Duncan Aviation added Nate Darlington as a completions sales representative, Bill Gehman as customer service assistant manager, and Chad Ostertag as an avionics installations sales representative.
SIAEC Completes 1st A380 Check SIA Engineering Co. completed its first C check from Sept. 7-20, was scheduled to complete its second in mid-November and expects to receive the third aircraft next year. In addition to the C checks, which are scheduled every 24 months, SIAEC has completed 37 A checks, done every 1,500 hours, on the A380. SIAEC expects to perform its first D check around 2013, about six years after Singapore Airlines launched A380 service in October 2007.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport and CFM International inked an agreement on Oct. 30 to set up a training center for CFM56 engine maintenance in Hyderabad’s GMR Aerospace Park. The two companies proposed forming the training center in January as a memorandum of understanding. Intended to support customers in South Asia, the MRO training center is set to open in January 2010 at the complex near Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. GHIAL will build the facility and lease it to CFM.
Capital Aviation received an FAA supplemental type certificate for its Reflections Program to upgrade Bombardier Challenger 600 series aircraft with an end-to-end interior and exterior refurbishment and the installation of Universal Avionics’ WAAS-capable flight management system, EFI-890R flat-panel displays and terrain awareness and warning system.
Solar-reflective Window Coatings PPG Aerospace’s neutral-silver and gold solar-reflective window coatings are designed to enhance an aircraft’s interior and exterior appearance while reducing cockpit and cabin temperatures and air-conditioning demands. The coatings are being developed for glass and plastic aircraft transparencies; PPG also plans to incorporate solar-reflective coatings into its electrochromatic cabin window systems.
Omni Air International selected Delta TechOps component and inventory support, including avionics and hydraulics, for its Boeing 767-300ER fleet. The companies didn’t disclose the value of the five-year agreement. Omni operates one 767, but it expects to add up to three in the near future. As the fleet grows, Delta will cover the additional 767s with an amendment to the current agreement, according to a Delta spokeswoman. The deal took effect on Aug. 18 but was announced in early November. Delta has been providing component support for Omni’s 757-200ERs fleet since 2003.
Spirit AeroSystems and Slingsby Advanced Composites both opened facilities at Scotland’s Prestwick Airport in October, in line with an initiative headed by Scottish Enterprise to increase research and development activity in the country’s small- to medium-sized enterprise sector, which employs around 22,000 people and supports the jobs of 30,000 more. Together the facilities should generate more than 70 new jobs.
EASA has established two representatives abroad—in Washington, D.C., and Beijing—to be the main contact for each country’s civil aviation authority, accident investigation board and the industry.
Spirit AeroSystems and Slingsby Advanced Composites both opened facilities at Scotland’s Prestwick Airport in October, in line with an initiative headed by Scottish Enterprise to increase research and development activity in the country’s small- to medium-sized enterprise sector, which employs around 22,000 people and supports the jobs of 30,000 more. Together the facilities should generate more than 70 new jobs.
MTU Maintenance Canada will do engine depot work on U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender tanker aircraft at its facility in Richmond, B.C. MTU is part of a team led by Northrop Grumman that is providing maintenance, engineering, field service support and condition monitoring for 204 CF6-50C2 engines. Other contractors working with MTU are Chromolloy and AAR Corp. MTU’s part of the nine-year deal is valued at $500 million. The work includes aerial refueling system support for two KDC-10s operated by the Netherlands.
A J Walter Aviation added Delta TechOps as the 20th customer to approve its spares supply services this year after passing required audits. With its CASE 3A quality audit successfully completed in October, AJW can work directly with Delta TechOps to provide aircraft spares support.
Iran has announced that it will provide MRO and other services to assist Syria in developing its aviation industry. The commitment was disclosed during Syria’s first international aviation technology exhibition, which took place in Damascus in October. Of the 75 firms representing 12 countries at the event, including at least two European nations, 40 were from Iran.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport and CFM International inked an agreement on Oct. 30 to set up a training center for CFM56 engine maintenance in Hyderabad’s GMR Aerospace Park. The two companies proposed forming the training center in January as a memorandum of understanding. Intended to support customers in South Asia, the MRO training center is set to open in January 2010 at the complex near Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. GHIAL will build the facility and lease it to CFM.
—Gulfstream Aerospace plans to first fly its long-range G650 business jet before yearend, but even though this aircraft just rolled out in September, maintenance preparation started before engineers first took pen to paper.
Air Works received European Aviation Safety Agency repair station certification for its maintenance facilities at Hosur in Tamil Nadu to cover airframe and component major maintenance on ATR 42/72-500 aircraft and Boeing 737 Classic/New Generation aircraft. While the FAA approval is expected to take some more time, the EASA approval for A320s is expected within two months. This is the first time EASA has awarded a repair station approval to an independent airframe MRO company in India. The company already has carried out checks on two ATRs and two 737s.
Aviation Technical Services finished outfitting the first Hawaiian Airlines 767-300ER with a shipset of Aviation Partners Boeing winglets in early November, and it planned to deliver a second aircraft equipped with the winglets later in the month. ATS is installing eight shipsets of the APB winglets on Hawaiian 767-300ERs over the next several months at its Everett, Wash., facility, per a September contract.
Ahlers Aerospace amended STC to install a night vision goggle-compatible interior lighting system on Eurocopter Deutschland MBB-BK 117 B-1 and MBB-BK 117 B-2 helicopters, STC SR09523RC
Barnhart Aviation Service reissued STCs to install a Universal Avionics flight management system and/or terrain avoidance warning system on various McDonnell Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 727-200 series aircraft, STCs ST01469LA-D, ST01009LA-D, ST01468LA-D and ST01467LA-D
Bedek Aviation Group is flight testing the prototype Boeing 767-300ER passenger to freighter conversion. It expects to deliver the aircraft to EuroAtlantic Airways of Portugal by the end of this year. This will be EuroAtlantic’s first cargo aircraft. Bedek developed the 767-300 conversion program for M&B Conversions of Dublin, which is a joint venture between Mitsui & Co. of Japan and Israel Aerospace Industries/Bedek.
Turbomeca has signed a memorandum of agreement with the civil aviation flight university of China to help develop maintenance training programs for helicopter engines. The courses will cover Turbomeca engines and be open to experienced mechanics and novices. The company, which is based in Bordes Cedex, France, says it is the largest manufacturer of helicopter engines in China, with 460—or one in every two—in use by military as well as civilian rotorcraft.
