AAV News in Brief 15 April 2021

Jet Aviation gains FOCA approval for thermography testing: Jet Aviation announced it has received approval from the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) to use infrared thermography for non-destructive testing (NDT) in Basel. This is the company’s sixth NDT technique approved in Basel. The Basel NDT Shop was established in 1991 and further supports liquid penetrant, X-Ray, magnetic particle, eddy current and ultrasonic testing. Used to detect heat or thermal energy from an object, infrared thermography is a highly sensitive and reliable method of non-destructive testing that converts heat energy to a temperature, which can then be depicted as an image of temperature distribution. It is the same technology used in night vision goggles and is also employed in medical science to detect irregularities such as cancer and chronic disease. In aviation, it is typically applied to the airframe and components to test structural integrity. Typically performed during scheduled maintenance, infrared thermography is used to detect delamination, defective bonding, and water ingress, as well as corrosion and material thinning. It is particularly well-suited for the inspection of composite materials. Donaldson gets FAA PMA approval for GEnx filter: Donaldson Aerospace & Defense, a division of the Donaldson Company, has received FAA Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) for the GEnx fuel filter. Donaldson designed this cost-effective filter to replace the original equipment (OE) option. The GEnx engine is used on the Boeing 747-8 and 787 aircraft flown around the world in commercial passenger aircraft and cargo configurations. “Donaldson’s growing portfolio of fuel filters offers operators uncompromised performance,” said Frederic Miralles, Global Fixed Wing Director. “We welcomed the opportunity to develop a high-performance product for our airline partners. We delivered a reliable filtration solution that helps reduce the operator’s maintenance cost.” Donaldson’s GEnx fuel filtration solution is interchangeable with the OE filter P/N 1326-8015 and is now available for all applicable GEnx engines. VIPER Transitions announces job training partnership with AAR: VIPER Transitions, a veteran-run job training program that equips service members transitioning from military to civilian life with resources and transferable skills for a successful career, launched its first aircraft maintenance workforce programme in partnership with AAR, a leading provider of aviation services for commercial and government customers worldwide. AAR kicked off the new alliance with a US$25,000 grant powered by the Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all, to help pay for tools and equipment to be used by participants. The programme will include general aviation curriculum developed by the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) and a week each of airframe and powerplant instruction for a total of 480 hours. Graduates will either continue their training at an AIM campus or go to work at a partner company like AAR. The first cohort of an estimated 10-15 students will begin in May. Universal Avionics names director of sales: Don Milum has been appointed director of sales for Universal Avionics, based out of Kansas City, Missouri. He will lead UA’s team of regional sales managers in North America. Milum joined the UA sales team in February 2019 as the regional sales manager for Midwestern US and was promoted to senior sales manager in December 2019 to lead the domestic sales team. He is a US Army veteran and has over 25 years of experience in the aviation industry, including various positions at Honeywell, Textron, and StandardAero. He has served on advisory boards of several avionics manufacturers and the board of directors for the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA). He is the current nominations advisor for the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Maintenance Committee. Constant Aviation earns FAA safety management certification: Constant Aviation announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has accepted its fully functional SMS as being in “Active Conformance” with the FAA’s Part 5 Voluntary Safety Management System (SMS) Programme, the final step in the SMS process. The certification ranks Constant Aviation among the leaders nationally in business aviation maintenance safety and risk mitigation. Constant Aviation becomes only the fourth MRO out of the more than 4,500 maintenance organisations nationally and the first independent business jet MRO Part 145 Repair Station to achieve this designation. While FAA acceptance of Constant’s SMS program is complete, the company has been operating under these processes for the last year and has seen significant improvements. Year over year, the company has reduced incident severity and workplace injuries by over 55 percent. In addition, the company has experienced a reduction in incident costs of over 200 percent and a direct cost savings of over US$250,000. Cathay passes milestone in vaccine shipments: Cathay Pacific Cargo has passed the milestone of shipping 15 million COVID-19 vaccines around the world. The landmark figure includes vaccines that have been imported for use in Cathay Pacific’s home hub of Hong Kong, as well as supplies for distribution to countries including Mexico, Malaysia and Indonesia. Cathay Pacific Head of Cargo Markets and Products John Cheng said: “The 15-million-dose landmark was achieved upon delivery of a new batch of Fosun Pharma/BioNTech vaccines into Hong Kong. This week, we also have two other shipments from Beijing to Mexico carrying doses of Sinovac and CanSino vaccines. All of these shipments deploy our new Ultra Track multidimensional tracking and data-logging system.” To date, Cathay Pacific Cargo has carried five different COVID-19 vaccine brands. Cargo Products Manager Alex Leung said: “Over the past few months, we have flown shipments of vaccines from AstraZeneca, Fosun Pharma/BioNTech, CanSino, Covaxin and Sinovac, which require different handling temperatures ranging from -70°C to 2-8°C.” Canada Training Solutions acquires ALSIM AL250 simulator: ALSIM Simulators announced the sale of an AL250 to Canada Training Solutions (CTS) based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This will be CTS’ first ALSIM simulator. The AL250 can be reconfigured to represent several types of piston aircraft typically used for pilot training. The AL250 also contains the latest real Garmin GTN650 and both round dials and ‘glass’ flight decks. The simulator will be certified by Transport Canada as a Level 2-IPC rated device. CTS also owns several aircraft including a fleet of Diamond DA20s and a Diamond DA42. Dr Scott Firsing of ALSIM’s North America office explains: “Due to its versatility, immersion, and smaller physical footprint, the AL250 is one of our best sellers in Canada and worldwide. Due to the country’s geography, the importance of aviation to Canada is no secret, and we at ALSIM are happy to be a small part of it.” Wings247 ATO selects Avsoft aircraft systems courses: Wings247 ATO, an Approved Training Organisation (EASA) providing training to professional pilots and headquartered in Las Palmas, Spain, has awarded Avsoft International a contract for online pilot training. Wings247 ATO is using Avsoft’s ATR72-500 aircraft systems and selected general subject online pilot courses for ground school theory pilot training to satisfy its requirements for conducting Type Rating training. Director at Wings247 ATO, Ricardo Naval commented: “We are pleased to select Avsoft ATR72-500 initial course for ground school course theory. It provides an in-depth understanding of the aircraft systems operations and essential knowledge towards obtaining the Type Rating qualification.” Avsoft’s proprietary Learning Management System (AvLMS) will be used to deliver the required training and to provide comprehensive reporting facilities to administer all aspects of pilot training and course structure. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]