Commercial or military aircraft must be kept in a state of permanent readiness. There are whole industries that have been created around this requirement.
Aircraft interior refurbishment
There is a whole industry of specialists in corporate and private, fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft interior refurbishment, supplying aircraft cabin refurbishment solutions to meet specific needs, whether private or business, from simple repairs through to complete project management.
The availability of efficient and cost-effective technologies to repair or extend the life of ageing military airframes is becoming a critical requirement in most countries around the world, as new aircraft becoming prohibitively expensive and defence budgets shrink. To a lesser extent a similar situation is arising with civil aircraft, with falling revenues and the high cost of replacement aircraft.
Repair/reinforcement technology, which is based on the use of adhesively bonded fibre composite patches or doublers, can provide cost-effective life extension in many situations. From the scientific and engineering viewpoint, whilst simple in concept, this technology can be quite challenging particularly when used to repair primary structure. This is due to it being based on interrelated inputs from the fields of aircraft design, solid mechanics, fibre composites, structural adhesive bonding, fracture mechanics and metal fatigue. The technologies of non-destructive inspection (NDI) and, more recently smart materials, are also included. Operational issues are equally critical, including airworthiness certification, application technology (including health and safety issues), and training.
Largely the processes used are thermal methods although new advances include electron beam.curing with advantages as follows:
Faster turnaround times:
Reduced risk of in-process damage:
Moisture ingress eliminated as E-beam repairs are not porous
Simpler tooling for larger, more complex repairs:
Lower material costs:
aircraft galley equipment repair
European part 145 component repair (stateside part 145 repair station ) approved maintenance incudes the maintenance of the following galley system components: Ovens, Oven control modules, Coffee makers, Expresso Makers, Water Boilers, Toilet Water Heaters, Hot jugs / Urns, Faucet Assemblies, Liquid soap dispensers.
aircraft electronic equipment repair does, of course, include a deal of work that is outside the scope of avionics and instrument repair which is covered elsewhere in this directory. Some of it is aircraft ground support equipment, for example aircraft test equipment
aircraft hydraulic component repair
Aircraft Hydraulics Definition
Aircraft Hydraulics is a means of transmitting energy or power from one place to another efficiently.
What is a hydraulics system?
It is a system where liquid under pressure is used to transmit this energy. Hydraulics systems take engine power and convert it to hydraulic power by means of a hydraulic pump. This power can be distributed throughout the airplane by means of tubing that runs through the aircraft. Hydraulic power may be reconverted to mechanical power by means of an actuating cylinder, or turbine.If an electrical system were used instead of a hydraulic system, a generator would take the place of the pump and a motor would take the place of the actuating cylinder.
Advantages of Hydraulic Systems (over other systems for aircraft use)
It is lighter in weight than alternate existing systems.
It is direct in its response to demands placed on the system.
It is reliable; either it works or doesn't.
It can be easily maintained.
It is not a shock hazard; it is not much of a fire hazard.
It can develop practically unlimited force or torque.
Example: In landing gear the hydraulic motor can produce enough power to pull up the landing gear system without trouble, even though air loads act on the system and the slip stream air is impinging against it.
So, landing gear maintenance repair and overhaul is one type of hydraulic component repair. Pumps, actuators, etc all need to be repaired systematically.
Eaton Aerospace is rolling out a new 5,000-psi hydraulic pump this month that could serve as the trailblazer for a new breed of high-pressure commercial aerospace parts.
This marks the official transition of commercial aircraft industry from its venerable 3,000-psi designs to a new era of higher pressures. Many industry observers believe that other 5,000-psi commercial efforts will follow, possibly setting the stage for a move to even higher pressures in the distant future. By moving to 5,000 psi, Airbus engineers hope to reduce the weight of on-board hydraulic components. As pressure rises, they say, engineers can cut the size of hoses, fittings, clamps, tubing, and even actuators. By some estimates, the A380's move to 5,000 psi may cut on-board mass by as much as a metric ton, 1000Kg.
Satellite industries support aero industry repair (second tier suppliers / aerospace sub-contract engineers).
aerospace fabrications aerospace sheet metalwork aerospace sub-assemblies aerospace pressings Typically, companies are fully accredited to carry out sheet metal work AS9100 approved (Aerospace standard) and could be, for example, compliant with laser profiling NADCAP approved for both 2 & 3D laser profiling.
There is a background of national governments investing in the industry. In the 1990's CHC Helicopter Corporation constructed a state of the art 60,000 square foot facility in Gander Canada, with an approximate cost of $7 million. CHC's equity investment totalled $4 million. As a condition of government's investment, the company also committed to performance targets which required it to create 1,000 person years of employment, equating to 250 jobs over a six year period, starting in 1999.
Strategic alliances include Agusta an Italian aircraft manufacturer, to provide manufacturing and repair services for their aircraft.
Team Cormorant’s support for CHC Composites (formerly Newfoundland Bonding & Composites NB&C) continued with the announcement of a $2 million order for the Gander-based company to produce composite parts for the family of Lynx and Cormorant helicopters manufactured by GKN Westland Helicopters.
Team Cormorant,includes founding partners GKN Westland Helicopters of the U.K. and Agusta, a Finmecannica Company of Italy.
aerospace machining
Quality control is key across all sub-contract processes. The AS9100 quality plan is a very effective quality control system for controlling critical business operations.
The machining AS9100 approval quality control system was created to support the aerospace industry. A significant goal of the AS9100 quality plan is to adopt a process-oriented method of management. The AS9100 quality control system emphasizes the importance of:
To carry out any of these processes there is another raft of suppliers, including suppliers of
aerospace cutting tools carbide drills, cutters, carbide steel drills, high-speed steel drills, morse taper shank drills, reamers, threading tools and taps and so on.
suppliers of aerospace metal finishing again increasingly subject to quality controls, nadcap approved chemical processing, nadcap approved plating, etc.
suppliers of aerospace ndt of non-destructive testing
Aero industry repair needs a directory to list the large number of companies involved...
www.aviation-database.com