February 7, 2022 - No. 09 In This Issue : Perform Safety at a Higher Standard with an IOSA Audit by ARGUS PROS : FAA honors local aviation mechanic with prestigious award : ProDIGIQ - Training Platform For Aviation Companies : ST Engineering approved to install ACA air purification on Airbus A320s : 2022 Aircraft Cabin Air Conference : Boeing hopes 787 inventory takes off soon : Innovation fights battery degradation FAA honors local aviation mechanic with prestigious award The Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award was given to Robert O. Danzi in recognition of 50 years of exemplary aviation maintenance experience, distinguished professionalism and steadfast commitment to aviation safety. Rob Danzi was honored with the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award from the Federal Aviation Administration during a Jan. 17 presentation. The private event took place at Danzi’s current business office and hangar for Sussex Aero Maintenance at the Delaware Coastal Airport in Georgetown. Fellow aviators and mechanics surprised Danzi when they arrived early in the afternoon. They returned his biography and resume, and gave him their letters of recommendation, which were part of the nominating application submitted last October. They presented him with a complete airman file documenting his service from December 1969 through Oct. 10, 2021. The documents detail more than 50 years of Danzi’s steady employment, completed and sealed by the Airmen Certification Branch of the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation. Lastly, Danzi’s colleagues presented him with the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in recognition of 50 years of exemplary aviation maintenance experience, distinguished professionalism and steadfast commitment to aviation safety. The award is named after Charles E. Taylor, 1868-1956, who built the first aircraft engine used by the Wright brothers in their Wright Flyer aircraft. His mechanical skills were vital in building and maintaining the Wright brothers’ engines and airplanes. So too, Danzi’s skills have been equally vital in building and maintaining his clients’ varied aircraft for many decades. All the support letters for the Taylor award attest to that notion. The letters of recommendation written in October 2021 by local aviators and mechanics Hunter H. Harris, Mathew Sager, Paul E. Nuwer II and Larry Kelley all echo Danzi’s long-standing, high level of aviation maintenance, trustworthy expertise and steadfast dedication to aircraft safety, as well as his respected place in the aviation community, which is a very tight-knit group on Delmarva. “[Rob] is the most knowledgeable aircraft mechanic I have ever met. He remains the go-to guy when I am having a stubborn problem with an airplane,” said Kelley, who owns, maintains and pilots several aircraft including his Mitchell B-25 World War II bomber, stored in the hangar behind Sussex Aero Maintenance. The FAA will post the name of Robert O. Danzi, Selbyville, Delaware, January 2022 Master Mechanic Award, to the electronic roll of honor. https://www.capegazette.com/article/faa-honors-local-aviation-mechanic-prestigious-award/233945 ST Engineering approved to install ACA air purification on Airbus A320s Flying Colours gets sales, installation agreement with SmartSky; AMETEK MRO Drake Air is an authorized repair center; Growing demand for aviation maintenance personnel at commercial space firms. The Commercial Aerospace business of ST Engineering received the Approved Model List Supplemental Type Certificate (AML-STC) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to install Aviation Clean Air (ACA)’s cabin air purification solution on Airbus platforms. With the certification, ST Engineering can install the Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization (NPBI) System, neutralizing pathogens and purifying air in cabin interiors during flight operations on Airbus A320/A321 aircraft. The system can stop the spread of up to 99.9% of airborne and surface pathogens, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The NPBI process also removes odors, dust, and pollen; prevents mold; neutralizes common industrial gases; and reduces static electricity. “By combining our MRO and engineering expertise with ACA’s patented purification system, we aim to provide this proven and low-maintenance solution to support the return to flying,” says Tan Yen Ping, vice president and head, Cabin Interior and Engineering Solutions, ST Engineering. “ST Engineering is well-known and respected for its innovation and engineering capabilities,” says Howard Hackney, ACA managing member. “Their proven MRO expertise in serving airlines worldwide enhances ACA’s distribution network, allowing more operators to experience the benefits of our system.” https://www.aviationcleanair.com; https://www.stengg.com https://www.aerospacemanufacturinganddesign.com/article/st-engineering-approved-to-install-aca-air-purification-on-airbus-a320s/ Aero at Baylor students are shooting for the stars Aero at Baylor, a student-led organization, allows students to have hands-on experience in mechanical and aerospace engineering by participating in projects and competitions. Photo Courtesy of Aero at Baylor Aero at Baylor is a student-led organization that provides students with hands-on challenges and opportunities to turn their curiosity and ideas into realities. According to Baylor’s Engineering and Computer Science website, the organization provides students with real-world experience in mechanical and aerospace engineering outside the classroom by participating in a variety of competitions around the country. Through these projects, students gain a better understanding of aviation sciences and engineering. “We have all kinds of majors in the club, so it’s open to anyone,” Columbia, Mo., junior and president of Aero at Baylor Annika Moser said. “We don’t want to have any stigma around the engineering side of things. Our goal is to be able to teach other students and to bring up the next generation of engineers so we can continue this program.” The organization is counting down the days until its next competition. The sixth annual 3D Printed Aircraft Competition will take place on July 9 and will be hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington. According to the competition’s website, as advanced 3D printing technologies have broadened the design space, the challenge and potential of design has also increased. Faculty and industry professionals will act as the judges for the competition, evaluating the aircrafts based on the innovation of design and longest duration of flight. “You can’t do a project like this on your own — or at least, if you try, it’s not going to be as good as if you were to work with a team,” Goodyear, Ariz., junior and vice president of Aero at Baylor Dylan Murphey said. Building a 3D printed aircraft is not a new challenge for Aero at Baylor students. Due to COVID-19, the University of Texas at Arlington was forced to cancel its summer 2021 competition. However, Baylor students decided to host their own internal and on-campus 3D Printed Aircraft Competition in April 2021. Moser said the encouragement of having a finished project outside the classroom was more than enough fulfillment. “With COVID-19, it was really hard for engineering students because we weren’t allowed in labs, and we weren’t allowed to work in groups,” Moser said. “And that’s most of the degree, is working together to build, create and design. So this was like that first opportunity coming out of quarantine where we were able to do that, which was really exciting.” Through mentorship, collaboration and teamwork, Aero at Baylor encourages students to work together and learn from one another through mentorship, collaboration and teamwork. “If you really want to get something worthwhile done, you really have to work with your team and people with a wide array of experiences,” Murphey said. Aero at Baylor has already begun preparation for the 2023 Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition in New Mexico. This competition is open to students around the world who are challenged with building a rocket that will be launched 10,000 to 30,000 feet into the atmosphere. According to the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association website, this is the world’s largest university rocket engineering competition, and Aero at Baylor students are excited to make their mark. “I think building confidence is a really vital part of getting your undergraduate degree,” Moser said. “I really encourage everyone to be heavily involved in clubs outside the classroom because I think being connected with people who also really want to be there in that same field can make really cool things happen.” https://baylorlariat.com/2022/02/07/aero-at-baylor-students-are-shooting-for-the-stars/ Boeing hopes 787 inventory takes off soon Last year was a rebuilding year for Boeing — there’s just not a whole lot of building new 787 jets here in South Carolina. Deliveries of the jet have been halted since May when the Federal Aviation Administration requested to look into further production quality issues regarding tiny gaps found between the sections of the fuselage. About the width of a human hair, the gaps were not a safety of flight issue for the in-service fleet, but the company has been working since to address the problem. Last year, Boeing only delivered a total of 14 jets manufactured in North Charleston, a far cry from the 53 recorded in 2020. Zero were delivered in the final quarter of last year. After months of delivery delays caused by Federal Aviation Administration and zero deliveries in the fourth quarter, Boeing now has 110 airplanes in inventory as of the fourth quarter and executives said at an investor call Jan. 26 that they still don’t know when deliveries will resume. “We set out on a comprehensive program to ensure every 787 airplane in our production system conforms to our exacting specifications. We resolved many of the non-conformances and, we’re finalizing our work on the remaining items,” Executive Vice President and CFO Brian West said on the call. Boeing reported a fourth quarter revenue of $4.8 billion, primarily driven by higher 737 deliveries that were “partially offset by lower widebody deliveries and less favorable mix.” Operating losses of $4.5 billion were primarily driven by charges on the 787 program, resulting in a negative margin rate, West said. But despite a hard hit to the 787 program, CEO Dave Calhoun remains optimistic for a robust recovery of the 787 program in the next year or two. “It reflects everything we’ve learned about the rework process itself, the data required to restart deliveries and obtain ticketing and then customer expectations regarding concessions as we move forward,” Calhoun said. The CEO regards Boeing’s backlog of more than 100 finished planes, including a buildup of 737 Max jets, as a “double-edged sword.” Boeing would rather not carry such a large inventory, but Calhoun believes the planes will serve the company well in the future as bookings and customer discussions are still ongoing with regard to their fleet plans, medium- and long-term. “We will run our rate as low as we can while we burn our inventory as fast as we can, I think is the way to think about it,” he said. Part of Calhoun’s confidence comes from the volume of the 787s currently in the field, with 99% of the fleet is in service today compared to pre-pandemic levels. The 787 is the most used widebody in the air today, he said. “This is a great product line and a competitive product. And as soon as we begin delivery, we feel very good about the ultimate recovery,” he said. West wouldn’t speculate when 787 deliveries could restart — though Calhoun said it could still be a couple more months — but he said on the call, “we have made meaningful strides in addressing many of the non-conformances we identified. We have work remaining to do, and we continue to hold detailed productive discussions with the FAA every step of the way.” From a financial impact standpoint, Boeing recorded a $3.5 billion noncash charge in the fourth quarter to write down “unamortized deferred production costs, primarily due to estimated customer compensation for the longer delivery delays,” West said. He emphasized that cash margins on the 787 continue to be positive and are expected to remain so and improve over time. For the $3.5 billion charge, West explained the company had previously expected rework for the door-surrounds to be labor-intensive, but by the fourth quarter, the company realized the solution needed to be performed on the entire inventory, therefore impacting more planes. “We provided for estimated customer concessions because of these delays, which drove the $3.5 billion charge. While this hurts in the near term, we still believe it’s the right thing to do because long term. We’re going to sell a lot of these 787s for decades. So, we just got to work our way through this,” West said. Looking ahead, West breaks down the coming year as three separate parts: reaching key milestones to resume 787 deliveries; improving performing metrics, such as deliveries, revenue, margin and cash flow; and accelerating financial performance. He believes there’s strong opportunities ahead for Boeing to return to sustainable growth. “We remain very confident in the future success of the 787, and it remains one of our most compelling programs,” West said. “Importantly, none of the issues we’re addressing have raised immediate safety of flight concerns or impacted the capabilities of the in-service fleet. We received gross orders for 21 airplanes last year, and we see a long runway ahead. We are working diligently to ensure that we are well positioned as demand recovers and accelerates in the future.” https://charlestonbusiness.com/news/aerospace/81667/ Innovation fights battery degradation Batteries used repeatedly lose a little capacity with every cycle causing them to deteriorate over time. Degradation has become a more significant issue as batteries are used on a larger scale, beyond consumer electronics, in transport and energy storage applications. When selecting a battery, businesses must consider how often it might need replacing and the impact this has in monetary terms and also in relation to the wider world. For example, the initial cost of the battery should be weighed up against the battery lifecycle: there’s the environmental impact of the production process, the pollutants involved with shipping a replacement battery and finally the disposal process. Battery degradation is a natural process caused by parasitic reactions, where the electrolyte forms compounds which ‘trap’ free lithium, reducing the number of Li-ions that can shuttle between the electrodes, which permanently reduces the amount of energy a battery can store and deliver. Understanding your power needs When it comes to aviation equipment, understanding the required power output needs are a necessity, particularly for drones and electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts (eVTOLs). Batteries used to power these devices must ensure a high-power output at launch to propel the aircraft into the sky. Once the user wishes to return the eVTOLs to the ground, they will require maximum power output to safely land the aircraft without damaging it. It is during this middle phase where the eVTOL is airborne that the battery must continue to operate to power the aircraft. If the battery is not stored or cared for correctly, then battery degradation can occur across all three stages of the flight. Understanding the correct cell chemistry to use for the right avionic equipment is key for delivering optimal performance and maintaining the battery lifespan. For example, at Briggs & Stratton we may utilise Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cells in standby power products due to their long cycle life. Standby power for elements such as back-up power or emergency lighting on a large passenger jet are ideal for powering by LFP. Whilst these are larger, heavier packs as the LPF cells are not as energy-dense (less energy per volume), they are adept for use on larger aircrafts where weight is less of a concern. For smaller aircraft such as drones and eVTOLs, chemistries such as Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cells are better suited. Due to the smaller size of these aircraft the size and weight of the battery is crucial to their design. A variant of this chemistry can create ‘power’ cells that produce energy dense packs and deliver extremely high power output. This is crucial for allowing the aircraft to get airborne effectively without hampering the overall payload capacity of the aircraft. There’s an old joke in aerospace: Remember, it’s thrust divided by weight, not thrust times weight! The factors behind battery degradation The rate of degradation can be influenced by a multitude of factors. The temperature at which the battery is stored, charged, and discharged can have a significant effect – specifically, operating or storing a battery at high temperatures can shorten the useful life by limiting its capacity. Overcharging, deep discharging, or charging more quickly than recommended (high C rate) can also contribute to shorter useful life. As a result, it’s vital that all manufacturers’ recommendations are followed to ensure maximising performance and life. Battery life can be extended by mitigating these factors, which extends the time between when a battery must be replaced. By extending that cycle, we reduce the environmental impact and costs associated with disposing or recycling of the old battery, along with the cost of mining, processing, and producing the new replacement battery. Aerospace businesses would do well to factor in these environmental impacts when looking to buy or replace batteries. The inherent intelligence within a lithium-ion battery due to a battery management system (BMS) ensures the battery is used efficiently over its life. Not only does this help to extend the battery’s useful life, but it also enables second life opportunities in applications which are less demanding or require lower run times (e.g. stand-by power). It is this second life opportunity which reduces the environmental impact associated with battery-powered machinery and equipment by re-purposing batteries that would otherwise succumb to disposal or recycling. When the battery is truly ready for retirement, there is a growing industry supporting the recycling of all elements within a Lithium-ion battery. Major companies within both the battery and industrial recycling world are investing heavily in this rapidly expanding area. In the near future it may be commonplace to see up to 95% of Lithium-ion battery materials returned to the value stream. Replacing a battery is an inevitable task however, which might superficially suggest a battery with the lowest upfront cost is the best choice. While Lithium ion is more expensive initially than lead acid, the benefits of maintenance-free operation combined with longer life cycles and access to data through the BMS often make them more cost effective. This access to data is a significant element that enables the user to optimise power management, system diagnostics, battery health, and troubleshooting. Another element to consider is the design of the battery itself. Ensuring that the battery is housed in a rugged casing is key for ensuring safety and preventing damage to the cells. Without a sturdy protective casing that is built and tested to withstand extreme temperatures, impact, vibration, moisture and dirt, the battery could suffer internal degradation in flight. As aircraft travel between altitudes the air pressure is constantly changing which can impact on the battery if it is incorrectly housed. Likewise, damage could occur to the internal battery components on landing if the battery is not sufficiently stored in a safe and controlled environment. Avoiding battery degradation through damage in this way is crucial to protecting the long-term health of the battery. In summary In conclusion, using the right battery for the application is critical, with the benefits of a high-quality system often outweighing the upfront cost due to lifecycle, power delivered, and data access. Lithium-ion, with proper system management, is safer, longer lasting and more powerful than lead-acid. A battery which can withstand the demanding nature of aerospace usage, such as pressure, vibration, and impact applications, whilst delivering consistent power is essential for powering aircrafts and avionics equipment. Briggs & Stratton’s application engineers are always ready to help engineers evaluate the best solution for their needs. www.briggsandstratton.com https://www.aero-mag.com/innovation-fights-battery-degradation Gulfstream Preps To Increase Wing Production Capacity In mid-2019, Gulfstream dedicated this 290,000-sq-ft production facility in Savannah, Georgia, to wing and empennage work. Gulfstream Aerospace is expanding the capacity to manufacture wings for its large-cabin twinjets as the Savannah, Georgia-based company prepares to ramp up aircraft production in the coming years, according to Phebe Novakovic, the chairman and CEO of parent company General Dynamics. In 2019, the company opened a 290,000-sq-ft production facility dedicated to wing and empennage work at its Savannah headquarters, vertically integrating wing manufacturing for its large-cabin in-production G500, G600, and G650ER jets, as well as the forthcoming G400, G700, and G800. Backlog at the company’s aerospace unit increased by $4.7 billion last year and Novakovic said the sales pipeline is “robust” and termed sales activity as “brisk.” Thus, the company is projecting a ramp-up to 170 jet deliveries in 2024, compared with 119 last year. This presents a “rich problem” for Gulfstream, namely if the supply chain can keep up with aircraft demand, she noted. “We will increase production in 2022, but not to where it needs to be,” Novakovic said. “The long pole in the tent is manufacturing wings, which we do ourselves. We need to expand our new line wing facility and acquire another set of tools and fixtures. All of this is underway and will be in place to satisfy our needs for 2023 and beyond.” https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2022-02-01/gulfstream-preps-increase-wing-production-capacity Curt Lewis