Category: BizJet

In a ceremony with Brazilian aviation specialists and authorities, SEAMAX Aircraft delivered its first aircraft certified under ANAC’s ALE (Aeronave Leve Esportiva) rules in Brazil, an equivalent to the FAA’s Light-Sport category in the U. S.

SEAMAX has been already certified in a dozen countries, and last year, after Brazilian Aviation Authority, ANAC, regulated the ALE category following international ASTM standards, the SEAMAX M-22 became the third approved model under this category in Brazil.

The Seamax M-22 was the first amphibious aircraft to obtain the Type Certificate in Europe in 2005, even before the effectiveness of the Special – Light-Sport Aircraft (S-LSA) category, in addition to approval in several countries around the world. It is the earliest amphibious aircraft currently in production to hold an approval in the S-LSA category back in 2008, by the USA Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). After the ruling of the equivalent category in Brazil, the Aeronave Leve ESportiva Especial (ALE-E), which became effective in 2017, Seamax M-22 obtained the final approval of ANAC in April 2019.

For an aircraft to obtain the ALE certification, it must be approved in all the ASTM standards requirements, ranging from the project’s design through its manufacture to customer support. The certification transfers the responsibility of the product to specialized professionals, who in turn are liable to the screening of the requirements required in the standards, removing the responsibility of the operator as it is done in the case of experimental aviation where the operator “flies on its own sole risk.”

The aircraft certification as ALE-E (Sport Light Aircraft – Special) allows the aircraft operation in densely populated areas, allowing operations in large urban centers such as Campo de Marte airport in São Paulo capital, or Pampulha airport in Belo Horizonte. These operating rules will enable the operator to fly shorter routes without deviating from large centers.

The certification also allows the Seamax M-22 to be used for flight instruction, validating the hours required to obtain a private pilot’s license and allowing the operator to obtain “amphibious clearance.” It can be used as a glider tug and to provide small services.

The company’s CEO, Dr. Gilberto Trivelato, says this achievement “will allow the company to integrate and leverage the Seamax M-22 aircraft as an effective instrument for leisure, services and as well as personal transport in Brazil.

The company adds that after 20 years of continuous engineering improvement, the SEAMAX M-22 is mature enough to allow the company to transfer technology to the United States. “This has been a very bold but conservative, gradual, and very well planned move for our company,” says Shalom Confessor, SEAMAX executive director for the U. S. “SEAMAX is continuously listening to the voice of the customer and the most prominent aviation experts and connected with the most reputable aviation institutions in the globe before we decided to bring the assembly operations to the United States,” adds Confessor. SEAMAX assembly in the USA is located in Daytona Beach, Fla.

To ensure visibility and control over mission-critical business processes such as manu-facturing and MRO, defense manufacturer and service provider Marshall Aerospace en-listed IFS for a comprehensive enterprise applications platform.

UK-headquartered Marshall is a leading provider of managed services, integrations, and technologies for the global aerospace and defense (A&D) sector. Having embarked on a group-wide initiative to increase agility, competitiveness, and profitability, the company needed an enterprise applications suite that could scale with its manufacturing line of busi-ness and at the same time eliminate information silos and process inconsistencies across its divisions and sites.

Following a competitive bid process, Marshall selected IFS Applications 10. It offered the needed support for its complex project and composite manufacturing business, together with an MRO solution for heavy maintenance for its Hercules C-130 and other aerospace and defense customers.

By standardizing processes with IFS, Marshall is able to monitor and analyze all business data from a centralized location while benefitting from a modern platform for support activi-ties. The IFS solution is used throughout the value chain, from first contact with customers to estimating, planning, project management, production, shipping, MRO and in-service support activities. The company also leverages the IFS platform to manage all suppliers and contractors and to address complex trade control requirements of the international defense industry.

A new project led by Rolls-Royce with support from the ATI Program will make future aerospace servicing technologies a reality.

Engineers will work on 20 technologies that will reduce disruption for airlines and lessen our environmental impact by repairing components rather than scrapping them. Other industries such as nuclear and off-shore renewables will also benefit from the project.

Technologies include:

• Snake robots which travel inside jet engines to access complex parts, enabling repairs which are not possible with today’s tools;
• Engine sensors which send us data from the sky and allow us to better predict when engines need maintenance;
• Inspection and analysis tools to inspect parts buried deep within engines while they are being repaired;
• Advanced automated repair technologies targeting parts which cannot currently be repaired, meaning they do not need to be scrapped.

Miniature maintenance and inspection tools as well as new repair technologies will be used on our existing engines such as the Trent XWB, while engineers will explore how to repair and maintain aerospace materials and components for future low-carbon engines, including electric technology.

They will work on inspection and repair solutions for composite fan technology, which reduces the weight of a jet engine and will be used in our next-generation engine design, UltraFan.
The new technologies have the potential to avoid substantial amounts of CO2 every year by:

• increasing the time engines are available to fly, avoiding unnecessary maintenance;
• reducing scrappage by repairing more components, rather than replacing them;
• reducing the movement of people and parts by using more digital inspection techniques and key-hole surgery for engines.

Some of the technologies will have multiple uses and will benefit several other industries. For example, miniature chemical analysis tools can be used in nuclear power generation where human access is restricted. High-tech cameras and algorithms will help to identify damage on components in sectors as diverse as security and off-shore wind turbines.

Dr Ian Mitchell, Chief of Technology – Repair and Services, Rolls-Royce, said: “Our latest engines are quieter and cleaner than ever before, substantially reducing CO2 emissions. This programme will take that one step further by improving how we service our engines, creating technologies which will reduce waste, avoid emissions and minimise disruption, while laying the foundations to service the gas turbine and hybrid-electric engines of the future.”

Mark Scully, Head of Technology for Advanced Systems & Propulsion, ATI, said: “Through-life services are a critical aspect of ensuring propulsion systems continue to perform efficiently and with minimum impact on the environment. The ATI welcomes this project to the ATI Programme portfolio and are pleased to see a wealth of expertise from the supply chain and academia supporting this important development.”

Ian Campbell, Executive Chair of Innovate UK, which is the funding agency for the ATI Programme, said: “This project represents the coalescing of aerospace innovation excellence in the UK supply chain and academia, and is the culmination of research and development to deliver technologies that place the UK at the forefront of in-service engine performance.”

Work has begun on the project – known as REINSTATE – in Derby, UK and will continue for more than three years, in conjunction with universities and SMEs including Roke Manor Research, BJR Systems, Clifton Photonics, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the University of Nottingham, the University of Sheffield, and the University of the West of England.

The REINSTATE project is supported by the ATI Programme, a joint Government and industry investment to maintain and grow the UK’s competitive position in civil aerospace design and manufacture. The programme, delivered through a partnership between the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK, addresses technology, capability and supply chain challenges.

Business and Industry Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “Our aerospace industry is leading the way in developing new technology to make air travel greener, backed by Government investment to spearhead new innovations.

“I am excited to see one of these projects go live today, which will see Rolls-Royce developing technologies to potentially slash thousands of tonnes of CO2 per year – a fantastic example of the how the industry can help us make strides towards our wider net zero ambitions.”

Grid Raster, a provider of cloud-based XR platforms that powers high-performance and scalable AR/VR/MR experiences on mobile devices for enterprises, says they now support Microsoft Hololens 2 on its XR cloud platform, allowing enterprise customers the ability to leverage the headset for a fully virtual experience in training, design, production and customer service applications.

Powered by cloud technology, the company says Microsoft’s Hololens 2 is a revolutionizing tool for business applications especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where it is even more important for organizations to practice human social distancing while maintaining design and production cycles. Mixed-reality devices display 3D imagery over what a person typically visualizes in their surroundings. The Hololens 2 offers technology that allows the user to remain fully engaged with their surroundings.

The use case opportunities for enterprises are endless in many industries, such as engineers using the HoloLens 2 to overlay blueprints over aerospace designs, surgeons consulting a patient’s medical records in real time, and automotive employees working on different continents can seamlessly collaborate to build cars while remaining socially distant without sacrificing productivity.

“Even in a pandemic-free commercial world, enterprises are now moving toward an environment where they leverage 3D technology in order to create and execute more precise designs and on the manufacturing floor,” said Rishi Ranjan, CEO of Grid Raster. “The key to powering technology like the Hololens 2 is the cloud, where enterprises can truly leverage this technology and appropriately scale projects while maintaining project efficiencies and across many different devices.”

Hill Helicopters unveiled its Hill GT50 light turbine engine, designed specifically for the new Hill HX50 personal helicopter. The company says their GT50 is a compact, light, reliable and innovative solution that “defines the future of the light turbine helicopter.”

Designing its own advanced engine allowed Hill Helicopters to move outside the constraints of existing engines designed in the 1950s and meet the unique demands of their HX50 helicopter.

“The GT50 was designed and developed by a team of industry veterans, using methods, tools, and techniques pioneered over decades,” says Jason Hill, Hill Helicopters president and CEO. “It is an intelligent ensemble of proven ideas and architecture, embodied into a new engine that fully exploits modern advancements, manufacturing methods, and supply chain opportunities to fulfill a specific market need.

The company says the Hill GT50 employs state-of-art component and gas-path design delivering unmatched efficiencies for an entry-level turbine. The outstanding performance and operating range for the compressor and turbines is coupled with an efficient and robust three-can combustor system, offering a low-risk development route, flameout redundancy and fuel flexibility.

The historically expensive and heavy compressor turbine gearbox of current helicopter engines has been eliminated and replaced by a direct-drive starter-generator to dramatically reduce the cost and mechanical complexity of the engine. Extensive use of redundant electrical engine ancillaries further simplifies the engine package and a modular design makes for easy maintenance of the unit’s core components. The engine is also fully electronically controlled and features the Hill FADEC System, providing rapid startup and shutdown, tight RPM management, and optimal engine monitoring and control, the company says.

“The availability of reliable, powerful and affordable engines is what limits light helicopter design today,” Hill adds. “When considering the overall mix of requirements necessary to power a truly ground-breaking aircraft, we saw the opportunity to design a simple turbine engine with unmatched efficiency, power, and cost. ”

Textron Aviation Parts and Distribution can perform its’ new standard repair process on Cessna Citation CJ3 aircraft main landing gear (MLG). This solution provides customers with a cost-effective solution for repairing their MLG instead of replacing it when the gear experiences damage.

“The development of this repair solution was a collaborative effort across Textron Aviation. The ability to repair instead of replace, while providing a rental asset, allows customers to benefit from reduced downtime and operating cost,” said Kriya Shortt, senior vice president, Parts and Programs. “We are committed to providing our customers with a continuous evolution of product and service offerings to better their total ownership experience.”

To achieve this milestone repair capability the Textron Aviation team successfully completed static and cyclic testing of the Citation CJ3 MLG with up to five lifetimes (75,000 landings) of the gear’s life limit, to substantiate the repair safe-life.

This repair solution will subsequently be applied across all CJ series aircraft starting in 2021. Textron Aviation is also taking this opportunity to address future repairability for its new Cessna SkyCourier and Denali turboprops in development.

EME Aero, the engine services joint venture between Lufthansa Technik AG and MTU Aero Engines AG, recently completed the first regular maintenance visits of Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM Geared Turbo Fan (GTF) engines. Since January, when the first engine arrived in line with Pratt & Whitney’s low pressure turbine (LPT) retrofit program, a total of 21 engines were successfully delivered back to different customers. Moreover, EME Aero has now become an official member in the Pratt & Whitney GTF MRO network.

After completing the LPT retrofit program, whose 15 engines were used to smoothly start up operations in the facility, EME Aero has now already completed another six regular customer engine shop visits. “Despite all the obstacles and additional challenges due to the Covid 19 situation, we are still right on track with our ramp up,” said Derrick Siebert, CEO and managing director of Business at EME Aero. “The entire team is proud of reaching another important milestone by completing the first series of shop visits of GTF engines. This proves that EME Aero has now achieved full operational readiness.”

EME Aero is one of the world’s most advanced and largest shops for the latest generation of commercial aircraft engines. With only 18 months from construction to Entry into Service, it was questionable if the very challenging ramp up program could be met. Yet, in December 2019 the state-of-the-art engine shop, including a fully operational test cell, was ready to start operations as an MRO facility.

“The roughly 400 employees, who have been trained at the company’s own training center and at the locations of the two joint venture partners in Germany, finally are now ready to carry out full repairs on the PW1100G-JM,” said Robert Maślach, COO and managing director of Operations at EME Aero. “We are optimistic about our future. The strong team spirit from the project and ramp-up has shaped us and is carrying us through these challenging times to be ready for upcoming steep ramp up.”

The next step for EME Aero is the implementation of a high tech flow line planned for the end of this year and readiness for the induction of PW1500G engines in the middle of 2021.