Conferences & Exhibitions April 14-15 Helicopter Safety & Operations Management Forum, San Diego, Calif. April 21 2009 Lean Six Sigma for Military, Grapevine/Dallas, Texas April 21-23 MRO Americas 2009 Conference & Exhibition, Grapevine/Dallas, Texas April 22-23 MRO Military 2009 Conference & Exhibition, Grapevine/Dallas, Texas May 5-6 Forecasting for Airline Pricing & Capacity Planning, Chicago, Ill. May 6-7 Bird Strike Prevention Forum, Chicago, Ill. Contacts
Esterline and Avio-Diepen signed a distribution agreement for the group’s Auxitrol and Weston product lines, including sales support and product marketing of temperature sensors, transducers, probes, thermocouples and harnesses, RTDs, pressure and temperature switches, resistors, TAT Probes and pressure probes for various engines and Airbus aircraft. Boeing also formed an agreement with Esterline CMC Electronics to provide Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag hardware on selected aircraft for production and retrofit, starting with the 737NG.
AERO MEDICAL PRODUCTS, amended STC to install an Aero Medical Products air ambulance stretcher on various Pilatus PC-12, PC-12/45, PC-12/47 and PC-12/47E aircraft, STC SA01570CH
Boeing carried out the first test flight of the third U.S. Air Force C-130 Avionics Modernization Program aircraft three weeks ahead of schedule, completing the major modifications and upgrade package on H3 about 13% faster than the upgrade to H2.5. Aircraft H3 flew Jan. 13, accomplishing both functional check flight and acceptance check flight tests. This third AMP aircraft soon will join aircraft H2 and H2.5 in the flight test program, which Boeing says is 81% complete. Boeing also transferred a third KC-767J tanker to Japanese partner Itochu Corp. on Feb.
Boeing Defence U.K. announced the establishment of a new operation focused on British helicopter technical support. The resulting Boeing U.K. Rotorcraft Support company is part of the Boeing Integrated Defense Systems business unit, involving the Chinook Through-Life Customer Support program and the AH-64 Apache Integrated Operational Support program.
A British Airways CityFlyer BAE 146/Avro RJ100, made by BAE Systems, crash-landed at London City Airport on Feb. 16, after its nosewheel failed upon landing, British Airways confirmed. The flight, BA8456 from Amsterdam, had 67 passengers and five crew members on board. All were evacuated via emergency slides, and a small number of minor injuries were reported, the airline said. ◗
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on Jan. 5 notified FLIR Systems of its intent to exercise a contract modification option that involves FLIR supplying Star SAFIRE HD (high-definition) imaging systems for installation in RAAF Lockheed Martin AP-3C maritime patrol aircraft. The option is part of a prior $13.5 million program.
SR Technics plans to close its MRO operation at Dublin Airport , where it does airframe base and heavy maintenance, landing gear and APU overhauls, and line maintenance. The Feb. 12 announcement came just weeks after SR Technics confirmed that it was losing the Dublin facility’s remaining primary load customer, Gulf Air. The Bahrain-based airline opted to terminate early a five-year, $750 million full support contract announced in March 2006.
One Sky Aviation, to install a fixed-mounted Forward Vision Model 100 enhanced vision system, including an under-wing conformal fairing with sensor, a detached electrical box and a glareshield mounted dedicated display monitor, on Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft, STC SA02329AK
Conferences and Exhibitions March 11-12 Defense Technology & Requirements Conference, Washington, D.C. March 18-19 Aircraft Data Management Forum, Phoenix, Ariz. March 26-27 ADS-B Management Forum, Washington, D.C. April 14-15 Helicopter Safety & Operations Management Forum, San Diego, Calif. April 21 2009 Lean Six Sigma for Military April 21-23 MRO Americas Conference & Exhibition, Dallas, Texas April 22-23 MRO Military Conference, Dallas, Texas Contacts
Performance-based logistics (PBL) and lean maintenance are transforming the MRO business. At the same time, these new maintenance and business strategies have the potential to bring MRO supply chains in line with other industries that rely on supply chain technologies for coordination with suppliers as well as extensive parts tracking and record-keeping requirements, like automotive manufacturing and the pharmaceutical industries.
Designed Metal Connections offers a new series of miniature end fittings and tooling that should be simple to use to create a leak-free metal-to-metal seal. DMC’s miniature end fittings can be used to design a mechanically attached, lightweight, flareless and reconnectable end fitting system for aircraft fluid systems.
Saab received a SEK 550 million ($67 million) contract from the Swedish Defense Material Administration (FMV) for program management, product maintenance, support, flight testing, pilot equipment and simulators to support the Swedish Air Force’s (SAF) Saab JAS 39 Gripen combat aircraft. Work on this contract should be completed this year, but Saab is expected to continue further Gripen support and development for the SAF.
Two new personal flashlights from Streamlight are designed to be super-bright, lightweight and durable. The lithium-powered devices should be compact, with a nylon polymer casing and high light output for use in a variety of industrial and personal settings. An LED model and a xenon incandescent bulb model are available.
Honeywell International, reissued STCs to install a flight management system and electronic flight instrument system on various McDonnell Douglas DC-9 aircraft and Boeing 747 aircraft, STCs SA3970NM, SA3969NM, SA3487NM and SA2488NM
Recently, a congressional hearing contained discussions surrounding the topic of voluntary safety reporting programs that are used in collaboration between the aviation industry and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Basically, there are three major programs: Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Programs, Aviation Safety Action Programs and Flight Operations Quality Assurance Programs. However the focus of late has been on Aviation Safety Action Programs (ASAPs).
If you have any questions as to the worth of the A-10 Thunderbolt II (a.k.a. Warthog), just ask the soldiers in Wanat, an impossibly mountainous region of Afghanistan. They were fighting for their lives this past July. U.S. Air Force A-10s and other craft flew into a river valley near the place and laid down withering fire, helping hold back the opposition until U.S. troops could evacuate their wounded. Absent the rugged, “low ‘n slow” Hog, what was a very bad day for these men could have turned out far, far worse.
The French Defense Procurement Agency (Délégation Générale pour l’Armement, or DGA) has confirmed initial deliveries of production Dassault Rafale F3s to the French air force (AdlA`) and navy (Aéronavale) from early 2009. Qualification of the full standard F3 multi-role version of Rafale combat aircraft was announced on July 1, 2008. Earlier Rafale F2s, operated by AdlA since June 2006 and Aéronavale since May 2008, also are being upgraded to similar standards.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Shangri-La Industries hosted a green business leadership roundtable at Avjet’s Burbank facility to explore ways governments and businesses can better support practice sustainable s. “Our goal was to facilitate a discussion with leaders from the political, business and environmental world where they could share challenges and start a dialogue as to how we meet those challenges,” said Tim Donovan, Shangri-La’s COO.
Honeywell International, reissued STCs to install Honeywell windshear systems on Boeing 727-100/-200 series and 747-100/-200F/-300 series aircraft, STCs SA5515NM, SA3982NM and SA3930NM
