“We’ve always had quick-response teams,” states Turner. “But this is the first time we’ve had full-size trucks with cranes capable of removing Pratt [& Whitney Canada PW]308s from the Hawker 4000.” Each new truck is equipped with a GPS tracking device, as well as all the tools and parts needed for a particular aircraft and maintenance situation. Customers can call one number and hear a real voice from a 24/7 dispatch office, which will promptly send a truck (or, with long distances, an available airplane) to the AOG site. To further expedite repair in the field, Global Customer Support has on hand up to 20 subject-specific experts to resolve aircraft maintenance issues in real time. In addition, customers can access pertinent information from more than 120 catalogs, manuals, schedules and bulletins, all offered in multiple formats. “We’re taking those [published data] to an interactive maintenance library so you don’t require paper manuals for maintenance,” says Turner. GCS offers a subscription service that gives its customers 24/7 access to the on-line publications. “Almost all our manuals are in electronic format,” he adds. “Now we’re working making performance publications in PDF [portable document format] form so if you’re calculating performance on a particular aircraft, you can do it with an app on an iPad or Droid [tablet computer].” This app was scheduled for release in this year’s first quarter. Turner claims GCS also is developing a new app that would provide Hawker Beechcraft aircraft owners with a complete directory of all authorized and company- owned service centers. This app would be geosynchronized. “That way the aircraft operator can, based on where he’s at, see where the closest service center is, gain all the contact information for that center and then have the technical publication information available on his iPad or Droid,” he explains. Turner admits that this new application poses unique challenges. For instance, GCS seeks the delicate balance of including as much information on the app as possible while still keeping it self-contained, i.e., not requiring a wi-fi connection.
Technician Training Testimony to GCS’ recent emphasis in in-house technician training is the fact that, in 2010, it received for the first time FAA’s Diamond Award. It was the year that all of its about 1,000 maintenance technicians completed training that met or exceeded the federal agency’s standards.
FlightSafety’s Hawker Beechcraft maintenance training curriculum includes its MXPro program.
Less than two years ago, GCS decided to invest $5 million in maintenance training. Concordantly, in September 2011, FlightSafety International (FSI) opened the doors of its new Hawker Beechcraft maintenance training facility, which is located north of HBC’s headquarters and across Beech Factory Field from FSI’s Hawker Beechcraft flight training center. It also happens to be across town from the MXAdvantage maintenance training facility that FSI currently is building jointly with Cessna Aircraft.
With 22 instructors and 12 classrooms, as well as aircraft provided by HBC, the Hawker Beechcraft maintenance training center can enroll up to 150 student/ technicians at a time, according to Mike Lee, FSI’s director of maintenance training business development. Since it began instruction in January 2011, the 43,000-square-foot (4,000-m2
) facility has
been training HBS technicians, as well as personnel from authorized service centers and for new aircraft customers. Student/technicians have had at their disposal desktop simulators that “bring the aircraft into the classroom,” says Lee. Each of the simulators uses FlightSafety’s MATRIX simulator code system, which can be applied to various training devices. For example, the same code in a desktop simulator can be used in the graphic
flight simulator (GFS), but in a cockpit configuration. In the GFS, students can operate a virtual aircraft while pulling up pages on cockpit displays to check system functioning. “It’s all real time, with immediate feedback,” Lee states. In addition, the training center is equipped with a three-dimensional, proprietary simulator that replaces aircraft mockups and allows customers to accomplish most maintenance tasks virtually.
FlightSafety’s Hawker Beechcraft curriculum includes its MXPro program. When taken for two full weeks, this instruction gives student/technicians the ability to achieve technician certification from agencies such as EASA, Transport Canada, the Chinese authorities and others.
GCS’ direction in maintenance training, as in all aspects of its after-market support, gains guidance from its customer advisory board established two years ago. “For the past two years, we’ve had quarterly meetings with customers at various locations around the world,” says Tannahill. HBC suppliers have been in attendance. The advisory board’s range of topics can
be broad. “They’ve given us feedback on how to better integrate our organization,” says Tannahill. “Last meeting, an issue was the comfort of cabin seating.” AM
Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | February / March 2012 19
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