StandardAero installs insulation and sound deadening materials in an Falcon 50 to help update it and extend its useful life.
metal workers to do the work,” Jonathan Berger says. “Frankly, the experts in this area are retiring, and the schools are putting out fewer grads who know how to do it. Add the fact that aircraft are moving into composites, and it can be hard to find a technician who can do metal work on an older airframe— even if your client is willing to pay for it.”
Money Makes the Decision Ultimately, it is economics rather than physics that determines how long a given class of aircraft can keep flying. Usually this is not an all-or-nothing decision. Typically aging aircraft graduate from passengers to freight to retirement, rather than leaving the airport one day and flying to the desert ‘boneyard’, as aircraft storage/recycling fields are called, the next.
“The only question is when it economically
doesn’t make sense any more to operate an aircraft while keeping it in a safe condition,” says Lufthansa Technik’s Halske. Once the financial threshold has been crossed, an aging aircraft’s flying days are truly over. Meanwhile, work on the science of life
to be done at the earliest possible stage; minimizing cost and aircraft downtime while enhancing safety.
Dr. Melinda Laubach-Hock, Director of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) Aging Aircraft Lab at Wichita State University
extension continues today; both at OEMs and at the FAA’s Airworthiness Assurance Center (AANC) operated by the U.S. government’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. For instance, engineers at Sandia have been researching the installation of crack-detecting sensors in airframes. Like nerves in the human body that send off pain signals at the first sign of injury, such sensors could alert ground maintenance crews to cracks as soon as they start to appear. This would allow repairs
38 Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | April / May 2012
“The use of in-situ sensors and associated Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) solutions can allow operators to be even more vigilant with respect to flaw onset,” says Dennis Roach, an engineer leading the AANC’s SHM program. “While adoption of SHM practices is occurring slowly and carefully, SHM does hold great promise for optimizing maintenance practices for both newer composite aircraft, as well as older aircraft models where life extension programs are highly desirable.” Advances notwithstanding, what will
really keep aging aircraft flying are life- extension strategies that provide carriers with operational savings, both in terms of per-flight costs and ongoing maintenance. OEMs such as Airbus and Boeing have taken this into account with their A320 and 737 life-extension programs. MROs would be well-advised to become expert in these and other life-extension programs, in order to keep supporting aging aircraft for as long as it makes good business sense. AM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64