sikorsky S-92 helicopters.
Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services signed a maintenance agreement to perform C checks on two Boeing 737-800s for Seoul-based Jeju Air. Jeju Air is the first Korean customer for Boeing Shanghai after the facility obtained maintenance certification from the Korea Civil Aviation Safety Authority in February. This agreement expands upon prior maintenance support in which Boeing Shanghai provided a landing-gear exchange for the airline earlier this year.
Empire Aerospace , a regional turboprop MRO based in northern Idaho, is adding the Saab 340 to its list of capabilities. The first three 340s from customer Saab Aircraft Leasing are being refurbished. Empire is taking steps to add Bombardier CRJ regional jet maintenance capability by yearend.
Icelandair Fleet: 18 Boeing 757s, 1 767 Passengers: 76% of its airline customers originate from outside its home market Icelandair, the largest subsidiary with the Icelandair Group, accounts for about 53% of its income Group: Icelandair, Icelandair Cargo, Bluebird Cargo and Icelandair Ground Services comprise Icelandair Group’s route network
Air Company Yakutia is pursuing EASA Part 145 maintenance approval with the assistance of Lufthansa Consulting. Yakutia hopes to achieve EASA approval for line maintenance by the end of 2010.
Northrop Grumman Systems received contracts from Naval Air Systems Command totaling $150 million for maintenance services and the supply of upgraded components for various fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.
Technician Customer Care Center Shure’s technician customer care center or TC3 is designed to combine workspace, storage, tools and equipment to boost technicians’ productivity. The units come as stationary or wall-mounted models.
Bombardier plans to acquire ExelTech Aerospace’s Saint-Laurent facilities and start completing business jets there this fall. Pemco World Air Services is buying most of bankrupt ExelTech Aerospace’s tooling, equipment and inventory.
The spontaneous explosion of TWA Flight 800’s center-wing fuel tank in 1996 caused the loss of 230 lives and massive changes fuel-tank systems regulations. Fourteen years later, the response of FAA and decisions by airframe OEMs still cause turmoil among airline maintenance departments and the independent shops that repair fuel-tank systems.
LONDON—The need for rigid processes is prompting the development of automated machines for composite repairs, from a non-destructive-evaluation device that can crawl over a surface to detect and measure damage to a laser ablation system for prepping repair surfaces and a repair device that uses pick-and-place technology, says John Cornforth, GKN Aerospace’s head of technology.
BROUGHTON, U.K.—The high composite content of Airbus’ A350XWB wing could make maintenance tasks more awkward to perform. The wing structure features composite leading-edge and trailing-edge spars and one-piece composite skins covering the upper and lower surfaces. Interior ribs are aluminum-lithium, while pylon fittings are aluminum alloy. That’s how it looks on paper, but to ensure it can be built efficiently on production lines, Airbus commissioned the building of a wing-box demonstrator, dubbed demo-box 2.
AeroMexico Airlines is installing ICG’s NxtLink communication system that offers flightdeck voice and datalink services over the Iridium satellite network on five Boeing 767-200 and -300 aircraft.
Iberia Maintenance will repair and maintain 49 CFM56-5C4 engines that equip 11 Cathay Pacific A340-300s. In total, it expects to complete 190 engine shop visits this year, 111 of them from CFM56 powerplants (40% from third-party clients, 60% from its parent airline).
LONDON—Carbon composite construction has often been described as a “black art,” but efforts to make it more controllable and predictable are increasing. Yet, despite its obvious structural promise, reliable, repeatable repairs are proving difficult to guarantee.
SLCA added Pierre Gerard as president to replace Laurent Schneider-Maunoury, who is leaving the Safran group. Since mid-2009, Gerard was head of customer support for Sagem Defense & Security's avionics division. Airframes
Lufthansa Technik Aero Alzey will maintain more than 40 GE CF34-10s for Lufthansa CityLine’s Embraer 190/195 series aircraft. It also will repair and overhaul at least 30 CF34-8C engines for Eurowings’ Bombardier CRJ900 fleet, which will grow as Eurowings replaces its other regional aircraft with the type.
Delta TechOps completed its 500th Aircell Gogo WiFi installation. Aircraft flying with their WiFi work include Airbus A319, Boeing 757-200/-300, 767-300, MD-88/-90 and 737-700/-800. Parts/Components
Damage-free Fastener Removal Perfect Point EDM, a new company, has rolled out the E-Drill, a solution to the problem of aircraft fastener removal. The E-Drill uses a patented, forceless electro-discharge-machining process to machine a circular cut of the desired diameter and depth in the fastener. The fastener is removed via the head-flange or rear collar while a closed-loop stream of dielectric fluid flushes the cut and removes the cut debris.
