Having trouble viewing this email? Click here MAY 30, 2019 - No. 043 In This Issue Casting A Wider Net for Would-Be MRO Technicians Silas Holdings LLC Files Lawsuit Against Boca Aircraft Maintenance Naples Aviation Named 15th Best U.S. FBO and 8th Best Independent FBO Gogo is building a 5G network for aviation Air New Zealand Selects GEnx Engines for its New Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners Safety Initiative Launched To Improve Compliance With Procedures Thailand's Ambitious Plan for Aerospace Dominance Gama plots MRO expansion with new flagship facility Jet Airways Asks Staff To Extract Data From Servers Before System Blackout Building a rocket in a garage to take on SpaceX and Blue Origin Casting A Wider Net for Would-Be MRO Technicians An aviation coalition-led by the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA)-submitted joint comments to a proposed revision to the 17-year-old FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 65-30, Overview of the Aviation Maintenance Profession. The group contends that the agency's draft is too narrow and offers a rewrite that it says better describes the breadth of career opportunities in aviation maintenance. The proposal follows a previous iteration published in 2014. ARSA and the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) jointly commented on that initial rewrite, though few of their recommendations were adopted in the second draft. Undeterred, the group expanded to include a broader coalition of aviation interests and submitted a revised version that it says "combin[es] the best aspects of each prior effort with intelligence gained from years working with industry members and policy makers on workforce development issues." ARSA Vice President of Operations Brett Levanto, principal author of the document, says the proposed rewrite is more inclusive in its approach. "A true overview of the aviation maintenance profession does not begin and end with an [airframe and powerplant] mechanic certificate," Levanto writes in the submission's cover letter. "[The rewrite] provides a comprehensive overview of the aviation maintenance profession, rather than a walk-through of the eligibility for and privileges of [a mechanic certificate]." The rewrite lays out five pathways the groups says better define opportunities for all aviation maintenance personnel including noncertificated professionals, certificated repairmen, certificated mechanics, mechanics holding inspection authorization and transitioning military personnel. It adds a comprehensive appendix containing descriptions and links to scholarship programs, industry associations and media outlets. The group also suggests referencing the existing list of Military Occupational Specialty Codes in inspector guidance and removing the duplicative listing from the AC. An extended comment period to provide feedback on the AC ended on May 6. https://www.mro-network.com/safety-regulatory/casting-wider-net-would-be-mro-technicians Back to Top Silas Holdings LLC Files Lawsuit Against Boca Aircraft Maintenance For Failure To Properly Inspect And Overhaul A Dassault-Breguet Falcon 50 Aircraft Resulting In Dangerous And Unsafe Conditions MIAMI, May 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SILAS HOLDINGS, LLC has filed a lawsuit against BOCA AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE, LLC and BOCA AIRCRAFT MODIFICATIONS, LLC ("BAM") in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida Case No.: 2019-014281-CA-01. In a seven count, 152-page Complaint, Silas Holdings LLC, as the owner of a Dassault-Breguet Falcon 50 aircraft, along with two other plaintiffs, have sued BAM for damages arising from negligence, fraud in the performance, fraud in the inducement, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, and intentional infliction of emotion distress. "The allegations based on the investigation conducted are extremely disturbing," said Richard L. Richards, Esq. and Principal of the Richards Legal Group. Richards, who is Board Certified in Aviation Law, is the attorney for Silas Holdings LLC and the counsel of record in the case. As set forth in the Complaint, the Falcon 50 aircraft was inducted into BAM in August of 2018 for required 1-C, 2-C, and 4-C inspections and a landing gear overhaul, both as mandated by the manufacturer and the Federal Aviation Administration. The Complaint alleges that two months after the aircraft's December 1, 2018 departure from BAM, upon a landing it was discovered that BAM failed to properly connect and install hardware on flap screw jacks on all three "L/H positions" resulting in the jamming of the "L/H inboard flap" of the Falcon 50 Aircraft. It is asserted that this failure rendered the Falcon 50 aircraft unsafe and exposed the aircraft and those aboard to an enormous catastrophic risk. The lawsuit states that at least nineteen other instances of BAM failures were discovered ranging from a rudder out of adjustment to a wrench found in R/H MLG wheel well. As such, the Complaint concludes that BAM breached its duty to ensure that the required maintenance was performed in a proper and safe manner. The lawsuit goes on to state that it was later discovered that BAM did not have mechanics experienced with Falcon 50 aircraft performing the inspections and overhaul in spite of BAM's representations to the contrary. Moreover, it is alleged that instead of charging between $2,700.00 and $6,700.00 for a substitute avionics part core, BAM billed an unconscionable $156,034.00 after concealing that BAM personnel actually damaged the core in the first place. The entire lawsuit complaint can be found at this link: Here. For further information, contact Richard L. Richards, Esq. of the Richards Legal Group at rrichards@richpa.net or at (305) 448-2228. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/silas-holdings-llc-files-lawsuit-against-boca-aircraft- maintenance-for-failure-to-properly-inspect-and-overhaul-a-dassault-breguet-falcon-50-aircraft- resulting-in-dangerous-and-unsafe-conditions-300858300.html Back to Top Naples Aviation Named 15th Best U.S. FBO and 8th Best Independent FBO Professional Pilot magazine named Naples Aviation the 15th best fixed-base operator and the 8th best independent FBO in the United States in its annual Preferences Regarding Aviation Services and Equipment survey. Naples Aviation moved up seven places this year from 22nd in the 2018 ranking for best U.S. FBO and three places up from 11th best independent FBO. Operated by Naples Airport Authority, Naples Aviation is the fixed-base operator at Naples Airport that provides fuel, hangar space, parking and other services to private and corporate aircraft and other general aviation operators. "The PRASE rankings recognize our team's commitment in providing an exceptional experience for our customers," said Chris Rozansky, executive director of Naples Airport Authority. "Naples Aviation aspires to exceed expectations every day and we're grateful the 2019 rankings reflect those efforts." Professional Pilot is a monthly business-aviation trade magazine. The magazine's 46th annual Professional Pilot PRASE Survey is an annual tabulation of customer opinions of aviation ground services. Amongst approximately 3,400 FBOs in the U.S., 32 FBOs were included in the PRASE Survey ranking. Executives in charge of flight departments, aviation managers, chief pilots, pilots, CEOs and other qualified subscribers to Professional Pilot magazine are polled once a year in order to determine the PRASE Winners List. PRASE is the gold standard of aviation ground service leaders. Naples Airport is ideally located within minutes of downtown Naples, the Gulf of Mexico and I-75, connecting people to the Paradise Coast through an exceptional airport experience. The airport services more than 112,000 annual operations, while being an engaged, responsive partner to the community. Home to flight schools, air charter operators, car rental agencies, and corporate aviation and non-aviation businesses, the airport is also a central location for public services, including fire/rescue services, mosquito control, the Collier County Sheriff's Aviation Unit and other community services. All funds used for the airport's operation, maintenance and improvements are generated from activities at the airport or federal and state grants from aviation-related user fees. The airport receives no local tax dollars. The Florida Department of Transportation values the airport's annual economic impact to the community at more than $440 million. For more information or to subscribe to email updates from the airport, visit www.FlyNaples.com. https://www.aviationpros.com/fbos-tenants/press-release/21082242/naples-airport-authority-naples-aviation-named-15th-best-us-fbo-and-8th-best-independent-fbo Back to Top Gogo is building a 5G network for aviation In-flight WiFi provider Gogo said it will launch a 5G network for business and commercial aviation in 2021. The air-to-ground network will be built on Gogo's existing tower infrastructure of more than 250 towers using unlicensed spectrum in the 2.4GHz range. The network will also rely on Gogo's proprietary modem and beamforming technology and support all spectrum types and bands. "We expect to launch Gogo 5G at the same time as the terrestrial telecommunications companies are deploying the same generation of technology on the ground -- a first in the inflight connectivity industry," said Gogo CEO Oakleigh Thorne. "Gogo 5G is the next step in our technology evolution and is expected to deliver an unparalleled user experience, pairing high performance with low latency and network-wide redundancy." The company's 5G announcement lines up with its recent AWS infrastructure move. Earlier this year Gogo announced that it was migrating its infrastructure to Amazon Web Services as it works to scale key aspects of its business, such as the number of airlines it can support and how fast it can process stream data for airlines. In addition to providing in-flight entertainment and WiFi service to passengers, Gogo also gathers information about passengers using its services, applies analytics to the data, and churns out insights that help airlines improve experiences. But as in-flight connectivity improves -- largely through Gogo's 2Ku technology, which hit peak antenna speeds of 70 Mbps -- Gogo said airlines are increasingly eager to leverage that connectivity to manage ancillary systems on planes and bolster safety and maintenance operations. Looking ahead, Gogo is hoping to leverage the AWS migration to process data streams in near real time -- a feat the company expects will open new business and growth opportunities as connectivity continues to improve. https://www.zdnet.com/article/gogo-is-building-a-5g-network-for-aviation/ Back to Top Air New Zealand Selects GEnx Engines for its New Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners CINCINNATI | May 28, 2019 - Air New Zealand selected the GEnx-1B engine to power its eight Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft with option up to 20 aircraft. The airline announced the order yesterday at a ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand. The firm engine order is valued at more than $480 million (USD) list price. Aircraft delivery will begin in 2022. Air New Zealand and GE also agreed to a multi-year TrueChoice services agreement to cover the maintenance, repair and overhaul of the GEnx engines. "Today's news is incredibly exciting for our business and our customers as we continue to invest in the most innovative, sustainable and comfortable aircraft on the market and deliver on our commitment to grow our business sustainably," said Air New Zealand Chief Executive Christopher Luxon. "In connecting New Zealand with the world, we naturally offer a high proportion of long-haul flights, and these state-of-the-art aircraft will ensure we continue to operate one of the world's youngest and most efficient jet fleets." "GE is honored to be selected to power and support Air New Zealand's new fleet of B787-10 aircraft with our GEnx-1B engines," said GE Aviation's newly announced Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing Jason Tonich. "The GEnx engine is the leading engine of choice on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with world-class utilization, reliability and fuel efficiency that will benefit Air New Zealand and its customers." GE Aviation has sold more than 2,500 GEnx engines since its launched 15 years ago, solidifying the GEnx as the fastest selling high-thrust GE engine in history. With the most advanced technologies and materials, the GEnx has the highest reliability and utilization, lowest fuel burn and longest range capable of any engine available on the B787 aircraft. The highest pressure ratio compressor in commercial service today enables the best fuel efficiency in its thrust class, resulting in the GEnx engine powering the longest B787 routes. The GEnx's innovative lean burning twin-annular pre-swirl (TAPS) combustor dramatically reduces NOx and other regulated gases below today's regulatory limits and enhances durability. As the world's first commercial engine with both a carbon fiber composite front fan case and fan blades, the GEnx fan module is lighter in weight, corrosion resistant with less line maintenance and improved reliability, and is the quietest engine GE produces. These leading-edge technologies and engine architecture bring high operational reliability and result in a high utilization rate of GEnx-powered B787 aircraft for more flights per year and more revenue for airlines. GEnx's revenue-sharing participants are IHI Corporation of Japan, GKN Aerospace Engine Systems of the UK, MTU of Germany, TechSpace Aero (Safran) of Belgium, Safran Aircraft Engines of France and Samsung Techwin of Korea. The TrueChoice suite of engine maintenance offerings incorporates an array of GE capabilities and customization across an engine's lifecycle. Each of the TrueChoice offerings is underpinned by GE Aviation's data and analytic capabilities and experience to help reduce maintenance burden and service disruptions for customers. https://www.aviationpros.com/engines-components/aircraft-engines/press-release/21082348/ge-aviation-air-new-zealand-selects-genx-engines-for-its-new-boeing-78710-dreamliners Back to Top Safety Initiative Launched To Improve Compliance With Procedures Last September, a Jetstar Airways Airbus A320 utilized normal braking when thrust reversers were found inoperable during landing roll. A post-flight inspection revealed lockout pins still installed in the hydraulic control units. Investigation of the incident concluded that maintenance personnel failed to remove the pins after a three-day maintenance check. Contrary to operator task cards prescribing sequential functional checks, engineers signed off on required tests based on checks completed earlier in the day. To save the time required to check out a lockout pin from the tool crib, a substitute pin-designed for in-service use and without an attached warning flag-was used. The report describes a series of contributing factors leading to the failure to follow procedures (FFP). Unanticipated maintenance needs and an expedited departure schedule put added pressure on maintenance personnel, who worked extra hours and through breaks to return the aircraft to service on time. And generic cockpit notices were used in lieu of specific warning labels for thrust reverser de-activation, reportedly a common practice. The incident is one a new FAA initiative aims to prevent. William Johnson, FAA chief scientific and technical advisor for human factors in aircraft maintenance systems, says the story is all too familiar. "Despite the common understanding of the importance to use written technical procedures, failure to follow instructions continues to be among the largest safety issues in aviation maintenance," says Johnson. "FFP is not a technical issue; it is about attitude and commitment." Johnson is leading a new project focused on increasing attention on procedural compliance and educating and empowering MRO leadership and personnel. "There's often lots of blame that goes around for failure to follow procedures. Mechanics are the obvious scapegoat, but blame could also lie with inspectors who overlook procedures, or managers that rush a task to meet a production schedule or flight departure time," he says. A new FAA online training resource focuses on corporate culture and individual accountability. Trainees who complete the course pledge to become champions of the procedural compliance culture and not to blame others for their own failure to follow procedures. FAA officials say around 4,000 individuals have taken the online course since it was released in October. Anyone can access it for free at followprocedures.com. https://www.mro-network.com/safety-regulatory/safety-initiative-launched-improve-compliance-procedures Back to Top Thailand's Ambitious Plan for Aerospace Dominance BANGKOK, Thailand -- The Thai government believes it can be a successful home for aerospace industry, capitalizing on its central location in the heart of the Asia-Pacific and the massive growth in air travel and aircraft expected in the region. Combining aggressive corporate tax incentives with state-of-the-art infrastructure, Thailand hopes to offer a promising environment for aircraft maintenance facilities and tier 2 to 4 manufacturers. On a week-long trip to Thailand, Avionics International learned of the Southeast Asian nation's ambitious plans to become a larger player in the aerospace industry, part of the country's national strategy to spur economic growth and avoid the "middle-income trap." Thailand is directly in the middle of 4.5 billion people in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific aviation market with India to the west, China and Japan to the north, and Malaysia to the southeast. Beyond geography, Thailand boasts what it calls "best-cost" labor, a balance between low-wage workers and well-educated people that it believes is ideal for business. One local aerospace executive cited a $6/hr wage for skilled entry-level workers, compared to as much as $30-50/hr in the developed world. Thailand also has hosted automotive and electronics manufacturing for many decades, though only about 30 aerospace companies currently are headquartered there. The Thai government has ambitious plans to build up its "Eastern Economic Corridor," or EEC, an area just east of Bangkok that is home to a number of industrial centers, both old and new. Thailand's EEC office, in charge of massive infrastructure projects in the region as well as attracting foreign direct investment, lists plans to greatly expand the capacity of U-Tapao Airport just southeast of Bangkok; build high-speed railways to link the country's three international airports (Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapau); construct a new double-track railway to pass through industrial and logistics centers; and expand deep-sea port operations, among other projects. Many of these infrastructure projects the EEC office plans to complete by 2023. Supanit Chantarasiri, executive director of the EEC's infrastructure management group, said bids for the high-speed railways have already been submitted, with contract awards to be announced in the coming months. These projects are designed in tandem with Thailand's larger economic strategy, which focuses on twelve targeted high-tech industries for investment and growth, including electric vehicles, autonomy and robotics, advanced agriculture, and aerospace. Thai-Owned Aerospace Manufacturing In March of this year, CCS Advance Tech became the first domestically-owned company in Thailand to be a Boeing-approved supplier, completing the company's audit in three special processes: chromic acid anodizing, fluorescent penetrant inspection and magnetic particle inspection. It was a proud moment for the relatively small Thai manufacturing company, but far from the first "first" achieved by CCS. In 2005, it was the first Thai-owned company granted AS9100 certification. In 2009, it became the first to receive international manufacturing accreditations in a number of special processes and in 2014 CCS won an aerospace contract worth more than $50 million, supplying parts and assemblies for Boeing, Airbus and Augusta Westland aircraft. Between 2012 and 2016, the company's aerospace division grew its revenue 400 percent. CEO Ketan Pole expects the division to post at least 200 percent growth between 2016 and 2021. Pole's focus on aerospace tracks with the government's nationwide vision. Historically, most of his company's revenue has come from automotive manufacturing and plastic molding, but Pole doesn't see future growth in those sectors. "I see the biggest growth from aerospace components. No growth is in automotive," said Pole during a tour offered to media. "And a little growth in oil and gas." Part of the company's success stems from a focus on advanced technology and processes. Instead of competing with other regional manufacturers, CCS seeks to bid for parts where it is one of the only certified producers in the region, as it did for aircraft seating bars. "We also do seating bars for the pilot and crew seats. The most simple seat is the economy seat. So we don't do economy seats," Pole said. CCS also benefits from a booming Asian aerospace industry. Pointing to a particular machine on the factory floor, Pole said the lead time for a company to acquire it in the U.S. or EU would be five or six months. "Here? Seven days," Pole said, because regional suppliers of the machine keep more stock than their Western equivalents - something they are able to do because of the booming industry. Investing in Thailand OMADA International opened its Thailand subsidiary in 2016. An American company based in Sumner, Washington, with facilities in Oklahoma City, OMADA's Thailand-based leadership said they were attracted in part by the Thai Board of Investment and Easter Economic Corridor incentive packages and vision. The company's 260,000-square-foot facility in Rayong was launched with just a $10 million investment, though some initial machines were brought over from the United States. Set up as a supplier to the company's two U.S. facilities, OMADA executives say they achieved a 25 percent cost reduction versus U.S. domestic production. The facility currently operates 50,000 production hours annually and hopes to rapidly scale to its capacity, which is ten times that. Senior Aerospace, a division of Senior PLC, also is posting rapid growth in Thailand. Originally established in 2005 as Weston Sea, a producer of economy seat structures, Senior PLC acquired the facility and reinvested in 2014 to expand its aerostructures capacity. CEO Simon Shale expects the company's annual revenue, currently at $100 million, to more than double by 2024. As Avionics was visiting, Senior Aerospace was awarded "Most Improved Supplier of the Year" for 2018 from customer Rolls Royce. Shale credits much of the company's success to the ambition of the local Thai engineering talent. "This guy will go to Europe because he's hungry to learn and he'll stay in YMCAs," Shale said of Jadsada Kingkaew, one of his top engineers. "He'll backpack it because he knows I can't afford it. Where else can you get that? Because he's interested and he's hungry. And now, Jade's got 32 guys under him who are all mini-Jades." This, Shale said, is part of the strength of Thailand's burgeoning aerospace industry - and why his company is investing in local training facilities and university programs to grow local talent. "If I was just going to focus on low-cost labor, I'm going to Myanmar, Philippines, or Vietnam," he said. Thailand isn't a lowest-cost destination today, but in Shale's view, the local talent and culture make it a more attractive location for suppliers in an industry where safety and reliability are paramount. Thailand is also a critical part of Airbus Helicopters' Asia-Pacific presence, home to a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, or MRO, built in 2008 that services Airbus rotorcraft in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. The facility began as a branch of a regional hub, but Airbus has since increased its investment and grown that facility into a standalone Thai company. Airbus is the only rotorcraft manufacturer with its own MRO in Thailand, according to Pierre André, the company's managing director for Thailand. Speaking with media during Avionics International's tour of the facility, André mentioned initial challenges in training Thai maintainers to speak up in a culture that places great value on respect for superiors and politeness. "Everybody and every culture [has] some specific challenges," André said. "We are paying dedicated attention to 'speak-up culture.' Thai culture is extremely polite. ... Speaking up, expressing yourself in Thai culture is not necessarily natural. So, we have regular training for our staff to make sure everybody has the desire to talk when safety is at stake." "The safety mindset is there [in the people] - absolutely no doubt about it. It's about sharing it." Ambitious Vision Working within the framework of the Thai government's vision for the high-tech future of the economy and its 12 target industries, private companies are racing to transform industrial parks into futuristic smart cities. One such company, Amata Corporation, runs five "Amata City" projects - two in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor and three in Vietnam - and claims to host employment for more than 200,000 Thai people. Amata's Thailand estates contribute $40 billion to the country's GDP, according to the company. Amata and other similar companies purchase or lease large tracts of land in order to create industrial zones that attract foreign investment. Laying the groundwork in these industrial parks with infrastructure and transit, Amata offers companies options to lease land, lease a "ready-built factory," or purchase land outright. The Thai government also allows duty-free zones to be set up within these industrial parks, enabling foreign investors to avoid relevant import and export taxes. But Amata's future vision is very ambitious. The company plans to build its 42-square-kilometer Chonburi city into a futuristic "Smart City," connecting with the Thai government's plans for the Eastern Economic Corridor to create a connected city full of high-tech infrastructure that will prove attractive to both companies and local residents. Close to 60 percent of Amata's clients are Japanese, according to CEO Vikrom Kromadit, but the company is focused on attracting western investment as well. Avionics International's media visit to Amata Castle - built and owned by Kromadit, it is the only such castle in Thailand - coincided with an elaborate reception for a delegation of European representatives. Amata's vision is grandiose and compelling, as is the pitch presented by Thailand's "Industry 4.0" focus, its Board of Investment, and its plans for the Eastern Economic Corridor. But at present Thailand's economic growth is outpaced by almost every other member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In 2017, Thailand's economy grew at just 3.9 percent, according to World Bank data. Vietnam grew at 6.8 percent; the Philippines at 6.7 percent; Malaysia at 5.9 percent; and Indonesia at 5 percent. Only Brunei (1.3 percent) and Singapore (3.6 percent), a far more developed economy, grew at slower paces. Thailand hopes to achieve and maintain 5 percent GDP growth, and it may be able to through its forward-thinking investments in infrastructure and attractive incentives for high-tech industry. However, a few aerospace executives that wished to remain anonymous raised concerns about dealing with the government. "Government people involved in this don't really understand the industry," one executive said. "And the process to apply and get government benefits is super difficult. The rules are strange, the process takes a lot of time, and there isn't clear instruction on who to contact - until I go to the prime minister." The same executive cited a stark contrast in how the government reacts to large companies looking to invest versus small and medium-sized enterprises. "They put out the red carpet. Five minutes, automatic, done! But for SMEs, even though we are the [backbone] of the country, we don't get the support in aerospace," he said. Even that executive was optimistic for the country's future. "In the logistic area, we are so good," he said. "We are in the center of the region; for [the aerospace industry], this is so good. We have skilled people because Japanese, German and U.S. companies have come to invest here and we learn that from them. People in Thailand don't have a bad attitude. They have pride in what they do; they work hard." https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/05/28/thailands-ambitious-plans-aerospace-dominance/ Back to Top Gama plots MRO expansion with new flagship facility Gama Aviation - one of the largest business aviation services providers in the world - has its eyes set on rapid expansion in the maintenance sector, and sees the recent opening of a new flagship facility in Bournemouth, UK as crucial to achieving that ambition. Formally unveiled on 16 May, the 12,540sq m (135,000sq ft) base at Bournemouth International airport, in southern England, is integrated into Gama's current MRO network, which includes a further 29 facilities worldwide. "It's another piece of a global network that we are building, such that our clients and third parties have maintenance coverage where and when they require it," says Gama chief marketing officer Duncan Daines. Established on a 25-year lease with airport owner Rigby Group, the Bournemouth site merges Gama's MRO operations in Farnborough - home to the company's global headquarters - and at Oxford airport. Scott McVicar, managing director for the company's ground services division in Europe says the previous set-up was "too fragmented". "With business jet MRO in Oxford and turboprop support in Farnborough, it just didn't reflect the quality operation that our high-end clients have come to expect from us," he says. "Reorganising the support offering under one roof - and a much larger one at that - is also so much more efficient and gives us room to expand." Gama spent some time searching for a suitable location for its principal MRO operation. The Bournemouth facility "was a perfect size and fit", says McVicar, who points out that with other aerospace operations on the same site, such as Cobham Aviation Services, Jetworks, Signature Technicair and Thurston Aviation, there is already an established skills base in the local area. Another key attraction is the airport's 2,200m (7,200ft)-long runway, which can accommodate "all aircraft types and sizes", says McVicar. Gama puts the total cost of the consolidation and revamp of the Bournemouth site at £1.2 million ($1.5 million), but this outlay is dwarfed by recent awards, from undisclosed customers, of £90 million-worth of long-term support contracts for special-mission aircraft. The move to the new site has also enabled Gama to enter the airline MRO sector for the first time, with initial deals from British Airways and TUI. "We have a flexible arrangement to provide space in Bournemouth for when these carriers need the extra capacity to maintain or repair their airliners," says McVicar. Gama is keen to expand that commercial offering and build on its existing business jet and turboprop MRO support operation. Work in Bournemouth is evenly split between the business aviation and defence/special-mission sectors, with customers including high net-worth individuals, corporations, governments, law enforcement agencies and air ambulance operators. MRO is provided for the Beechcraft King Air-series and its Premier 1/1A sibling; Bombardier's Challenger 600 series, 850 and Global family; the Cessna Citation XLS and Mustang; Embraer Legacy 600; Hawker 800 series, and Rockwell Aero Commander. McVicar says Gama may eventually expand its portfolio, "but our focus for the time being is to build our core business, which keeps us very busy". Gama offers a broad range of MRO services, including base and line maintenance, aircraft-on-ground support, component overhaul, bespoke design and installation for special-mission and VIP aircraft. "We are particularly busy at the moment performing ADS-B [automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast] out upgrades, with owners and operators coming to us in increasing numbers as Europe's June 2020 compliance deadline approaches," says McVicar. Despite its sister division, Gama Air, being one of the largest business aircraft operators in the world, there is no favouritism when it comes to selecting an MRO provider. "We act as separate companies and have to bid for the contracts just like everyone else," says McVicar. "Sometimes we lose out to other companies. That's the nature of this business." https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/gama-plots-mro-expansion-with-new-flagship-facility-458461/ Back to Top Jet Airways Asks Staff To Extract Data From Servers Before System Blackout In deepening uncertainty about its revival, grounded Jet Airways has asked its engineering staff to extract all aircraft maintenance data from systems as IBM-supported servers would not be available from June 1. The airline has written to its engineering staff that effective June 1, 2019 both Jet Airways and JetLite AMOS Production Environment (a software package provided by a Swiss company for managing aircraft data) will not be available for use. "This is due to non-availability of servers and vendor IBM's support only until May 31, 2019," a company mail to staffers said. The main has been seen by IANS. It further advised them to extract all the required reports and information out of Jet Airways and JetLite AMOS production Environment "as necessary at the earliest". According to Swiss Aviation Software Ltd, AMOS is a comprehensive, fully-integrated software package that successfully manages the maintenance, engineering and logistics requirements of modern airlines and MRO providers by fulfilling demanding airworthiness standards. Aviation industry sources said that after Jet Airways grounded its operations last month, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has de-registered nearly 80 of its aircraft that include 67 aircraft of B737s, eight ATRs and two B777s. During its peak-time operations a few months back, Jet Airways had a total fleet size of 119 planes. https://www.ndtv.com/business/jet-airways-crisis-jet-airways-asks-staff-to-extract-data-from-servers-before-system-blackout-2045011 Back to Top Building a rocket in a garage to take on SpaceX and Blue Origin Along Australia's northeastern edge, the Pacific Ocean laps at sparkling yellow sands. This pristine 35 miles of shoreline is known as the Gold Coast, and over 13 million people visit every year. It's full of postcard-perfect beaches and home to the southern hemisphere's biggest collection of theme parks. Drive 30 minutes north, towards the quiet suburban town of Pimpama, and you might as well be on another planet. Once covered in strawberry fields, Pimpama lies just off the motorway and is now dotted by spacious, modern houses. The only tourist attractions are a go-kart circuit and a "skate park" -- a lonely double half-pipe in an empty field. Not the kind of place you'd expect to find the country's most powerful hybrid rocket. But that's exactly what hides within the headquarters of Gilmour Space Technologies. In one corner of the company's makeshift hangar, a nine-meter-long rocket, shaped like a bullet and covered in cling wrap and tape, rests on a set of rollers. The test rocket is the culmination of four years of research, one previous test launch and five successful ground tests of the company's own bleeding-edge rocket engine. The team has dubbed it "One Vision," a nod to the timeless Queen song, and its first flight, originally scheduled for liftoff in April but delayed multiple times, has one goal: getting Gilmour to space. While billionaire entrepreneurs like SpaceX's Elon Musk and Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos push the boundaries of human spaceflight and exploration, a legion of smaller private startups around the world have been developing their own rocket technology to launch lighter payloads into orbit. This new era of private spaceflight, dubbed "NewSpace," has seen satellites shrink from hulking, bus-sized behemoths to toaster-sized boxes of circuits and solar panels. That's given plucky, private space vehicle startups like Gilmour an opportunity to get to space. "There's a lot of companies around the world working on constellations of small satellites, and we want to take them into space," explains Adam Gilmour, the straight-talking banker-turned-CEO of a private spaceflight company. Dressed in a dark blue Gilmour Space Technologies polo and slacks, he glides past his rocket and clusters of employees with purpose. Gilmour wants to carve out its own niche in a booming industry, one that touches on almost every aspect of our lives. It's a mammoth task for an ex-banker and a handful of engineers operating in a country that, until 2018, didn't even have a space agency. Launching One Vision for the first time will put Gilmour on the map, but failure could be a costly setback for the company's lofty ambitions. One worldwide vision It's been 50 years since humans first landed on the moon, and companies like SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are outlining ways to get humans off our planet to tour the upper atmosphere and venture farther into the cosmos. NASA is exploring the most distant worlds we've ever seen and looking toward putting humans on Mars, the European Space Agency is readying a next-generation telescope to hunt for exoplanets and China will land two rovers on the moon in a single year. Outside of the major players, a new space race has begun. Small, private startups are trying to colonize space with miniature relays -- known as CubeSats -- to provide everything from telecommunications support to biological research. They've driven down the cost of satellites, and the private sector has embraced this, causing business to boom. "It's become big because it's accessible," says Russell Boyce, chair for space engineering at the University of New South Wales, Canberra. "There are high schools in some parts of the world that have their own satellites in orbit." The CubeSats are designed to weigh less than 3 pounds (1.4kg), making them cheaper to manufacture and small enough to fit in the payload bay of sleek, cheap rockets, rather than the huge ones developed by SpaceX or Arianespace. For example, you might be able to deploy over 50,000 pounds (22,700 kilograms) of payload into low Earth orbit with SpaceX's Falcon 9, but it will cost you $62 million -- and you can't choose your own orbit or when you want to fly. That's where Gilmour comes in. Gilmour plans to offer launches for smaller satellites for less than $40,000 per kilogram. They can get inexpensive, small satellites into orbit cheaply -- and with greater frequency. In this new space race, where companies plan to send constellations of hundreds of satellites into space, there's a huge opportunity for Gilmour to capitalize on. It could become like an Uber for space, allowing companies to book rides into orbit. But building a rocket is incredibly difficult. Dozens of spaceflight companies are in the development phase, showing promise with their proprietary engines and promising big things, but so far there are limited success stories. The private US spaceflight company Rocket Lab is one such success, having launched its first "Electron" rocket from New Zealand in January 2018. Since then, the company has put satellites into orbit for customers such as Spire Global, Fleet Space Technologies, NASA and even the US Defense Department. Other companies are deep in the development phase, but Gilmour suggests they may have started the design process too early, building rockets that will end up slightly too small and thus, less cost-effective. "We've sized ours a little bit bigger so we can take the OneWeb, the SpaceX [Starlink], the TeleSat and any of the other vehicles that are being built and designed right now, into low Earth orbit," he says. It's his hope that Gilmour's team of around 30 designers and engineers will give it a competitive edge in the booming marketplace. Without the support of a national space agency, Australia has been languishing in a sort of space dark age. It's been difficult for Gilmour to get its ideas off the ground -- let alone a rocket -- with funding hard to come by and local talent scarce. With the advent of the Australian Space Agency, Adam tells me that the tide is turning, but it's written all over Gilmour's modest warehouse-turned-headquarters just how much the company has had to scrap and claw to get to this point. Right now, Australia doesn't even have a launch site. One goal When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon in July 1969, it was an Australian radio telescope that beamed the first images around the globe. You'd be forgiven for thinking Australia stands at the forefront of the space race, but the country has lagged behind in recognizing the huge economic opportunity space presents. Its first space agency was created in 1987 and disbanded nine years later. Fortunately for companies like Gilmour and a handful of its contemporaries, the Australian government funded the creation of a new space agency in July 2018. Its creation generated a lot of interest in both the mainstream media and the public, with space becoming a critical factor to a healthy economy seemingly overnight. "The Australian Space Agency has captured the imagination of all Australians," says Karen Andrews, Australia's minister for industry, science and technology. "We're already seeing industry across the country making progress towards establishing launch capability." Yet without a launch site, One Vision's inaugural launch will occur in the middle of a cattle station. The team will need to drive the rocket and its specially designed launch platform 20 hours west, on the back of a flatbed truck, deep into the barren heart of the Australian outback. Gilmour's rocket launch is subject to strict regulations enforced by the country's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which makes Gilmour's mission twofold: It needs to clear a series of administrative and insurance hurdles and it needs to aim and launch a rocket at the sky. If all goes according to plan, One Vision will blast off to approximately 40 kilometers above the Earth, four times higher than a commercial airliner can fly, testing the capabilities of Gilmour's rocket engine and gathering valuable data. In the days prior to launch, Gilmour's small team of 15 or so engineers move around the factory with purpose. Settling in for our interview, in front of the rocket that carries all his hopes, I ask Gilmour if he's nervous. A tense smile flits across his face. "You're always nervous before a test," he says. Gimme One Vision Gilmour's crowded factory doesn't initially seem like the kind of place fit for building a rocket. In one corner, behind boxes and shelving, a dark room is embossed with "SSION CONTROL", the letters "M" and "I" having worn away. Steel shipping containers have been transformed into offices, and cluttered overhead are models of NASA space shuttles and capsules, once used by Gilmour as part of the company's astronaut training academy. These relics kickstarted Gilmour's rocket aspirations. "It gave us a lot of technology in stuff that we would eventually use in space vehicles," says Gilmour. But the model simulators now lie dormant. After leaving his job as corporate sales head at Citibank in 2015, Gilmour, together with his brother James and wife, Michelle, shifted the company's focus from simulators to spacecraft. Quitting a lucrative job to attack rocket science full time, Adam hoovered up as much information about building rockets as he could. He had no formal qualifications in aerospace engineering. Instead, on long-haul flights, he'd read up on NASA technical papers and rocket propulsion technology. That entrepreneurial mindset has driven Gilmour since day one. Its "factory" is nothing more than a white garage at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. Its manufacturing facility is full of old chairs and a few kitchen appliances, remnants of its former life as a roadside cafe. And yet, inside lies the heart of Gilmour's operation: a 3D printer that provides the technology for the company's patented rocket fuel. "We did a lot of development work around the fuel," Gilmour explains without giving much away. "We used techniques such as 3D printing for some of the parts of the rocket, and we developed our own fuel that works really well, and that's what we've been testing." The fuel is a closely guarded secret, and when we see the 3D printer in action, we're asked to turn off the video camera. We do know, however, that Gilmour's rocket engine is a hybrid technology, using a solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer. When the liquid and solid mix, it creates the thrust necessary to achieve liftoff. "We've tested the rocket engine five times on the ground, and the combustion efficiency has been great, the stability has been great," Gilmour explains. One Vision is fitted with just one of Gilmour's hybrid rocket engines, which can generate up to 80 kilonewtons of thrust at launch. For comparison, a single Merlin engine used in SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket boosters generates about 10 times that amount of thrust, at 845 kN. "In aerospace, it's a good idea to not only do ground tests, where you have the rocket engine fixed to the ground, but to actually put it in a vehicle and see how does it behave in flight." One launch The journey from Gilmour's headquarters to the launch site is a mission in and of itself -- and it's already been delayed several times, pushing back One Vision's first flight two months. Just to be able to get One Vision off the ground, the entire Gilmour team has to travel 20 hours inland. The rocket is loaded directly onto a mobile launch platform and driven 1150 miles west across the barren Australian outback. At this time of year, the temperature hovers around 28 degrees Celsius ( about 83 degrees Fahrenheit). Trailing on the back of another truck is a shipping container that will eventually become mission control for the launch, full of computers and monitors. If One Vision does achieve liftoff, Gilmour Space Technologies will be well on the way to achieving another milestone: Building a three-stage rocket dubbed "Eris," it will blast off to low Earth orbit, dropping off small satellites 100 miles (160 kilometers) above the surface. "Eris is a three-stage vehicle, so it has three separate stages that fire individual sections," Gilmour explains. "We have designed it to be able to take all of the known small satellites that are being built and designed right now, into space." The company has started work on Eris, and completion is tentatively scheduled in for 2020. Ultimately, though, Gilmour's ambitions are even bigger than delivering heavy payloads to orbit -- and those ambitions are obvious if you glance at the company's logo, designed by Gilmour's daughter, showing a rocket blasting off past the moon and Mars, into the infinite dark of the cosmos. In the future, they might launch the kind of rocket that rivals SpaceX, Blue Origin or Rocket Lab's best. That is, of course, if One Vision -- now slated to launch in late June -- shoots off from a cattle station in the Queensland bush. What are the odds of success? Gilmour invokes one of commercial spaceflight's most successful names when delivering his verdict. "Elon [Musk] likes to say he has a 50 percent chance of success," he smiles. "I think we're higher than that but, you know, there's always a small chance of failure." Gilmour knows there's a lot riding on One Vision's first flight. In one flash of light a dream he had for most of his life, he hopes, will finally be realized. His rocket will be going to space. "Once the engine starts, the motors are very stable, they're pretty bulletproof. So if the engine starts, we're good. We're going up." Gilmour Space Technologies large hybrid engine test - Aug 2018 https://www.cnet.com/features/building-a-rocket-in-a-garage-to-take-on-spacex-and-blue-origin-gilmour-space-technologies/ Curt Lewis