Cooper Power Tools introduced Cleco D Series pulse tools, an update to its existing pulse tool set. The Cleco D Series features a patented three-chamber air motor designed to improve productivity by providing a higher level of power during fastening applications. It also features an adjustable pulse chamber, which Cooper said is an industry first. Cooper claims its improved pulse tool set should allow service technicians to perform preventative maintenance in approximately two minutes.
Jet Airways of India awarded Israel Aerospace Industries' Bedek Aviation Group a maintenance and repair contract for the first of two of its CFM56-7 engines, both undergoing repairs at Bedek's Tel Aviv engine shop. Jet Airways was launch customer for Bedek's CFM56-3 maintenance and repair program.
Boeing signed a GoldCare agreement to support GE Aviation, providing repair and overhaul services for 787 Dreamliner under-wing rotable components as an offering with GE's OnPoint solutions for GEnx engines. Boeing has yet to contract any future Dreamliner operators for the lifecycle management service, but GE Aviation is the second engine OEM to sign a GoldCare deal. Rolls-Royce, maker of the other 787 engine offering, the Trent 1000, signed a similar agreement with Boeing in August.
GE Aviation, won an extension of its Performance Based Logistics non-compete requirements contract from The Naval Inventory Control Point worth $11.7 million. Work should be completed by Nov.
LAN Airlines signed a 12-year, $200 million Total Component Support contract with Lufthansa Technik covering components on up to 129 Airbus A320s and eight A340s. LHT described the new contract as an amendment to a TCS contract that has been in place for a number of years.
Air Salvage International, a U.K. company specializing in aircraft decommissioning and recovery, volunteered to undergo the first test audit of the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association's (AFRA) used aircraft parts best practices.
Boeing Australia in Queensland was certificated on July 20 by the Commonwealth government as an Authorized Maintenance Organization (AMO) for the Royal Australian Army fleet of Bell 206B-1 Kiowa and Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk helicopters. AMO certification includes on- and off-aircraft deeper maintenance and provides Boeing Australia with the full authority required to complete its maintenance and modification contracts.
SAAB Aerospace and its associated companies in the Gripen group are well-advanced in a systems upgrade program for 31 Swedish Air Force JAS 39A/B combat aircraft to JAS 39C/D standards. The first of these are being redelivered this year, and the remainder will follow until 2013, with program unit costs of about SEK130 million ($19.33 million), within an overall SEK4.1 billion ($595 billion) budget.
MALTA -- Anticipating a surge in demand for widebody heavy checks, Lufthansa Technik plans to open a new Airbus widebody MRO facility next year by expanding its presence in Malta. The €55 million facility, which will be LHT's largest outside of Germany, is being funded by Malta Industrial Parks Ltd. (€39 million) and Lufthansa Technik Malta (€16 million). Once completed the facility will have two bays for widebody aircraft and two for narrowbodies and is expected to create more than 500 new jobs.
Flight Support Ltd. And Airbase Interiors recently merged. Isle of Man-based Flight Support offers ground handling services, while Airbase Interiors supplies cabin interior maintenance and support services from its base at Gatwick.
The "Five Ss." The key pillars upon which Lean MRO stands: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. To that list add another "S:" safety. That sixth "S" is an organic, virtually axiomatic outgrowth of the first five. Experts think there is no way you can cull it.
European military MRO providers, like their counterparts in other areas of the world, will be faced with a number of daunting tasks over the next several years. They must balance support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, emergency relief and humanitarian aid missions, cost pressures, new generation aircraft coming on line and the increased use of diagnostics and prognostics.
Clifford Development appointed Threshold Aviation Group of Chino, Calif., as a new service center to support its Cessna Citation II re-engining program. The Supplemental Type Certificate development program, nearing completion, involves re-engining Citation II (CE-550) aircraft with 3,000-lb. thrust Williams International FJ44-3 engines, including integration of the FADEC system.
Further reinforcement of the RAF's support helicopter forces is scheduled from the long-awaited mid-June MoD decision to refurbish and upgrade eight Boeing Chinook HC3 heavy-lift helicopters. These have been grounded since completion of their 2001 delivery from Boeing because of U.K. flight-control software integration problems for originally specified special operations roles. MoD funding finally has been approved for their immediate conversion to operational RAF standards for battlefield support helicopter roles.
Kent Statler, executive vice president of services for Rockwell Collins, is responsible for the company's global network of service centers that support commercial, business and military aircraft. Statler also leads customer services for inflight entertainment system maintenance and avionics parts management, as well as training businesses. He joined Rockwell Collins in 1987 and was senior vice president of operations before accepting his current position. Edited for clarity and length.
The Moroccan air force reportedly is the first customer for major Mil-Std-1553B digital avionics and systems upgrades being offered, with French government support, by SAGEM and Thales for long-serving but still potent Dassault Mirage F1 combat aircraft. Morocco has been operating 30 air defense Mirage F1CHs and 20 multi-role F1EHs since 1978, 27 of which are now scheduled for SAGEM/Thales upgrades.
CAE unveiled Presagis, its new modeling and simulation software company. Combining CAE's acquisition of Engenuity Technologies, MultiGen-Paradigm and TERREX with its existing off-the-shelf software team, Presagis is designed to deliver an integrated suite of COTS software.
In mid-July, Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD) welcomed a National Audit Office (NAO) report on successful improvements in MRO and logistic support to Royal Air Force Harrier and Tornado combat aircraft during the past six years. These resulted in overall savings exceeding £1.4 billion ($2.8 billion) and helped improve front-line aircraft availability, reliability and capability. Whereas all repairs had previously been undertaken at multiple sites, the MoD has rationalized how it repairs and maintains its jets to achieve significant economies.
Raytheon Co., Electronics Systems, Goleta, Calif., received a $24.4 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract with Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. The modification will allow Raytheon to exercise an option for 24 full-rate production lot 10 AN/ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver systems for the Royal Australian Air Force, from a foreign military sales program.
Jet Source's new facility in Henderson, Nev., will have two 35,000 square foot hangars -- one will handle aircraft management and charter, and the other hangar will handle avionics and maintenance.
CAE unveiled Presagis, its new modeling and simulation software company. Combining CAE's acquisition of Engenuity Technologies, MultiGen-Paradigm and TERREX with its existing off-the-shelf software team, Presagis is designed to deliver an integrated suite of COTS software.
AEI announced it received an STC to convert Boeing 737-400 passenger aircraft to full freighter configuration, to first serve launch customer RPK Capital. The converted freighter, which is designed to hold 10 full 88-inch by 125-inch pallets and a payload of up to 48,000 lbs., will be operated by Flyant Cargo airlines, a subsidiary of Spanish carrier Futura International Airways.
The Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association has 28 members who annually process about 150 aircraft, 1,000 tons of aircraft specialty alloys and 25,000 tons of aircraft aluminum. AFRA members hope to be recycling 5 tons of carbon fiber daily by 2008.
