Green Cleaning Solvents Dysol's DS-Series of environmentally compliant cleaning solvents will be available through Socomore Finishing Solutions in the European Union, Russia, and China, per a recent strategic partnership formed between Dysol and Socomore. Dysol also will distribute Socomore's surface finishing and aerospace products, which are fully approved by Airbus and a number of other aerospace companies. Dysol says the Socomore products also are gaining approval at North American OEMs and MRO companies.
Portable Ultrasonic Flaw Detector A new, portable ultrasonic flaw detector from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies weighs just 2.2 lb. and is designed for prolonged use in harsh environments. The USM Go inspection tool is equipped with a pressure-responsive, joystick control; ergonomic design features; and a data display screen with the largest pixel count of any instrument in its category, according to GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies.
Mesaba Airlines’ 60 Bombardier regional aircraft will receive avionics maintenance from Rockwell Collins per a 16-year Dispatch agreement. Under the long-term deal inked in August, Rockwell Collins will provide avionics component repairs and inventory for the Northwest/Delta operator’s 41 CRJ900s and 19 CRJ200s at multiple pre-positioned service locations.
Condition monitoring (CM) systems record machine-performance data remotely via sensors. CM systems can be used in different facilities, but must be manually programmed each time they are moved, a procedure that in Europe can cost around €100,000 ($140,000). The Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering of Kaiserslautern has developed a CM system that can be installed in different facilities without manual programming. The software runs on a basic language developed by Fraunhofer, which lets engineers set the system up with a “drag-and-drop” function.
Part-way through the devastating slump in air traffic, the MRO industry is under severe pressure. In the short term, these pressures are pushing at least some airframe work to smaller shops that offer very low prices, at least for a while. Airframe prices industry-wide are thus softening a bit. But major providers are fighting fiercely to hold on to long-term customers without cutting prices drastically. So far, they appear to be succeeding. After the slump, the best of these firms could wind up with an even bigger share of the airframe business.
Panasonic Avionics and SIA Engineering Co. signed a 10-year agreement for the maintenance of inflight entertainment and communication equipment on Singapore Airlines' entire fleet. Panasonic will work in conjunction with SIAEC to provide a “one-stop-shop” solution covering all on-aircraft labor, logistics, spares, repairs and media loading. Parts/Components
Boeing has closed a deal with the government for the purchase of 15 CH-147F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. The program includes a 20-year in-service support and maintenance contract worth about $2.2 billion, almost twice as much as the $1.2-billion price of the helicopters. The contract includes an option to extend MRO to the life expectancy of the aircraft. No word has been released yet as to whether Boeing or a local company will be responsible for maintenance services.
Pacific Aerospace Resources & Technologies (PART) bought out Victorville Aerospace’s assets in August, finally anchoring that company after it filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 last September. PART plans to grow its new Victorville base, where it will offer MRO, modifications, asset and maintenance management, mission critical systems development and integration, platform technologies and flight test services to military and commercial customers from a hangar large enough to host an Airbus A380. Facilities
While today’s business aircraft owners may be more budget conscious with the back of the airplane, they appear to be a little more generous with the cockpit. “We are getting more requests now for ADVIZ, a digital flightdeck retrofit with application to all of our legacy [out of production] Citations,” reports Cessna’s Stan Younger. Developed in cooperation with Innovative Solutions and Support of Exton, Penn., ADVIZ will replace the older Citations’ analog avionics under a just-completed Cessna-owned STC on a Citation V.
—Operators of mature C-130 Hercules have three good options for upgrading the aircraft’s center wing box, the high-stress area where wings, empennage and landing gear meet. The first option is refurbishing the wing, the second option is installing a new standard wing and the third option is installing the enhanced service life wing, which flies on new C-130J models. Each choice extends the Hercules’ service lives, at different costs.
Monogram Systems reissued STCs to install Envirovac toilets, chemical injection toilets or Envirovac vacuum waste blowers on McDonnell Douglas MD-11; Boeing 767-200 and -300, 747-400 and 777-200; and Airbus A319 and A320 series aircraft, Several STCs
Avantext , a provider of an airworthiness directive regulatory compliance and technical publications software tools for the aviation industry, moved into new offices in Conshohocken, Penn.
OGMA recently delivered an SA330 Puma helicopter operated by the French government to SIMMAD (Structure Integree du Maintien en condition operationnele des Materiels Aeronautiques de la Defense). SIMMAD has been a helicopter maintenance customer of OGMA's since 2002.
Delta TechOps inked a $7 million, four-year component maintenance and inventory logistics contract with Canadian charter airline CanJet. Delta TechOps will take care of component and logistics inventory support for the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based carrier's Boeing 737-800s. The agreement covers avionics, pneumatics, and hydraulics, and it provides access to Delta's inventory of 737-800 components for spare parts. It also signed a $1.3 million, three-year component deal with another Canadian carrier, First Air.
Aerospace executives hope to continue making inroads on their long quest to simplify and ease U.S. export controls on certain aerospace parts with a White House and congressional review of the U.S. export control system. President Obama in August directed the National Economic Council and National Security Council to undertake a broad interagency review of the U.S. export control system, according to a White House statement. The review is to include both the dual-use and defense trade processes.
Consultation periods for an EASA Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA 2009-06) concerning the use of composite materials in aircraft structures ends this month. With new, largely composite jetliners soon to enter the market, NPA 2009-06 aims to create a single Acceptable Means of Compliance chapter (AMC 20-29) to standardize recognized good practices for composite aircraft structure design, manufacturing and maintenance.
Premier Air Center amended STC to install a four- or five-display Universal Avionics EFI-890R electronic flight instrument system on Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft, STC ST02226CH
A J Walter will support another Astraeus Airlines Boeing 757-200 under an existing power-by-the-hour support arrangement with the U.K.-based sub-lease services and aircraft and crew provider, which operates a fleet of five 757s and two 737NGs. A J Walter has supported Astraeus Airlines from its base near London-Gatwick since the carrier's launch in 2002.
Canard Aerospace reissued STC to install a Honeywell Mark VII enhanced ground proximity warning system to replace the Mark II system on Bombardier DHC-8-200 series aircraft, STC ST01331CH
Midcoast Aviation to install structural provisions, data connectivity and power supply for a dual Class II electronic flight bag on Bombardier CL-600-2B16 (CL-604) aircraft, STC ST02721CH-D
Toughbook Meets New Mil Durability Specs Panasonic says its Toughbook 30 laptop, Toughbook 19 convertible tablet and Toughbook U1 ultra mobile handheld computers have performed to and above the military's new standard for mobile computers—Mil-Std-810G. Meeting this standard involved passing 20 tests, as well as IP65 ingress protection and ASTM D4169-04 vehicle vibration tests.
Siam Hiller Holdings reissued STC to install Allison 250-C18A, -C18C, -C20, -C20B engine and related changes on various Bell 47G helicopters, STC SH657NW
Gulfstream Aerospace's Long Beach, Calif., service center received a U.S. FAA 2008 Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Diamond Certificate of Excellence Award for the ninth consecutive year. Gulfstream Long Beach employees also earned two Diamond, 60 Ruby, 19 Gold, 50 Silver and 17 Bronze awards.
