Author: neilw

SR Technics has opened a new training center in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi offering flexible, comprehensive training solutions to supplement the company’s existing training facilities in Zurich, Switzerland. The new training center is designed to serve regional and international clients.

 

Stephan Wiegelmann, head of training services at SR Technics, said: “We were looking for a state-of-the-art facility, which we found in Masdar City. We chose this location because it is a progressive hub for educational, technical and scientific institutions, providing a modern environment for learning. Masdar City is also close to the Abu Dhabi Airport, so we are able to perform practical training on aircraft.”

 

“Masdar City is the region’s first clean-tech cluster anchored by a world-class graduate university, hosting a range of corporate training, research and knowledge-sharing opportunities,” said Yousef Baselaib, executive director of Sustainable Real Estate at Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company. “The expansion of SR Technics’ presence at Masdar City will provide important services to Abu Dhabi’s growing aviation sector, and enhance the City’s standing as a hub connecting education with R&D and business with investment.”

 

Ralph Kaeding, who was recently appointed head of the Abu Dhabi Training Center, welcomes clients to the new facilities: “Our courses are short and efficient to minimize the off-duty time, optimizing the learning experience.”

 

The new Abu Dhabi training center offers vocational training, basic maintenance training, aircraft type training, specialized training and training consultancy services. All training courses are based on Part-147, Part-66 and Part-145 related maintenance training that are approved by the relevant authorities, such as EASA, GCAA and CASA.

AFI KLM E&M has added power by the hour component support for the three Air Mauritius ATR 72-500s aircraft, an addition to the existing arrangement of providing maintenance services for the whole Air Mauritius Airbus fleet which has been in place over 15 years.

 

The service will include component repairs and access to the AFI KLM E&M spares pool, together with the provision of a Main Base Kit.

C&S Propeller has completed its relocation to a new 18,000 foot facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The company started construction of its new 18,000 square foot facility over the summer. The shop was developed and outfitted with proven, efficient processes and tools. The company provides maintenance, repair and overhaul of the 54H60 propeller system used on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules military aircraft and its commercial variant, the L-100.

 

Providing a single-source point of propeller system MRO, the scope of services offered include comprehensive aspects of the entire propeller propulsion system. These systems include prop blades, hubs, valve housings, pump housings and spinners.

 

Buddy Tobin, C&S’s vice president and general manager, has received positive feedback from customers on the new facility and its location:  “Our value proposition to the market has always been to deliver quicker turn times…it’s not unusual to get an urgent call on an evening or weekend from somewhere in the world.”

A strategic digital alliance partnership agreement between Teledyne Controls and GE Aviation will see GE’s Predix platform used to apply data and analytics on continuous flight data to improve engine health monitoring.

 

Willie Cecil, director of business development, Wireless and Data Automation Solutions discussed the effect on predictive maintenance for aircraft: “Until now, health monitoring has been limited because it has been performed using only a few hundred bytes of data sent from the aircraft via ACARS, which is fairly expensive and has limited bandwidth.

 

“Using Teledyne’s GroundLink, which leverages higher bandwidth and less expensive cellular wireless networks, several megabytes per flight hour of continuous data can be made available for engine analytics.”

 

John Nelson, data product manager for GE Aviation, stated that there was a flow of richer, continuous data which provides insights into asset condition not previously possible: “Applying physics and data science expertise together, on continuous data, is the recipe to create analytics that enable increased detection lead time, reduce maintenance burden and improve asset availability.”

Air Mauritius has signed a five-year technology and services deal with IBM for Cloud and Analytics technology services.

The Mauritian airline, the fourth largest in Africa, will use the IBM Cloud and analytics-enabled enterprise planning solution to better manage budgeting cycles, decrease turnaround time for processing data and boost its capacity to uncover predictive insights directly from data to enhance customer experience.

The IBM solution will also harmonize Air Mauritius’ data management infrastructure, providing a single platform to accommodate past, current and future data for business analysis with the same level of granularity. This should result in enhanced operational efficiencies and improved services  for customer enquiries and flight bookings.

The deal, which will be implemented in collaboration with KPMG South Africa, will allow the airline to overhaul its enterprise planning processes using the statistical analysis and visualizations of IBM’s Watson Analytics. This will allow authorized personnel across the organisation to have analytical insights from the company’s data, enhancing internal communications and customer experiences. It will also provide an integrated environment for critical, real-time scenario planning and performance management.

Operating out of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, Mauritius, its main hub, Air Mauritius serves 24 regional and international destinations.

“We are witnessing increased competition across the aviation industry to improve organizational efficiency and enhance customer experience by adopting the latest technologies,” says Jananda Moothoo, Country General Manager, IBM Mauritius. “IBM’s cloud and analytics technology is helping Air Mauritius to improve efficiencies and accelerate growth and global relevance.”

McNally Capital has provided investment capital to support the growth of Genesys Aerosystems. Genesys offers a diverse and growing product line which includes 3D Synthetic Vision Electronic Flight Instrument Systems, S-TEC Analog and Digital Autopilots, HeliSAS Helicopter Autopilot and Stability Augmentation System, as well as sensors and components.

 

“We have partnered with McNally Capital because of their tremendous expertise, track record of partnering with management teams to drive growth, and capital resources. We believe they are the best partners to help grow our business over the long term,” said Roger Smith, Genesys president and CEO.

 

Genesys’ existing management will retain the majority interest in the company, and Genesys will continue to pursue its current strategy with the ability to deepen and broaden its existing capabilities.

 

“We are excited to partner with the Genesys management team in support of their strategy to expand their offerings, build additional capabilities, and grow the business,” said Ward McNally, managing partner at McNally Capital.  “Our partnership with the Genesys management team is consistent with our strategy of partnering with the owners and managers of high quality businesses to help them achieve their long terms growth objectives. “

 

Brett Mitchell, principal at McNally Capital, stated, “Genesys has established a leadership position within numerous avionics segments by developing innovative and customizable solutions that address critical customer needs. By continuing to invest in its offerings, Genesys is well positioned to expand its unique technologies and product portfolio.”

Inmarsat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) appointing Satcom Direct (SD) as a global distribution partner for its next generation SwiftBroadband-Safety aviation service.

 

A pre-agreement between the two companies has outlined the intention for SD to supply aviation operators worldwide with SwiftBroadband-Safety,  an advanced new aviation safety service from Inmarsat.

 

SwiftBroadband-Safety utilises secure IP-based broadband connectivity which enables a range of aviation applications, including flight data streaming (‘Black Box in the Cloud’) and real-time Electronic Flight Bag applications, such as networked graphical weather.

 

It also enables air traffic management modernisation programs throughout the world and fulfils the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System (GADSS), including global flight tracking, by offering reliable and secure satellite surveillance and communications (FANS/ACARS).

 

Frederik van Essen, Inmarsat Aviation’s senior vice president of Strategy and Business Development, said: “SwiftBroadband-Safety combines the advantages of broadband connectivity with the proven, extremely reliable L-band spectrum to set a new standard in aviation safety. It offers greater efficiency, reliability and capacity to the cockpit at a lower cost per bit than our trusted Classic Aero service.”

 

Chris Moore, chief commercial officer at Satcom Direct, said: “Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband-Safety delivers unparalleled safety communication services to commercial airlines and the business aviation community worldwide. The next generation platform’s flexibility opens up a vast amount of possibilities in terms of how customers can optimise their cockpit and aircraft operations.”

An Airbus A330 has undergone a successful flight-test equipped with new standard high-bandwidth connectivity (HBC) on-board architecture. This is the industry’s first such platform to be flight demonstrated that will soon allow airline customers to choose from the range of new high-throughput satellite technologies such as Ka-Band, SwiftBroadband (L-Band) and Ku-Band, and be able to do so independently from airlines’ choices of IFE supplier. This means that passengers and crews can be just as ‘connected’ in the air throughout their entire flight, as they are on the ground.

 

The new HBC platform will be rolled-out from mid-2017 onwards and will rapidly become available across Airbus aircraft families.

 

For this initial flight-test, Airbus’ HBC platform was demonstrated together with the new HBC offering from Zii – which is based around Inmarsat’s new “Global Xpress” Ka-Band satellite network and can offer continuous worldwide high bandwidth coverage for commercial aircraft.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation was Airbus’ most recently selected as a supplier for HBC line-fit solutions (across all A320, A330 and A380 product families) which are compatible with Airbus’ new HBC architecture. The selection of Panasonic – whose system uses the Ku-Band – follows HBC supplier selections including Zii, Thales, and Rockwell Collins.

Rockwell Collins’ ARINCDirect has partnered with TrueNorth Avionics over its Airborne Data Router (ADR). This will support a new suite of value-added connectivity features and services being launched by Rockwell Collins’ ARINCDirect including enhancements to security.

 

“Connectivity has become a critical part of an aircraft’s capabilities,” said David Stanley, vice president, ARINCDirect Cabin Services for Rockwell Collins. “The Rockwell Collins ADR creates one network with the ability to prioritize traffic to effectively manage an entire suite of connectivity options through one device. That means business aviation operators get access to more connectivity options, faster networks, and more applications and value-added services – all from one service provider.”

 

Rockwell Collins’ ADR provides enables passengers using personal computers, tablets and smartphones to immediately access work (email, video conferencing, downloading files, etc.) or entertainment (streaming videos, web browsing, or social media).

 

It is service provider agnostic through the use of industry-standard XipLink compression.  and its flexible design provides a choice of SATCOM service providers.

 

In addition to managing onboard networks like Ka, Ku, L-Band, ATG and GSM within the cabin, the ADR enables more flight departments and crews to access ARINCDirect service offerings such ARINCDirect Wi-Fi call and text, media content, international trip planning, Rockwell Collins’ cabin systems and weather services by acting as the communications gateway for any number of connected devices onboard.

Garmin International will expand its portfolio of integrated flight deck upgrades to include a G5000 modernization program for the Citation Excel and Citation XLS. The Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) is targeted for approval in late 2018.

 

The G5000 modernization program will feature three high-resolution 14-inch flight displays situated alongside dual touchscreen controllers and is estimated to provide a weight savings of 200 pounds or more compared to the current system.

 

The G5000 upgrade offers lower cost of operation, exceeds modern airspace initiatives and solves parts obsolescence among the Citation Excel/XLS with zero-time avionics. With the G5000 upgrade, these aircraft will receive a fully integrated, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) rule-compliant Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out solution.

 

“We’re excited to grow our integrated flight deck upgrade programs to include the ever-popular Citation Excel and XLS,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing.

 

An option for this upgrade, Connext wireless cockpit connectivity can enable wireless flight plan transfer and more between the Garmin Pilot app on a mobile device and the G5000 integrated flight deck.