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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 0012.PDF
WORKSHOP • Boeing and KLM Engineer ing and Maintenance (KLM E&M) have begun implementing the Global Airline Inventory Network (GAIN) at the airline's maintenance facility at Amster dam Schiphol airport. KLM is the European launch customer for GAIN, for which Boeing will manage KLM's supply chain for expendable airframe parts. The KLM scheme creates a stock of 27,000 part numbers in support of the airline's Boeing fleet, as well as for airlines that use KLM E&M for maintenance. • Brit annia Airways has received the first of 11 Hapag-Lloyd Boeing 737-800s at its London Luton base under a contract to conduct annual maintenance for its sister airline. • TAT Industries has won a three-year contract exten sion from the French interior ministry to provide mainte nance and modification work on various aircraft types including Bombardier CL-415s, Fokker F27s, Grumman Trackers and Raytheon Beechcraft. Work will be carried out at TAT facilities in Marignane, Nimes and Dinard in France. • Pratt & Whitney Canada has opened a new quick-turnaround heavy mainte nance line at its service centre in St Hubert, Quebec. A second facility is being opened this month at its Bridgeport service centre in West Virginia. • Gen eral Electric Engines Services (GEES) has won a 15-year maintenance and overhaul con tract from DHL Worldwide Express worth $400 million to maintain 68 Rolls-Royce RB211- 53C engines on the express parcel carrier's fleet of 34 Boe ing 757-200SFs. The European arm of DHL will have the eng ines of its fleet of ex-British Airways 757s serviced at GEES's plant in Cardiff, UK. • Sparwise, an AAR and Air France Industries joint venture, is to offer full component management for the Airbus A320 family in North and Central America. • The first Airbus A300-600 converted to freighter by EADS EFW in Dresden, Germany, made its first flight on 13 December. It is due US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certification this month. AIR TRANSPORT SAFETY DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON CAA warns engines must be more resistant to birdstrikes Threat posed by flocking birds to aviation is on the increase worldwide, says UK body Certification requirements de manding higher levels of birdstrike resistance for new aircraft engines are on the cards because the risk of serious birdstrikes is growing, says the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The risk of danger to aircraft is increasing, says the CAA, because the population of large flocking birds, particularly Canada geese, is climbing significantly. This echoes concerns raised in Canada and the USA (Flight International, 15-21 August 2000). As a result, says CAA chairman Sir Roy McNulty, the authority is working with engine manufactur ers to determine the potential for increasing the birdstrike resistance of new engines. The CAA says it hopes to use larger birds in certifi cation testing for multiple strikes on large fan engines from 1.13kg (2.51b) to 2.5kg, but the 3.7kg requirement for single strikes may remain the same - that an engine should be able to operate at 75% power for 20min after birdstrike. The CAA is also, however, trying to raise awareness of the serious ness of the problem, both in the industry and among those outside it who are responsible for features, such as landfill sites and man-made wetlands, which attract flocking birds to areas near airports. Airlines must be encouraged to report all birdstrike incidents so that the CAA can assess the degree of risk and collect the data neces sary to persuade companies and organisations to take action, it says. Head of the CAA's Aerodrome Standards Division Stan Brown says: "We believe that one of the UK's major airlines experiences more birdstrikes in a month than they report to the CAA in a whole year. It is vitally important that controllers, pilots and airport staff report incidents to the CAA. Without accurate data it is im possible to assess the threat birds pose - and it is also difficult to convince those outside the indus try to take action." The CAA quotes the example of a United Airlines Boeing 767 inbound to London Heathrow in September 1998 that sustained severe damage to its left wing, left engine, and nose. At Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, USA, in September 1995, a US Air Force Boeing E3A Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft crashed just after take-off, killing the 24 people on board when a flock of seagulls damaged all four of its engines. FLIGHT-TESTING Russian-engined An-38 makes debut The Russian-engined version of the An-38 began testing last month The first Russian-engined version of the Antonov An-38, the -200, began flight-testing last month at the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) plant in Novo sibirsk, Siberia. The 27-seat twin turboprop differs from the earlier An-38-100 model in that it is equipped with OMKB TVD-20-03 engines, which drive Stupino AV-36M propellers instead of Hartzell Propellers and Honeywell TPE- 331GR-801E engines. According to NAPO, the switch to Russian engines, which offer similar performance to the TPE331, allows unit price to be cut from $4.4 million to $3 million. The maiden flight lasted 40min. The first stage of the 11 December test trials is aimed at securing certi fication in the middle of this year to Russian AP-25 airworthiness requirements, which are har monised with US Federal Aviation Administration FAR Part 25. The TVD-20 was certificated last February and is already in service on the Antonov An-3, a turboprop conversion of the single-engined An-2 biplane. India is seen as a potential market for the An-38- 200, and both -100 and -200 ver sions are also being offered to Malaysia and Vietnam. Deputy general director for marketing at NAPO Eugeny Elgayev says that two independent Indian airlines are interested in the aircraft. Antonov and NAPO are seeking to obtain Indian certifica tion for the An-38 by means of the recently agreed bilateral avia tion agreement. The -200 proto type is equipped with a traffic alert and collision avoidance system, which is mandatory for flights in Indian airspace. 10 1-7 JANUARY 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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