Spare Parts for Bizav

AIRCRAFT PARTS: NO TIME TO SPARE

PROMPTNESS Dassault dedicates an aircraft for alternative lift in the event of an AOG (top). Textron's 1CALL service is available 24/7 (below).

Spare parts are an integral factor in the service offering of any OEM. The on-time

availability of parts is decisive if an aircraft support organization wants to satisfy

the needs of its customers. BART International has taken a closer look to the

spare parts business and was the first media outlet to visit Dassault Aviation’s

brand-new Spare Parts Distribution deport at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

Volker K. Thomalla reports

Spare parts are of utmost importance for any aircraft operations. Parts have to be exchanged during planned maintenance to ensure a safe operation of the aircraft either because they are time-limited or their condition has deteriorated through usage. After an unexpected failure of a part, for example after a bird strike, parts have to be replaced as soon as possible to ensure that the aircraft can continue to fulfil the useful missions it is intended to fulfil.

Western aircraft manufacturers and their suppliers have invested heavily in the last decades to improve their spare parts availability to a point where most of the parts are available within 24 hours wherever they are

increase available part numbers to nearly 35,000 items across Europe, including all six service center parts rooms,” announced Brad Thress, then senior vice president, Parts, Programs and Flight Operations, Textron Aviation, in May last year. “The additional space keeps us ahead of growing demand and ready to support our customers at any time.”

needed, be it for a planned maintenance event or to solve an AOG situation. Today’s computing power as well as state-of-the-art maintenance tools help manufacturers forecast when and where which parts are needed and in which quantity. Parts logistics is an important factor to succeed. Parts distribution centers of any major OEM are all strategically located close to international hub airports with sufficient international connections to minimize the time needed to transport the parts to the customers. Besides transport, parts can be delayed by customs clearances, so OEMs and suppliers have to make sure that a certain supply of spare parts is pre-cleared by customs to speed up the international delivery time.

Warehousing of hundreds of thousands of parts is a costly endeavor. Constant analysis of spare part quantities and throughput rates are mandatory to keep the flow of spare parts at a rate the market needs and at a price that keeps the business profitable.

Textron Aviation with its brands Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker has delivered more business aircraft worldwide than any other manufacturer. The Wichita, Kansas, based company has built its 7,000 th

Citation Business Jet in 2016 and is on its way to deliver the 7,500 th

Citation in the near future. The Beechcraft King Air Family is as successful as its jet sibling, the Cessna Citation. Over 7,000 of this robust twin turboprop aircraft are still flying worldwide. To support such an immense aircraft fleet, a smart spare parts management is mandatory. Textron Aviation is constantly expanding its regional spare parts footprint. In September of 2019, the OEM has opened a new aircraft parts warehouse in Australia to support its customers Down-under. The new spare parts center will initially hold 10,000 parts at Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne. Textron has colocated the new facility with Premiair Aviation Maintenance’s facility at the airport, a Textron Aviation Authorized Facility, which was acquired by Textron in January of 2020. Kriya Shortt, senior vice president of Global Customer Support at Textron Aviation, commented: “Textron Aviation has been steadily investing in service options for the Asia Pacific region to ensure customers flying all Textron Aviation aircraft receive the exceptional support they expect. Throughout the past year, we substantially increased our regional footprint, capabilities and parts availability.”

Just a year earlier, Textron has invested in increasing its parts inventory in Singapore, nearly doubling the value of its parts inventory at its Singapore Service Center.

Textron Aviation’s European Parts Distribution Center (EUDC) is based in Düsseldorf, Germany, and supports more than 1,800 business aircraft in the region. It has seen tremendous growth in 2019 as Textron has doubled its size within one year. “The expansion of the parts distribution center in Düsseldorf will Shortt said: “Our strategy in Europe, and around the world, has always been to provide unrivaled support for the aircraft we produce with centrally located, company-owned service centers and parts distribution centers, mobile service units and fast AOG response with 1Call.”

Since 2015, Textron Aviation has a Cessna Citation CJ on stand-by in Düsseldorf, seven days a week including most holidays to transport technicians and parts if needed to support customers during maintenance events, planned or unplanned.

The French manufacturer Dassault Aviation has delivered more than 2,600 Falcon Business Jets, of which over 2,100 are in service today with 1,250 operators, explained Jean Kayanakis, newly appointed senior vice president, Worldwide Falcon Customer Service & Service Center Network at BART International’s visit to Saint-Cloud in France. The regional distribution of the fleet has a clear center of gravity in North America with about 68 per cent of the installed fleet in the region, followed by 27 per cent in the EMAI region (Europe, Middle East, Africa and India) and 5 per cent in FACILITY Textron Aviation has opened a 2,000-sq-ft aircraft parts warehouse in Australia.

STORE Dassault Aviation’s spare parts warehouse (left and below). Charles Wemaere (top right).

Asia/Pacific. Dassault still supports every Falcon jet still in operation, regardless of its model year.

Charles Wemaere, vice president, Falcon Spares at Dassault Aviation, has explained during the Paris Air Show in June 2019 that the spare parts organization consists of five teams: The first team identifies the parts that are needed to keep the Falcon fleet in the air, the second team is responsible for the procurement of the parts. It has to define how many parts are needed globally and where they are best stocked in regards of location of the global Falcon fleet. The third team consists of parts specialists who are handling on a 24/7/365 basis all customer inquiries in three different locations: Teterboro, New Jersey; BordeauxMérignac, France and Beijing, China. The fourth team is responsible for the parts logistics and has to find out the best and fastest means of transport to bring the part to the customer, while the fifth team does the quality control.

The volume of order lines per year at Dassault Falcon Spares has reached 220,000. The worldwide inventory has climbed to 80,000 parts which are immediately available. This represents a value of US$ 916 million. There are 380,000 parts numbers in the catalogue.

Falcon Spares operates 16 regional distribution centers. Four of them are in the US (Louisville, Teterboro, Little Rock and Reno and West Palm Beach), two in Africa (Lagos and Johannesburg), two in Europe (Paris Charles de Gaulle, Moscow), one in Brazil (Sao Paulo), two in the EMAI region (Dubai and Mumbai) and four in the Asia/Pacific (Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney). Due to the large numbers of operators in North America, Dassault has positioned parts worth more than US$445 million in that region, followed by EMEA (US$438 million) and Asia/Pacific (US$ 33 million).

There are different solutions to fulfill the customer’s need in regard to spare parts. The classic way is to sell parts and tools to an operator or a maintenance facility. But there are others ways like the exchange of parts. The customer returns a part and gets a new one or a factory-overhauled part in exchange. This reduces down-time of an aircraft. Dassault (as other manufacturers, too) is also offering the rental of parts and tools to speed up the return-intoservice of an aircraft when a part or a component needs a lengthy repair or overhaul.

In case of an AOG situation, Dassault strives the parts to be ready for shipping in less than two hours. In such cases, Dassault uses dedicated shipping solutions including taxi or hand carry of parts on board of airliners or one of two Falcon 900 FalconResponse aircraft. Dassault has entered a partnership with the logistics company DHL for shipping and customs solutions.

The speed of a delivery is expected to be as fast as possible. But the perceived price of a spare part is an important factor of the customer experience with a company. Therefore, Dassault is regularly embarking on a pricing study with a value-driven approach. The goal of this comprehensive operation is to ensure that parts are priced in accordance with its dimensions, material, weight and perceived customer value instead of the conventional methodology used to price aircraft parts. In the framework of this strategy, Dassault Falcon Spares employees have analyzed 67,000 part numbers and have proposed several prices to be adapted to market conditions.

BART International had the opportunity to visit Dassault Aviation’s newly opened spare parts distribution cen

ter in the Aerolians business park near Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport, which is operated by Daher. It replaces the Le Bourget parts distribution center which has been in operation for decades. The parts distribution center is working around the clock, all-year long. But the volume is changing with Mondays featuring traditionally the lowest demand.

The new center features a floor space of 16,000 square meters (172,222 square feet) and innovative storage facilities. The depot houses parts ranging from the size of a rivet up to a wing. Depending on the requirements of the different materials, different storage conditions are maintained. Tires, for example, are stored in an air-conditioned storage room without natural light in special racks which allow the employees to turn them regularly to avoid dents. Liquids are also stored in special stockage areas with controlled environments.

Dassault and Daher have implemented a high degree of automation in storing the parts and managing the stock, but the facility does not work without humans. Most of the parts travel within the facility in colorcoded boxes to avoid mistakes. Specialists need to pack and prepare parts for shipping or to control the quality after receiving a part. To enhance processes and workflows within the facility, the management is actively testing new technologies. Exoskeletons, for example, help the employees to lift parts without harming their health. Drones are tested if they can be helpful in monitoring stock or by transporting smaller parts faster from the warehouse area to the packing stations. Gulfstream Aerospace has produced more than 2,800 aircraft, of which the majority is still in active service. The company maintains a global spare parts inventory of more than US$ 1.6 billion in parts distribution centers in several countries near business hubs frequently visited by Gulfstream customers. The OEM operates out of Savannah, Georgia, two dedicated aircraft to deliver – if needed – flightessential parts and technicians to operators in North and Central America and the Caribbean. In 2016, the so-called FAST (Field and Airborne Support Teams) aircraft have completed their 5,000 th

mission. In regards to the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Brexit), Gulfstream Aerospace has moved its European Customer Support Parts Distribution Center from the UK across the Channel to a location on the European continent near the Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. That move allows Gulfstream to continue to serve its customers in the EU after Brexit without delays due to custom clearances. The 2,300 square meter Amsterdam facility is fully operational since the end of November with more than US$ 28 million in inventory. All stock in the new facility is customs-cleared into the EU, allowing Gulfstream to ship it immediately to where it is needed.

The new spare parts center does not mean that Gulfstream stops warehousing and supplying parts to customers in the UK or transitioning through Great Britain. “Our customers traveling through or based in the United Kingdom will continue to receive support from our company-owned LondonLuton Airport Service Center, which has a parts inventory of more than US$45 million. Parts supply and availability in the UK remain a high priority for our organization as the larger ?European market evolves,” said Derek Zimmerman, president, Gulfstream Customer Support.

Bombardier Aviation is supporting the worldwide fleet of Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft. It operates a network of ten parts disIN-SERVICE Gulfstream FAST (top). Bombardier’s dedicated Mobile Response Team aircraft (right).

TOP Among the leading parts distributors are Boeing’s Aviall (top), CRS Jet Spares (center) and StandardAero (below).

tribution centers that move 70,000 aircraft parts monthly. The Canadian OEM has positioned a Challenger 300 business jet in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of its expanding Mobile Response Team (MRT). The aircraft supports the fleet of over 700 Bombardier business aircraft in Europe and Africa by providing shipping support in AOG situations for spare parts from Bombardier’s main European parts distribution hub in Frankfurt. In North America, Bombardier operates a Learjet 45 out of Chicago to

quickly transport parts to customers.

It’s not only the OEMs that support business aircraft operators with spare parts. CRS Jet Spares of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, provides aircraft operators since 1982 with parts. The company positions itself as a costeffective, high-quality alternative to aircraft OEM parts programs. The CRS Jet Spares team strives to develop personal relationships with its customers. The company offers parts for Gulfstream, Bombardier, Dassault Falcon, Learjet, Hawker and Astra aircraft. CRS Jet Spares has a long standing history of supporting operators of legacy Learjets for example. The company owns and maintains one of the largest and most comprehensive inventories in the world for Learjet 35, 36, 40, 45, 55 and 60 series aircraft. CRS Jet Spares offers solutions such as parts sales, exchanges, repairs and rentals. All routable exchange items are serviced by either the original manufacturer or a qualified FAA Repair Station.

Maintenance powerhouse StandardAero offers all things maintenance to aircraft operators, spare parts services included. It is, amongst others, an authorized distributor for Collins Aerospace, Kelly Aerospace, BendixKing and Honeywell. The company has a history that spans over a century. It promises its customers: “If we don’t have your part at a particular location, we can find it quickly. In addition, our Line Replacement Unit shop can overhaul, functional-test or repair most components on your aircraft. We know how important timely access to the right parts can be and we have both the tools and the talent to respond immediately.”

Aviall is part of Boeing Global Services and supports civil, military aircraft and helicopter operators with parts services. The 88 year old company has partnered with over 250 suppliers and OEMs. It has an impressive portfolio of nearly two million part numbers and stocks an inventory of more than US$ 2.0 billion. But it offers far more than parts and supplies. It also offers onsite warehousing and global distribution services for manufacturers. Last year, Aviall signed an agreement with the Italian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam to assume responsibility for the distribution, ordering and shipping of all OEM genuine replacement parts for the Tecnam P2012 Traveller. The aircraft made its NBAA-BACE debut in October 2019 in Las Vegas. It is in service with Hyannis, Massachusetts, based Cape Air as well as with the Seychellesbased Zil Air. At the signing ceremony, William Ampofo, vice president, Business & General Aviation, Boeing Global Services, said; “We are thrilled to provide our industry leading distribution services for this new aircraft. Our global supply chain and agile distribution systems will keep these planes in the air for many years to come."

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AFTER ADS-B: WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE MRO SECTOR? MAINTENANCE The business of MRO providers was driven largely by ADS-B installations in 2019. Now the mandate deadline being over, MRO companies still have a lot to do in the near future. Marc Grangierreports

GLOBAL Universal Avionics’ UniLink CMU (top left). Darius Saluga (below), CEO of Jet Maintenance Solutions (top right).

According to a recent Mordor Intelligence report, the business jet MRO market is anticipated to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.03%, reaching a market value of $4.36 billion by 2024. “Every year, operators spend significant amounts of their budgets on various upgrades,” says Darius Saluga, CEO of Jet Maintenance Solutions, a Hawker Beechcraft and Bombardier maintenance company based at Vilnius, Lithuania. “If those upgrades are related to avionics and retrofits, the amounts quickly become significant, with modifications to power plants, cabin systems, exteriors and interiors often doubling – or even tripling – the amount of money spent on upgrades.”

Many of these modifications are prescribed by the regulatory authorities and related to safety. Thus, such upgrades are mandated by Airworthiness Directives (ADs) and always have the highest priority. Some OEM Service Bulletins are also safety-related, and aircraft operators usually include them in their Maintenance Management Programs during the nearest base maintenance check. Complying with airspace mandates requires another set of modifications, such as those falling under the Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) avionics. In turn, upgrades related to in-flight connectivity and pilot glass cockpit upgrades are also becoming increasingly in demand.

Add all this together and it’s easy to see how the maintenance costs of a private jet represent approximately 30% of an aircraft’s operating budget –and how a CAGR of 4.03% until 2024 is more than plausible! When talking business aircraft maintenance, a number of other factors also come into play. For example, the inventory of for sale business jets has been declining steadily for the past 10 years. This means that the market for used aircraft is growing. In most cases, used aircraft owners like to customize or retrofit their cabins. Additionally, engines and propulsion systems are serviced before customer deliveries. Undeniably, this all means more business for MRO companies.

For those MROs that are authorized service centers for large OEMs, they tend to have a are most of guaranteed pipeline of customers seeking heavy maintenance overhauls like a C or a D-check. For example, last September, RUAG MRO International carried out a 3C-check and avionics upgrade on a Falcon 900 to ensure compliance with the ADS-B Out Mandate. The 3C-check project also included a partial cabin refurbishment. All services were scheduled to take place during a single downtime.

Last December, Clay Lacy Aviation performed a 10-year inspection on an Embraer Phenom aircraft manufactured in 2009. The company

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OPERATION Clay Lacy Aviation performed a 10- year inspection on Phenom 300 (left). Western Aircraft now offers heavy maintenance on PC-24 (right).

completed the first Phenom 100 inspection in October, with additional inspections for December and into the new year.

In addition to being the largest Pilatus dealer in the world and applying more than 145,000 work hours to PC-12 maintenance in the last five years, Western Aircraft is now extending its expertise to heavy maintenance on the PC-24. Western Aircraft has completed 20% of all PC24 Big Aircraft Modifications (BAMs) worldwide, along with five 12-month inspections. Being a full-service avionics modification center, the company recently installed the first-ever Gogo AVANCE L5 in-flight connectivity system in a PC-24. Last September, Western Aviation was also authorized to work on Williams International FJ44 engines for the Cessna Citation Cessna 525, 525+, 525 A, A+, B, C and M2 models. It is already familiar with these engines thanks to it being a Williams Authorized Service Facility for the Pilatus PC-24.

The End of the Line for ADS-B Retrofitting?

Though retrofitting of US registered aircraft with ADS-B Out theoretically came to an end on January 1st 2020, this is not yet the case for several other regions, including Australia and Europe. As to the latter, EASA and the FAA established June 7th, 2020 as the ADS-B Out mandate for aircraft operating in Europe. This means that all aircraft operating under instrument flight rules and with a maximum certified take-off mass exceeding 12,500 lb. (5,700 kg) or having a maximum cruising true airspeed capability greater than 250 knots will be required to fly with ADS-B out as of that date. Duncan Aviation’s latest report, based on data from its proprietary customer database, the FAA, and other industry sources, reports that 23% of the business jet fleet, or 3,384 aircraft, were not compliant. “At this rate, we anticipate that at least 1,660 aircraft were not be in compliance when the calendar flipped to 1 January 2020,” said Matt Nelson, Duncan’s manager of satellite operations. Turboprop equipage rates are even lower. According to Duncan, 49% of the qualifying fleet were not yet in compliance and more than

In the US, the FAA made it clear that there won’t be any extension of the deadline and if operators don’t keep up with the ADS-B Mandate and their aircraft is unable to transmit the required signals, they will be forced to fly below 10,000 ft. and avoid certain specified airspace. Furthermore, those aircraft that are not equipped with the ADS-B Out by the deadline and use any large or most small airports will be grounded until they get the required equipment.

One director of a large MRO told BART that although the industry seems to be doing a good job of meeting demand for compliance, with a good majority of aircraft now equipped, there is still an anticipated rush to the finish line. “We noticed an increased demand from owners and operators who regularly use their aircraft, and recognize they need to make sure they’re ready,” says the source. “We can accommodate a few more aircraft, but owners need to call quickly so that we can develop a compliance solution for their aircraft in time. If they don’t call us, they risk having their aircraft grounded post-deadline.” 3,800 examples would still need ADSB upgrades at the beginning of 2020. In total, Markets and Markets analysts estimate that the global market for these retrofits will reach $1,316.9 Million by 2022 when all aircraft have been upgraded. However, MRO companies will still have a lot of work in the months to come, as the FAA estimates that only about 72,000 of 100,000 piston airplanes had been equipped with rule-compliant ADS-B avionics as of October 1 st

, 2019. Given current rates of installation, there are many chances that the rest of the fleet – the 28,000 or so piston aircraft not yet equipped by the January 1 st 2020 deadline – will have to be taken care of during 2020 and probably even beyond. And what is now taking place in the US will also happen in Europe and in the rest of the world.

Smart Maintenance

Apart from ADS-B installations, MRO companies will certainly have a lot of work in other fields, as connected aircraft technologies are changing nearly everything about aviation –including the way operators service

and maintain complex onboard mechanical systems. One can thank the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and predictive analytics for connected maintenance capabilities that put powerful proactive tools at operators’ fingertips.

Although analytics isn’t new, what is new is the evolution toward using big data to drive operational outcomes and return on investment. To rein in costs associated with aircraft maintenance, the industry is adopting ‘smart’ maintenance practices that help streamline the jobs of aircraft engineers and maintenance technicians. They diagnose problems sooner and prescribe the right course of maintenance while improving overall turnaround times and efficiency. The most advanced connected maintenance solutions do all that – and more. Today’s onboard systems and environmental control systems already generate vast amounts of data. With connected maintenance, one can capture and aggregate aircraft data, which can be combined with data from other enterprise systems and external data such as weather, to put together a comprehensive understanding of flight and maintenance operations.

According to Honeywell, applying advanced analytic techniques such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, along with deep domain expertise and maintenance experts, allow one to generate accurate and actionable insights for operations and maintenance crews. Imagine an APU that tells you when a line replaceable unit is getting ready to fail, an ECS that indicates it needs unscheduled service, or aircraft brakes that send a message when it’s time for new disks. Those capabilities already exist with GoDirect Connected Maintenance from Honeywell Aerospace. It not only predicts an imminent system issue, it also provides prescriptive information to help maintenance crews pinpoint the fault down to the subcomponent level, identifying the particular part that needs to be repaired or replaced along with the repair procedure to be followed. As a result, technicians spend less time manually troubleshooting components and get to the right fix the first time. Likewise, all the large OEMs have developed real-time health and trend monitoring systems that automatically report high-level problems while the aircraft is in flight or on the ground. “In one case, a Gulfstream G650 reported a problem in flight five hours before reaching its destination airport and when it arrived at its planned fuel stop, a technician and replacement parts were on site to fix the problem, expediting aircraft dispatch to its final destination and preventing an off-site AOG,” noted GE Aviation. The company provides Gulfstream with its Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) system, part of Gulfstream’s PlaneConnect Health & Trend Monitoring system.

For Textron Aviation, its LinxUs and LinxUs Air predictive maintenance technology allows its customers to lower costs, reduce AOG time and improve maintenance protocols as its systems isolate important details to help correctly address issues the first time. Keeping Your Aircraft Connected Today’s business jet passengers are looking for the fastest connectivity inflight. Live streaming, teleconferencing, VPN, VoIP capabilities, internet, and email inflight have become standard and even expected.

Since the beginning, Jet Aviation has been heavily investing in connectivity solutions to ensure its customers can enjoy the fastest internet connectivity on the market. The company’s engineering team in Basel spent two years developing a technical solution for Ka-band system integration. After demonstrating EASA-compliance, the solution was first implemented on a Boeing 747- 400.

Jet Aviation also developed an EASA STC for a Boeing 767-300 aircraft and further plans to revise its 747-400 STC for another model in the 747 series, including a new antenna location. The company recently received the industry’s first EASA Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for Ka-band system integration on a Boeing 747-400 in Basel. BUSY Duncan ADS-B (top) Matt Nelson of Duncan (bottom left). Honeywell GoDirect connected maintenance (bottom right).

SOLUTIONS GE Aviation’s IVHM (top left). Textron LinxUs Air (top right). Jet Aviation is investing more and more in Ka-band network (below).

The company has also been busy working on Satcom SBB and Live TV systems installations. It recently demonstrated compliance with the latest EASA bird strike requirement on the Rockwell Collins Live TV Radome. Jet Aviation is currently developing a second EASA STC for a Boeing 767- 300 aircraft and further plans to revise its 747-400 STC for another model in the 747 series, including a new antenna location.

Other companies have looked into connectivity solutions. For example, last fall Flying Colours Corp. completed a retrofit of the Honeywell Primus Elite flight-deck on a Bombardier Global Express, along with an installation of the Honeywell JetWave Ka-band system. As part of the Primus Elite upgrade, six all new Honeywell DU-875 displays were installed to replaced old cathode ray tubes (CRT) monitors. The Primus Elite Advanced Features’ (PEAF) software suite is optimized on aircraft carrying a full complement of the new DU-875 displays. PEAF adds a Synthetic Vision System (SVS) which provides 3-D color images of runways, terrain and obstacles, giving pilots a clear view of the virtual flight path, particularly useful when flying to unfamiliar locations, in bad weather, or at night.

Bombardier recently announced a Preferred Service Provider (PSP) agreement with GE Aviation. GE will power Bombardier’s cockpit and cabin connectivity solutions – including new, curated, service bundles that will simplify the selection of cockpit and cabin services with tip-to-tail solutions for new and in-service aircraft. This agreement is a first step toward the launch of Bombardier’s comprehensive Smart Link Plus connected aircraft program. GE Aviation is working closely with Bombardier on the development of the Smart Link Plus box – a Health Monitoring Unit (HMU) “smart” box capable of generating key data for customers, enabling them to increase operational efficiency and minimize return-to-service times through datadriven decisions. The smart box, at the heart of the program, will provide aircraft data to Bombardier’s digital platform where it will be analyzed and transferred into actionable insights, drawing on Bombardier’s aircraft expertise and leveraging the power of the entire connected fleet. The smart box technology was first introduced on the flagship Global 7500 aircraft and will now be adapted for eligible Challenger and other Global aircraft programs.

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. has outfitted its 300 th

aircraft with a Jet ConneX inflight broadband service. “The office-in-the-sky experience is very much a reality with Gulfstream and Jet ConneX,” said Derek Zimmerman, president, Gulfstream Customer Support. “Our customers value our ability to efficiently incorporate this technology on our aircraft and the consistent and reliable global coverage it provides.” Deliveries, which began in May 2017, have included inproduction large-cabin aircraft, the G650ER, G650, G550, G500, and the all-new G600. Nearly half the installations are retrofits.

Textron announced that the Garmin G5000 integrated flight deck is now available for the Cessna Citation Excel and Citation XLS. The G5000 modernizes the cockpit, solves parts obsolescence and addresses mandate requirements, while also offering a lower cost of operation. “The G5000 will modernize the cockpit to offer customers additional situational awareness, lower cost of operation and an improved in-flight experience in the aircraft they already know,” For Kriya Shortt, Textron Aviation senior vice president, Global Customer Support.

The G5000 integrated flight deck for the Citation Excel and Citation XLS features three landscape-oriented displays with split-screen capability, intuitive touchscreen controllers, and geo-referenced Garmin SafeTaxi airport diagrams. New to the Citation Excel, emergency descent mode is available as a standard feature with the G5000 and is enabled by the autopilot in the event of a loss in aircraft pressurization. Additionally, operators gain access to more airports and lower approach minimums throughout the world as the G5000 has PBN/RNP 0.3 with LPV/APV approach capability.

In partnership with Honeywell/Go Direct, Dassault has developed FalconConnect, a fully integrated, cockpit to cabin to ground connectivity package. Addressing specific concerns customers have had with the way high

speed access has traditionally been offered, FalconConnect, is a comprehensive suite of services with state-ofthe-art connectivity and functionalities over multiple networks.

Available networks for cabin and cockpit include 3G/4G on ground, WiFi, Inmarsat L-Band, Datalink, Iridium Classic and Next, Viasat KU and Ka or Jet Connex KA-Band, with future technology readiness. Depending on the customers’ needs, routers and antennas are available as upgrades.

Universal Avionics recently disclosed an incentive package for operators seeking to equip for Data Comm using the company’s UniLink Communications Management Unit (CMU) as the cornerstone of their data link flight deck upgrade. The package, effective January 1, 2020, provides various data communications capabilities, including CPDLC DCL, CPDLC Enroute and FANS 1/A+ oceanic. It is strategically designed for retrofit upgrade of business aviation aircraft, who can benefit significantly from FAA’s Data Comm services.

In terms of maintenance programs, the Honeywell Maintenance Service Plan (MSP) has been improved. Incorporating Honeywell Avionics Protection Plan (HAPP), Maintenance Service Plan (MSP) and Maintenance Protection Plan (MPP), all offerings will now sit under the Maintenance Service Plan umbrella. Furthermore, the MSP now includes a comprehensive coverage of all Honeywell contents on the aircraft, including recently added components and usage based contracts (for HTF series and TFE731-20

In October 2019, the FAA released guidelines for remote connectivity in aircraft safety inspections. For this purpose, CloudVisit has developed an Aviation Maintenance Software to communicate with aircraft maintenance teams at distant sites and manage aircraft safety inspections from the operator’s office. This software, enabling remote aircraft inspections, provides video, audio, and image documentation to verify the quality of aircraft safety inspections.

A Very Busy Road Ahead

From the above-mentioned examples, one understands that MRO companies will have a lot to do in the near future, and other fields of maintenance and repair will also be of importance, such as the engine and the cabin refurbishment segments. It is also worth mentioning that the demand for In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) remains one of the most popular modifications. Cost-efficient newer equipment, as well as lower data usage fees, has made these modifications more attractive and reachable for private operators wishing to plug their iPads into their airplane systems and stay connected as they would at home. Therefore, upgrading/modifications to existing systems of connectivity will certainly continue to be very popular and bring additional work to MROs.

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OFFERINGS Clockwise from top left: Flying Colours’ Primus Elite & Ka-band upgrade. Bombardier and GE teamed to offer connectivity solutions. Kriya Shortt. Derek Zimmerman. Falcon Connect.

FOCUS This year’s edition will highlight the performance and capabilities of today’s electric aircraft.

AERO 2020: HOW ELECTRIC WILL BE THE FUTURE?

The General Aviation trade show AERO in

Friedrichshafen is constantly evolving. This year,

the show will feature for the first time a dedicated

re-sale area for business aircraft as well as

The Lindbergh Rally, an e-flight competition to highlight

the capabilities of electrically powered aircraft.

Volker K. Thomalla reports

This spring will see the 28th AERO in Friedrichshafen. The trade fair in Southern Germany was established in 1977 as a bi-annual event. It is now held yearly since 2009. It has evolved from a small air sports event to a full-scale, global trade show for General Aviation including Business Aviation. Manufacturers like Pilatus Aircraft, Daher, Cirrus Aircraft, Piper Aircraft, Diamond Aircraft as well as authorized dealers like Rheinland Air Service (RAS) for Honda Aircraft or Air Alliance are regularly exhibiting in Friedrichshafen on the banks of Lake Constance. Suppliers of aircraft systems and services can also be found at the show. BlackHawk Modifications, Hartzell Propeller, MTProp, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Jeppesen, Garmin, Bose and True Blue will be exhibiting, just to name a few.

This year’s show will – for the first time ever – feature an area in the static display which is reserved for used business aircraft only. The show organizers invite aircraft sellers to showcase their pre-owned aircraft in the resale area to attendees and to connect with potential buyers who can visit the aircraft on the spot. The show grounds are connected by a separate taxiway to Friedrichshafen Airport and offer plenty of room for aircraft up to the size of large-cabin business jet. At last year’s AERO, the German Business Aviation Association (GBAA) has successfully co-hosted the first Business Aviation conference at AERO which covered topics like ADS-B implementation – which is due in June this year in Europe –, public perception of Business Aviation and bizav’s role in humanitarian flights. The show organizers will offer this conference again this year, covering topics that are important for the industry such as the effects of Brexit on aviation and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Europe. The conference’s concept hasn’t changed: The lecturers have 20 minutes each to present their cases and do Q&A with the attendees. Afterwards, the conference visitors can meet with the presenters at their booths and discuss comprehensively what they need to know. The whole conference is limited to two hours, giving visitors plenty of time to see the show.

Last year, 757 exhibitors from 40 countries at the show attracted more than 32,000 visitors. More than 60 per cent of the visitors were active pilots. With these numbers, AERO is one of the largest trade shows in the industry.

AERO has played a major role in shaping the future of aviation by introducing the e-Flight-Expo as early as 2009, a special section of the show dedicated to electric flight. Even though the progress hasn’t been as quickly as the visionaries thought a decade ago, e-Flight is becoming a reality today. To highlight the performance and capabilities of today’s electric aircraft, the Lindbergh Foundation and Messe Friedrichshafen have set-up the Lindbergh e-flight rally, which is a flying competition for electric aircraft only. It will be held on March 30 th

and 31 st

, just prior to the show opening on April 1 st

. Certified aircraft as well as prototypes are eligible to participate.

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MAINTENANCE CONFERENCE

Join your customers – business aviation’s directors of maintenance, flight department managers, maintenance technicians, aircraft owners/ operators, and chief pilots – at the 2020 NBAA Maintenance Conference. Whether this is your first time joining us or you’re a seasoned MC veteran, you’ll want to make plans to attend.

May 5-7 2020 HARTFORD, CT