AEROSPACE | APPLICATION
allowing the Red Brick to move across the Transporter bridge. The entire system has a design working life of 25 years and has proved a focused and cost-effective solution for Rolls-Royce. AIS Vanguard is part of a family-owned, independent company, Ainscough Industrial Services; it works with clients across a range of sectors offering machinery installation, technical and heavy lifting, and other services. Over the last 40 years the company has gained first-hand knowledge and experience in helping the aerospace industry, ranging from the movement of single pieces of machinery to dismantling, relocation or complete reinstallation. Lifting in small, potentially problematic areas including confined spaces or limited access areas is also a speciality. AIS Vanguard recently completed a gantry crane lift and relocation for Spirit Aerospace in a facility for assembling Airbus planes. The hanger contained two 71-meter-
span cranes, with the west crane being in much the better condition of the two. Spirit
A Microcranes unit replacing propeller blades at St John’s Airport, Newfoundland
requested the east crane be removed to allow the west crane to move along the gantry into the area where the east crane operated. This is where the majority of their assembly works take place on a new large order that had been secured. After the west crane had been moved into its new position, the east crane needed
to be remounted onto the rails so it could be tested prior to re-commissioning for use. The entire process was completed within a timeframe of just four days. Not all aerospace lifting is on the grand
scale. Aircraft maintenance in particular makes use of many small to ultra-small cranes, frequently portable or self-driving on rubber tyres, for work inside hangars. There is not always an excess of room in such places: storage space for aircraft is at a premium, so other planes may well be parked nearby; and by no means all of the load are heavy. Thus Microcranes, based in the state
A general view of CP&A’s stacker crane … 24 | February 2025 |
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of Washington, make compact and flexible lightweight cranes that find ready applications in the sector. As an example, at St John’s Airport in Canada regional airline operator PAL Airlines uses cranes from Microcranes for removing and replacing propeller blades on aircraft and for miscellaneous installation tasks. Microcrane’s MRO floor cranes are used for ground support also by the military, by private and commercial airlines, and by aircraft service companies to handle engines and control surfaces. Work areas, they say, are frequently tight. Inlet cowl repairs, flap and slat removals are typical maintenance tasks; their portable mini-cranes and spider-cranes are being used around the world also for helicopter repairs and maintenance. Their cranes are equipped with rear brakes, anti-two block warning devices, dual safety stops on the boom, safety check valve, and pick-and- carry capability, all of which are OSHA, ASME and CE requirements. Their M1 Global Model Battery Power Floor Crane is typical: it is air transportable, has a line speed of 40 feet (12 metres) per minute, is rated to 2,000 lb (0.9ton) single or double line, and has a 20ft (6metres) hook height.
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