January 8, 2018 - No. 002 In This Issue Arakkonam to house training facility for P8I aircraft maintenance 2018 Minnesota Aviation Maintenance Technician Conference Global Engine MRO Leaders Examine $42bn Industry at Aero-Engines Americas 2018 West Star Aviation Finalizes Embraer Service Center Agreement at its Chattanooga Location GE Aviation congratulates Oman Air for its record-breaking Boeing 787 engine change Southwest Moves Forward With New Maintenance Hangar at Hobby Airport Battery-powered electric plane quietly takes to Australian skies for the first time Airbus expands its flight training facility for North American operators AIAC chair focused on innovation and diversity SpaceX launches secretive Zuma spacecraft Arakkonam to house training facility for P8I aircraft maintenance INS Rajali, the naval aviation base at Arakkonam, some 80 km from here, would soon have a training facility for personnel involved in the operation and maintenance of P8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Anti Submarine Warfare (LRMRASW) aircraft. According to an official release, a contract has been signed between the Navy and the M/s Boeing, USA, for procuring training simulator for the P8I aircraft and constructing a 60,000 sq. ft civil facility (Training, Support and Data Handling Centre). The on-site comprehensive annual maintenance contract would be for a period of 10 years, it stated and added: "The complete training facility will be commissioned at INS Rajali, Arakkonam, by March 2021. In addition, as part of the contract, a dedicated Maintenance Simulator will be commissioned at Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology (NIAT), Kochi, for ab inito training of the technical personnel." The first P8I aircraft was inducted into the Navy in 2013. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/arakkonam-to-house-training-facility-for-p8i-aircraft-maintenance/article22379638.ece Back to Top 2018 Minnesota Aviation Maintenance Technician Conference Type: Seminar Date: 03/19/18 8:00 AM CT - 03/20/18 1:00 PM CT Location: Brooklyn Center, MN US Web site:https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=2050972 Phone: 651-234-7248 Attend the 50th annual Minnesota Aviation Maintenance Technician Conference. Educational sessions, exhibits, networking Inspection Authorization refresher training credit, recruitment opportunities and more. This conference attracts aviation maintenance professionals for continuing education, networking, and IA renewal; industry exhibits featuring the newest and best in aviation products, technology, and services; and career opportunities. Exhibitors and Sponsors: Be an Exhibitor and/or Sponsor at the 2018 Minnesota Aviation Maintenance Technician Conference where your organization or company will have an excellent opportunity to promote its programs and products! Exhibitor registration is now open. Early Registration ends March 2nd For more information contact: Darlene Dahlseide 651-234-7248 darlene.dahlseide@state.mn.us http://www.aviationpros.com/event/12389560/2018-minnesota-aviation-maintenance-technician-conference Back to Top Global Engine MRO Leaders Examine $42bn Industry at Aero-Engines Americas 2018 The aero engine aftermarket in North America remains the largest in the world and continues to grow. With the global engine MRO industry forecasted to reach ~$42bn and the active in-service fleet of engines forecasted to reach ~77,500 engines by 2025 according to ICF, it is perhaps no surprise that the next edition of Aero-Engines Americas looks set to be the biggest to date. Aero-Engines Americas takes place on January 31 to February 1, 2018 and brings together over 250 stakeholders from around the world to address the hot topics and long-term developments associated with this mature but growing sector. It is the only conference exclusively dedicated to the America's engine community. "The Aviation Week Network is excited to bring together all the key players in the engine industry in the aviation hub of Florida for 2 days of networking, learning, discussions and sharing of best practices," said Juliet Trew, events director for Aviation Week Network. "This event has established itself as a key forum for this sector with tremendous year-on-year growth and really provides a quality environment for making new business relationships and building on existing connections." Delegates can gain insights from over 45 engine experts speaking on the agenda including representatives from major players in the industry such as AAR, Rolls Royce, GE Aviation and Engine Lease Finance. Topics to be addressed at the conference include Aero-Engine Aftermarket Analysis, Engine Lifecycle Management, Next-Generation Engines & Technologies and Retirements & Inductions. Abdol Moabery, president and CEO at GA Telesis, who is providing the keynote address, said: "About every twenty years the aviation industry approaches a new era, where all the engine manufacturers come to market with new technology at the same time. Unlike other industries where new innovations are delivered annually or semi-annually, the sheer cost of delivering a new technology jet engine along with the limited size of the market make these milestones mini-eras. However, this era has many nuisances that differ from previous engine eras. How will these changes impact the operators, MROs, lessors, financiers, and the aftermarket?" The conference has gained strong backing from its host sponsor GA Telesis, lead sponsor Aeronautics Fund and sponsors AJW, Engine Lease Finance Corporation, Lockheed Martin Engine Solutions and Sintavia, as well as supporters EOS North America and Trumpf. Enthusiastic support has also been provided by local Florida associations including Enterprise Florida, The South Florida Aviation Maintenance Council, The Beacon Council, The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance and The Greater Miami Aviation Association. Plus, the event plays host to several exhibitors looking to showcase their products and services. The two-day conference, which takes place at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, will close with an exclusive tour of the GA Telesis corporate headquarters and global distribution centre in Fort Lauderdale. More information on the event can be found at www.aeroenginesusa.com http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/global-engine-mro-leaders-examine-42bn-industry-aero-engines-americas Back to Top West Star Aviation Finalizes Embraer Service Center Agreement at its Chattanooga Location January 4, 2018 - West Star Aviation is pleased to announce it has finalized its Service Center agreement with Embraer Executive Jets at its full-service state-of-the-art maintenance facility in Chattanooga, TN at KCHA. This agreement is for Embraer Base Maintenance on Phenom 100/300, Legacy 450/500 and Legacy 600/650. The Chattanooga facility will offer interior refurbishment, avionics, avionics installation and repair, inspections, part services, and engine inspections. "We are thrilled to be able to accept Embraer customers at all three of our full-service facilities at ALN, GJT, and CHA," said Bob O'Leary, Embraer Business Development Manager, West Star Aviation. "We are dedicated to the continuous growth of our Embraer capabilities and proud to offer complete maintenance on Embraer Phenom and Legacy models," O'Leary continued. West Star's Chattanooga location is currently expanding its footprint to include a state-of-the-art paint facility and other updates to the existing current facility to be able to accommodate aircraft up to Lineage 1000 and Lineage 1000E. The paint shop expansion is projected to open September 2018 and will offer full-service paint capabilities on Embraer and other aircraft. Voted #1 Preferred MRO in the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Professional Pilot magazine annual "Preferences Regarding Aviation Services and Equipment" (PRASE) Survey, West Star Aviation specializes in the repair and maintenance of airframes, windows, and engines, as well as major modifications, avionics installation and repair, interior refurbishment, surplus avionics sales, accessory services, paint and parts. In addition to its facilities in East Alton, IL; Grand Junction, CO; and Chattanooga, TN, West Star Aviation runs maintenance operations at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, CO; Chicago Executive Airport in Chicago, IL; Centennial Airport in Denver, CO and Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport in Houston, TX. The company also provides complete FBO services for transient aircraft at its newly remodeled East Alton and Grand Junction facilities. West Star Aviation is an industry leader in technical experience and expertise while providing world-class customer services in all the organization's divisions. For more information visit www.weststaraviation.com or call 800-922-2421. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12389564/west-star-aviation-finalizes-embraer-service-center-agreement-at-its-chattanooga-location Back to Top GE Aviation congratulates Oman Air for its record-breaking Boeing 787 engine change Muscat: GE Aviation recently praised Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, for its record-breaking Boeing 787 engine change. The procedure was completed in just 20 hours, earning Oman Air world-wide recognition for its remarkable engineering feat. The record-breaking achievement was acknowledged at the recent Dubai Airshow, where Eng. Ali Redha Mohammed Al Lawatiya, Oman Air's executive vice president - Engineering & Maintenance, was presented with a commendation. This recognised the outstanding capability and competency of Oman Air's engineering team which allowed them to perform the task in such a short timeframe. The achievement was accomplished in line with Oman Air's engineering and maintenance objectives, which aim to maintain, safe and efficient operation. Ali Al Lawatiya said, "I am delighted to accept this commemoration on behalf of Oman Air's hardworking engineering & maintenance team. We are a dedicated unit; our goal is to respond to engineering issues in the quickest and most efficient way possible. This recent recognition from GE Aviation is a further acknowledgement of Oman Air's strong position in the airline industry; we are fully committed to delivering the best possible service to guests and a critical part of this is to ensure the highest quality of engineering& maintenance services to our aircraft." Oman Air engineering & maintenance works around the clock to provide services to Oman Air's own fleet and third party aircraft, with routine maintenance inspections up to and including 'A' checks, minor aircraft repairs/modifications & aircraft component replacements. The team has been much focused on ensuring the maintenance schedule is as efficient as possible and extending the capabilities in-house. The outsourced heavy maintenance (C-check) for Airbus 330 are now performed every 24 months instead of 18 months, by accommodating the 18 months maintenance checks for the 10 existing A330 aircrafts in-house. Another evident improvement on a wider scale has also been achieved on the B737 fleet, previously requiring the heavy maintenance (C-check) approximately every 24 months. The engineering & maintenance team with the support of Boeing managed to escalate the heavy maintenance interval to 36 months and for the A-check maintenance from approximately 60 days interval to 120 days resulting in better utilisation of maintenance ground time and an increase in aircraft operational availability. Oman Air engineering has also extended its technical capabilities in handling British Airways B787, Qatar Airways Airbus 350 & Sri Lankan airlines A320 neo aircraft types. The service platform provided has also extended to include the full technical handling of customer airlines aircraft at Sohar Airport. With the additional capabilities added to the existing operation, Oman Air Engineering is committed to maintaining the highest standards of safety and an honourable audit status, which was evident with the performed audits, by EASA & IOSA of the Engineering & Maintenance division. GE Aviation is a world-leading provider of commercial, military, business and general aviation jet and turboprop engines and components as well as avionics, electrical power and mechanical systems for aircraft. http://timesofoman.com/article/125495 Back to Top Southwest Moves Forward With New Maintenance Hangar at Hobby Airport Jan. 05--Southwest Airlines is moving forward with its construction of a new maintenance hangar at Hobby Airport. The project, which includes a 240,000-square-foot hangar capable of housing six Boeing 737 aircraft, was recently awarded to McCarthy Building Cos. Outside the hangar will be 450,000 square feet of paved aircraft parking areas and aircraft wash facilities. The project also includes taxiway connections and parking and loading docks, according to a news release from McCarthy. Southwest Airlines said construction will begin in the spring and should be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019. The project will allow the airline to grow its fleet as Hobby has one of Southwest's six maintenance facilities across the U.S. "Houston is optimally located within the Southwest network making it an important aircraft maintenance location," the airline said in an email, "and as our fleet grows, our maintenance requirements grow along with it." http://www.aviationpros.com/news/12389753/brief-southwest-moves-forward-with-new-maintenance-hangar-at-hobby-airport Back to Top Battery-powered electric plane quietly takes to Australian skies for the first time Pipistrel's Alpha Electro took to the skies in Australia recently, marking the first time an electric light sport aircraft was certified and flown in the country. The plane has been expressly designed to be an efficient and cheap pilot training craft and this successful first test flight marks a new frontier for electric aircraft in Australia. The test flight was spear-headed by Australian sustainable aviation company Electro.Aero. The company is at the forefront of electric aviation technology in the country after obtaining certification for the Alpha Electro by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority in late 2017. The plane, developed by Slovenia-based manufacturer Pipistrel, is a two-seater, single-propeller light aircraft, powered by two llithium-ion batteries. A single charge can reportedly keep the plane in the air for up to one hour, with 30 minutes of extra power in reserve. Perhaps the most common comment reported by onlookers witnessing the test flight was how quiet the plane was, and it is this very feature that both Pipistrel and Electro.Aero are suggesting will make the aircraft highly sought after. "This is the start of the next revolution in general aviation," says Richard Charlton, finance director of Electro.Aero. "We are already fielding enquiries from airports located in major cities where noise complaints have become their number one concern." The plane's batteries are easily replaceable for quick flight turnovers or can be fully charged in just under one hour. Charlton also points out that the simplicity of an electric engine means significantly cheaper running and maintenance costs when compared to a traditional fossil fuel-powered engine. "The electric engine is really simple," says Charlton. "It has one moving part, it's a very small piece of equipment and it is a solid-state motor." https://newatlas.com/electric-aircraft-test-flight-australia/52846/ Back to Top Airbus expands its flight training facility for North American operators January 5, 2018: In a move to further expand its global training capacity, Airbus has acquired the strategic simulation solutions flight training center in Aurora, Colorado. According to reports, currently the training center primarily supports Frontier Airlines which has significant room for growth. Airbus also plans to double its capacity at the facility in the next couple of years. "It's another major step forward in our ambition to grow services around the world," said Laurent Martinez, head of services of Airbus. "Our global services forecast predict a need for 122,000 new pilots in the Americas by 2035, representing 23 percent of the world's demand. We want our Airbus flight training facilities to be easily accessible to our customers regardless of their location, hence this latest move," said Martinez Prior to this acquisition, Airbus provided training to the North American region primarily from its Miami, Florida-based training center. The addition of the new Aurora training center will help meet long-term growth in expanding markets throughout the Americas. Over the past two years Airbus has expanded its training capacity for customers in the Americas with the addition of training centers in Mexico City and Campinas in Brazil. In the global space, Airbus has expanded its training network more than threefold in barely three years-growing from five locations in 2015 to 17 locations. "We will hold steady in our ambition to provide the most state-of-the-art, top-quality training to our customers, and to continue expanding our global training capacity at its current pace," Martinez said. Currently, the Aurora training center has two A320 Family and FAA Level D full flight simulators-the highest level flight simulators to train Frontier Airlines pilots on the airline's all-Airbus fleet. Additional simulators are expected to be added at the Aurora facility in 2018 to address anticipated increased demand for training. In addition, Airbus' innovative ACT Suite-a fully comprehensive, high-fidelity course for maintenance training will also be set up within a week's notice, and will be offered in line with demand. Airbus' modular, competency-based training services deliver a comprehensive mix of theoretical courses, hands-on practice and environment immersion using the latest technologies-including virtual, augmented and mixed reality. http://www.stattimes.com/airbus-expands-its-flight-training-facility-for-north-american-operators-aviation Back to Top AIAC chair focused on innovation and diversity If the 2018 priorities for the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) sound a lot like the federal government's focus on innovation, that's no coincidence. New investments in space capability, procurement reform, and strengthening the position of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers for AIAC as much as they are central pieces of the government's Innovation and Skills Agenda. "Aerospace is a really innovative sector for Canada...with over $1.6 billion spent in R&D [research and development] every year. That has also been [our] competitive advantage in the global market place. So that makes innovation something that I'm really focused on, both in my own company and with AIAC," Cynthia Garneau, president of Bell Helicopter and AIAC's incoming chair, told Skies in an interview on her plans and priorities. A 23-year veteran of the Canadian aerospace sector, Garneau has held senior positions with Bombardier and Bell that put a premium on innovation, intellectual property, and working closely with small suppliers, universities and organizations like the Consortium for Aerospace Research and Innovation in Canada on pre-competitive innovations. "The government's focus on innovation as a driver of jobs and opportunity is great news," she said. "Our sector is a poster child for how innovation makes Canada's economy much better. We can help lead the way and show other industries how...we contribute, how we collaborate...[to] help the government move forward with its innovation and skills agenda." Innovation was one of two themes Garneau chose to highlight in an address to the Canadian Aerospace Summit in November when she accepted the AIAC chair. The other was diversity, a priority she argued could be crucial to growing innovative businesses that are able to attract talent from emerging technology areas like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and quantum computing. "We need to understand how we can work with the government and our membership to attract and foster a diverse workforce of highly skilled people. I'm very interested in having more women in our industry, particularly in the manufacturing side of it. [I] will work with the government and our membership to see how we can influence this," she said. "The government has been very clear with us. They do not see us growing unless we take on things like diversity and show we can have more inclusion inside our industry," added Jim Quick, president and CEO of AIAC. Much of the association's focus in 2018 will be a continuation of initiatives begun in 2017, he told Skies. "There is a lot on our agenda for next year just inside that innovation envelope." That will include more investment in the government's five-year, $950 million Innovation Supercluster Initiative and support for an AIAC submission on MOST21, an supercluster proposal, led by CAE, on Mobility Systems and Technologies for the 21st Century that was shortlisted by the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development in October. "[The government believes] the broader and more futuristic play will be [around] mobility," said Quick. "This is our way of looking at the future and saying, in five to 10 years you are not going to [see] yourself as the fifth largest aerospace nation in the world, you are going to [see] yourself as the number one mobility nation in the world. So how do AI and data and other things play? Minister [Navdeep] Bains is really challenging us to think...about Canada in the future and what [we can] do to contribute." "[The supercluster initiative] is different and it's going to foster collaboration not only within one industry but throughout industry," Garneau added. AIAC will work with government to refine the five-year, $1.26 billion Strategic Innovation Fund, a repayable and non-repayable funding program for a range of industrial and technology firms that, among other things, consolidates the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative and Technology Demonstration Program into a single program. It will also be hoping for new funding in Budget 2018 on a new space initiative. With the official launch in December of a project to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force fleet of 76 CF-188 Hornets, fighter jet procurement will again dominate the aerospace headlines for 2018. Though the focus will be on the acquisition process and the five likely contenders - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Dassault, Eurofighter and Saab - Quick noted that for Canadian companies it will be more about innovation opportunities. "When you look at how companies are going to be asked to position their value propositions and their use of Industrial and Technological Benefits, it is really about how do we foster continued innovation and use [defence procurement] programs to be an innovation leader from a global standpoint," he said. The fighter project could help provide greater impetus to a small business initiative launched by John Maris, president of Marinvent, when he was AIAC chair in 2016. Maris, who now leads the association's small business committee, has proposed a consortium model that would see SMEs with a common area of expertise band together to offer original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 suppliers a single point of contact for a given capability. Combined with academic research organizations and the support structures of government programs, a consortium could provide tremendous capability to a larger company. Garneau said she supports the initiative and would be working with the association's many SMEs to better access government programs and find ways to help them grow. "The government is talking about the need to scale up smaller companies to make them more competitive from a global supply chain perspective," Quick noted. One of the things we are doing inside the Innovation and Skills Agenda is directed at how we [can help] companies to grow. When large companies look at the supply chain, they are not just looking for a piece of technology, they also want a company that is going to be successful as a key supplier for them." https://www.skiesmag.com/news/aiac-chair-focused-innovation-diversity/ Back to Top SpaceX launches secretive Zuma spacecraft SpaceX kicked off the new year with a mystery-shrouded mission to deliver a government spacecraft, called Zuma, into orbit. After more than a month of delays, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket vaulted toward the skies at 8 p.m. ET Sunday with the secretive payload. It launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The space exploration firm, which is headed by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, initially scheduled the Zuma mission last November. SpaceX gave a couple reasons for the schedule changes. At one point, SpaceX said it delayed the mission for "fairing testing." The fairing is the very top portion of the rocket that houses the payload. "Extreme weather" also slowed down the company's launch preparations. Last week, SpaceX finally declared that both the rocket and the payload were "healthy" and ready for launch. On Sunday, Zuma was delivered to low-Earth orbit, which is typically defined as any orbital path less than about 1,200 miles above the Earth's surface, according to NASA. Zuma's precise destination was not disclosed. That was not the only thing kept secret about Zuma. The spacecraft was built for the U.S. government, and it's not unusual for the government to keep information about sensitive payloads under wraps. Typically these payloads involve a military concern, such as national security, defense or surveillance. When asked about the project in November, Northrop Grumman (NOC) -- the Virginia-based aerospace and defense company that built the Zuma spacecraft -- declined to give any details about the spacecraft or reveal which arm of the government funded it. "The U.S. Government assigned Northrop Grumman the responsibility of acquiring launch services for this mission," the company said in a statement. "Northrop Grumman realizes this is a monumental responsibility and we have taken great care to ensure the most affordable and lowest risk scenario for Zuma." The company declined further comment Sunday. Because of Zuma's secrecy, SpaceX didn't live stream the entire mission. But there was still plenty for SpaceX to show off after launch. The company executed its signature move: guiding the first-stage rocket booster back to Earth for a safe landing. Just over two minutes after liftoff Sunday, the first-stage booster separated from the second stage and fired up its engines. The blaze allowed the rocket to safely cut back through the Earth's atmosphere and land on a pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. SpaceX lands boosters so they can be reused in future missions. It's meant to help make spaceflight cheaper. The Zuma launch kicked off what SpaceX hopes will be an exciting year. The company completed a record-setting 18 launches last year, and SpaceX plans to do even more this year, according to spokesman James Gleeson. Later this month, the company plans to debut its latest invention: the Falcon Heavy. The monstrous rocket will have three times the thrust of the Falcon 9. An exact date for the inaugural launch has not been set, but Musk wrote on Instagram last week that SpaceX is looking to do it before the end of the month. http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/07/technology/future/spacex-zuma-spacecraft-launch/index.html Curt Lewis