November 01, 2018 - No. 086 In This Issue AMP To Move Headquarters MRO Facility to Dallas Exec Input Needed - International Maintenance Workforce Survey First Alaska aircraft mechanic school in 20 years opens in Bethel ARSA Challenges NTSB Repair Station Revocation Order Lockheed Martin Challenges Students to Create the Future of Flight AAR Launches Academic Partnership FAA Working With Industry on High-altitude O2 Mandate Delta Airlines and Tarrant County College partner for maintenance training American Airlines Lauds DJI's Mavic 2 Enterprise for Drastically Improving Plane Inspections The SpaceX Big Texas Spaceport Is Coming. But Will It Have Anything To Launch? AMP To Move Headquarters MRO Facility to Dallas Exec Aviation Maintenance Professionals (AMP) is relocating its headquarters MRO facility from Dallas Arlington Municipal Airport to a new corporate hangar development at Dallas Executive Airport (RBD) to meet customers' growing needs for aircraft maintenance and service. Its new 43,000-sq-ft service center is expected to open in the first quarter of 2020. "This expansion and relocation of our maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility is the result of the strong and steady fleet growth we've had for several years," said AMP CEO Dennis Moore. "The new facilities will keep us well positioned for support, maintenance, and servicing in the growing North Texas general aviation market." RBD's $16 million hangar development and infrastructure project that AMP will call home is the result of a public-private partnership inked earlier this year between the city of Dallas and Burchfield & Partners. Construction on the hangar project on the west side of the airport will start in January and conclude in early 2020. Founded in 2008, AMP is a full-service corporate aircraft maintenance shop, providing routine service to comprehensive maintenance for Gulfstream, Bombardier Learjet and Challenger, Hawker, Dassault Falcon, and Cessna Citation business jets. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-10-30/amp-move-headquarters-mro-facility-dallas-exec Back to Top Input Needed - International Maintenance Workforce Survey The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is surveying the international maintenance industry on the challenge of attracting, selecting and retaining technicians. IATA has asked ARSA to assist in publicizing the survey in order to ensure broadest-possible industry participation. This survey was developed by IATA to create a benchmark on the global aviation maintenance skills shortage. It collects insight on different recruitment and retention strategies among and between maintainers and operators. Responses will be put into the larger context of worldwide fleet and market expansion and will add to the growing narrative surrounding the next generation of aviation professionals; the data will assist industry stakeholders in developing a coherent human capital strategy. Help ARSA and IATA gather this important information by either completing the survey or ensuring the appropriate person in your organization gets access to it. Be sure to include IATA Head of Engineering & Maintenance Thomas Fodor (email) in any correspondence regarding the survey (and contact Fodor with any questions). Your input will be kept confidential and the information will only be used for a summary report, a copy of which will be provided to all participants. To get started, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/technicianskillsshortage The survey's original deadline has been extended. Submissions are now due by Wednesday, Nov. 14. To see more updates related to the aviation technical workforce, including policymaking, events and the industry-wide success related to workforce issues through the FAA reauthorization process in the United States, visit arsa.org/technical-workforce-development and arsa.org/faa-reauthorization-2018. https://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12435325/input-needed-international-maintenance-workforce-survey Back to Top First Alaska aircraft mechanic school in 20 years opens in Bethel Through the help and support of its partner organizations, Yuut Elitnaurviat is proud to announce the certification of the Yuut Elitnaurviat Regional Aircraft Maintenance School. Located in Bethel, Alaska, this is the first FAA-approved Part 147 Aircraft Maintenance School certified in the state since 1995, and one of only 174 in the nation. The school will be offering training for both the Airframe and Powerplant mechanic's certificates. According to an article published in the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association dated March 2018 and as quoted by Boeing Aircraft, there will be a shortage of 120,000 aviation mechanics nationally in the next decade. The community was invited to an open house on October 26, 2018 at the at the Aircraft Maintenance School building located at 3321 N. Apron Road in Bethel. People toured the classrooms and hangar, and viewe the state-of-the-art facility that will be used for instruction. Yuut Elitnaurviat is planning to begin the first 18-month cohort in February 2019. Interested parties can receive information about the program and the steps necessary to apply by going to http://yuut.org/aviation-maintenance/ . Yuut Elitnaurviat (YE) is a 501(c)(3) Corporation dedicated to providing training and education opportunities for the people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region. Yuut Elitnaurviat offers culturally relevant and regionally responsive training programs in response to the suffering regional economy and high unemployment rate. Building programs that combine intensive academics and on-the-job training, Yuut Elitnaurviat is the first regional vocational center to grace the tundra of Western Alaska. The Board of Directors of Yuut Elitnaurviat is made up of the Executive Directors or CEOs of some of the largest employers in the Y-K Delta. All of the programs and training we offer are done with the approval of, and often in conjunction with, the organizations that make up the Yuut Elitnaurviat board. Jeremy Osborne is the Director of Programs for Yuut Elitnaurviat - The People's Learning Center, Inc. in Bethel, AK. https://deltadiscovery.com/first-alaska-aircraft-mechanic-school-in-20-years-opens-in-bethel/ Back to Top ARSA Challenges NTSB Repair Station Revocation Order On March 6, the FAA said it had revoked the repair station certificate of Arlington, Texas-based AeroBearings "for improperly overhauling and repairing turbine engine bearings." AeroBearings appealed the revocation, and an administrative law judge reduced the sanction to an indefinite suspension of the repair station certificate pending compliance with requirements set by the company's FAA principal operations inspector. However, on May 11, the NTSB reversed that decision and reimposed the revocation. On October 22, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking the court to reverse the NTSB's revocation. In its original revocation, the FAA claimed that "AeroBearings routinely disassembles, inspects and overhauls turbine engine bearings without possessing the data necessary to perform key aspects of this safety critical work. The FAA further alleges that the repair station intentionally falsified documents certifying that these repairs were accomplished in accordance with appropriate data and federal safety regulations." The FAA said it received two complaints to its hotline "from customers who reported quality problems with bearings overhauled by the company." The agency further said that the work that AeroBearings did "exceeded their available data on bearings for a variety of aircraft engines..." These included engines manufactured by GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, and CFM International. "The FAA further alleges that because AeroBearings did not possess the necessary approved data to determine that the overhauled engine bearings met original manufacturers' design specifications, AeroBearings could not determine they were airworthy." ARSA's amicus brief explains FAA regulations and their intent to the Court of Appeals. According to ARSA, the FAA's order of revocation "alleged falsification of multiple maintenance releases based on incomplete information in block 12 of FAA Form 8130-3. During the original proceedings, the inspector agreed there was no false or incorrect information on any of the forms; the entries were simply incomplete." FAA regulations in FAR Parts 43 and 145 do not require inclusion of "maintenance record" information in block 12, ARSA explained. What is required by FAR 145.219(b) is a maintenance release, which is the 8130-3 approval for return to service or logbook entry. And FAR 43.9 requires provision of the complete maintenance record, which contains far more information than is required in the maintenance release. "A maintenance release is a certification that the work performed was accomplished correctly; it is not a complete maintenance record," the ARSA brief explained. If the NTSB's revocation order is upheld, warned ARSA executive director Sarah MacLeod, "we'll have to change the rules," which would involve an overwhelming amount of work that would take years to accomplish. Essentially, the NTSB's order means every maintenance provider that doesn't include the complete maintenance record in the maintenance release has been falsifying maintenance records for many years, she explained. Another key issue was the FAA's questioning of "the use of specialized equipment for which the company did not possess the original engineering data." Manufacturers of aircraft, engines, and components specify test and measurement equipment required for maintenance of their products. Some maintenance providers manufacture their own test and measurement tools and equipment, based on engineering data provided by the original manufacturer. As long as this equipment is shown to "achieve the appropriate result, there are no regulations that require retention of the data or recording of the demonstration used to make the showing," according to ARSA. In its brief, ARSA wrote: "The reasoning of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) threatens to upend the carefully crafted regulatory scheme implemented by the FAA and international civil aviation safety authorities around the world." ARSA believes that the NTSB's order of revocation should be reversed "based on this plain reading of the rules." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2018-10-31/arsa-challenges-ntsb-repair-station-revocation-order Back to Top Lockheed Martin Challenges Students to Create the Future of Flight BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today launched a new digital curriculum for high-school students, parents and educators as part of Generation Beyond, its free, online STEM education program used in thousands of U.S. classrooms. The new Generation Beyond: Aviation curriculum includes video challenges, a virtual field trip to Lockheed Martin's famous Skunk Works® and surprise STEM lab takeovers in select U.S. high schools. "Generation Beyond: Aviation uses the excitement of aerospace to inspire and educate high school students about STEM careers," said Michele Evans, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics business. "We're challenging high school students to think differently, take risks, innovate and collaborate - skills that are necessary to succeed in today's high-tech economy." The new Generation Beyond: Aviation curriculum puts students in the shoes of scientists and engineers to tackle real-world technology challenges - from fighting wildfires to making flight suits for military pilots safer. Students will learn about a range of cutting-edge technology areas, apply critical thinking skills, discover the exciting work that a STEM career can offer and hear directly from people who are doing that exciting work today. The curriculum's Virtual Field Trip: Think Like the Skunk Works® will premiere live from Palmdale, California on Tues., Dec. 4, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT. Students will travel virtually to Lockheed Martin's famous Skunk Works, go behind the scenes, and meet some of the "skunks" pioneering technologies that will change the future of flight. Educators, classrooms and communities can register for the virtual field trip at generationbeyondinschool.com. As part of Generation Beyond: Aviation, Lockheed Martin will also surprise select high school classrooms in multiple U.S. communities in early 2019 with STEM challenges. Lockheed Martin engineers and scientists will visit classrooms, work alongside students to complete "top-secret" missions and engage them in the interesting work STEM careers offer. Lockheed Martin launched Generation Beyond in 2016 in partnership with Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms. In addition to supporting STEM educators and developing career-focused STEM education curriculum like Generation Beyond, Lockheed Martin has directed $50 million in previously announced tax reform savings to fund STEM scholarships over the next five years, and $100 million to ensure our existing employees are prepared for jobs of the future through education and training opportunities. https://www.aviationpros.com/news/12435271/lockheed-martin-challenges-students-to-create-the-future-of-flight Back to Top AAR Launches Academic Partnership Western Michigan University's new partnership with AAR is expected to enhance instruction for students studying to become aircraft maintenance technicians, providing real-life work experience and an opportunity to be hired upon graduation. The newly launched AAR Eagle Career Pathway Program will expand the University's aircraft maintenance, repair and operating supply instruction, and include job shadowing and mentoring opportunities, as well as the sharing of proprietary software information with students interested in careers as aircraft maintenance technicians. Under this first-of-its-kind program for aviation maintenance, students will receive academic support, be monitored throughout their academic careers and have an opportunity to interview with AAR after graduation. https://www.mro-network.com/workforce/aar-launches-academic-partnership Back to Top FAA Working With Industry on High-altitude O2 Mandate The FAA is considering changing high-altitude oxygen equipment requirements, and a key business aviation executive involved in the issue expressed hope that "something is going to happen soon that is very positive." After a four-plus-year effort to gain attention on concerns surrounding mandates for high-altitude oxygen masks in business aircraft, Rick Miller, chief pilot for Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. and chairman of the NBAA High Altitude Supplemental Working Group (HASO), spoke at the Bombardier Safety Standdown on Tuesday. He said that the FAA met with leaders on the issue in May and opened a productive dialog on potential changes to FAR 91.211. That meeting resulted in a strategy on the issue, Miller said, adding he is encouraged that the FAA planned to act on their concerns, although he wasn't able to say just yet what the final result might be. Under 91.211, pilots must continuously wear an oxygen mask when flying above FL410 and when only one pilot is available at FL350. If two pilots are on the flight deck between FL350 and FL410, oxygen masks must be within reach. Data suggests that 60 percent to 80 percent of pilots do not comply with the requirement to don oxygen masks, he said, expressing a belief this number might actually be closer to 90 percent. Miller, who has written a paper and given a number of presentations on the issue, said noncompliance is not a matter of lazy or undisciplined pilots. Instead, he believes the risks of using the masks outweigh the benefits. Concerns arise over potential fatigue setting in from extended use, interference with cockpit resource management, interference with vision, possibility of contamination of oxygen masks, and possible health risks from prolonged exposure to 100 percent oxygen, among others. It was actually a noncompliant event that motivated Miller to begin the campaign for change. He learned of the event and subsequently reached out to the pilots involved. His concern was that he had to require his pilots to comply with a rule that none of them liked, but that he would have trouble continuing to mandate such compliance if others were not setting examples. This led to a dialog that expanded to others in the industry, and Miller eventually discussed his concerns at an OEM conference. NBAA subsequently worked with Miller to form the HASO working group, which has since been joined by numerous safety experts, business aircraft operators, and manufacturer representatives, among others. The group sent out a survey to pilots on the issue and received 2,000 responses, many with detailed comments, underscoring the interest in a change to 91.211. Miller believes the strong response caught the attention of the FAA, which led to the collaboration on the issue. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-10-31/faa-working-industry-high-altitude-o2-mandate Back to Top Delta Airlines and Tarrant County College partner for maintenance training Delta Airlines and Tarrant County College are joining forces to train aircraft maintenance technicians to meet the growing demand for workers. Tarrant County College was one of 37 schools chosen for the program, according to a news release. The program is offered at the Erma C. Johnson Hadley Northwest Center of Excellence for Aviation, Transportation & Logistics at Alliance Airport. Delta selected schools based an assessment of equipment and facilities, the level of hands-on training and the quality of teaching. Delta will provide aircraft components and systems to be used as training aids along with technical data and lesson plans. Graduates will have enhanced opportunities to apply for positions with the company. https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article220904915.html Back to Top American Airlines Lauds DJI's Mavic 2 Enterprise for Drastically Improving Plane Inspections American Airlines and the world's leading drone manufacturer DJI presented a strong case for the drone-based airplane inspections at a media event in Dallas yesterday. According to Dronelife, the airline is both confident and impressed with DJI's Mavic 2 Enterprise platform and its ability to reliably inspect aircraft and enhance the safety of workers by taking them out of harm's way. The Head of Emerging Technologies for AA, Phil Easter, said the airline "has a rich culture of innovation," adding the aviation giant even sponsors the HackWars event in which AA's developers, designers, and IT experts battle it out over the course of 24 hours to create the most impressive piece of programming. Two years ago, AA's lead drone integrator Lorie Grabham won the contest and presented her UAV-centric pitch for aircraft inspections. The idea is actually quite simple. Since maintenance for an aircraft typically takes between 16 and 20 hours to complete, with three to four technicians using bucket lifts to inspect the plane, automating the process via drone to both reduce risk to workers and increase efficiency is not only logical, but entirely feasible. "We have over 1,000 aircraft technicians here in Dallas, and over 12,000 worldwide," said AA's Vice President of Operations and Industry Affairs, Lorne Cass. "This is a tool of the future that should be in every technician's toolbox." Mavic 2 Enterprise, which officially launched Monday, can reportedly reduce the laborious task of properly inspecting one airplane to half the time. Both AA and DJI worked on this platform together, combing the airline's machine learning and DJI's hardware to circle an airplane, identify abnormalities in its structure, zoom in on areas of focus, and relay any important information to technicians on the ground. "The new features of the Mavic 2E-the speed, the quietness, the powerful camera-really make this possible," said Principal Architect of AA's Emerging Technologies group, Spencer Kaiser. "The ability to be serverless is critical for us to make the application work in the hangar, which often doesn't have connectivity. And the SDKs (software development kits) from Apple and from DJI were incredibly beneficial." Let's take a look at this drone-based inspection model in action, shall we? DJI - Mavic 2 Enterprise - American Airlines: Looking at New Tools Though the journey for DJI and American Airlines to develop a functioning prototype for this particular use case wasn't entirely smooth, the timeline to completion was shorter than initially expected. "While this was still a challenging project, we were able to get it done in weeks rather than months," Kaiser explained. The goal now is to transition the system from its early days to actual production and standardized implementation. In practical terms, that means garnering data from technicians on how to refine the machine learning aspects of the platform, and fully automating the circling of the drone around the airplane in order to make wide-scale integration even easier. http://www.thedrive.com/tech/24580/american-airlines-lauds-djis-mavic-2-enterprise-for-drastically-improving-plane-inspections Back to Top The SpaceX Big Texas Spaceport Is Coming. But Will It Have Anything To Launch? The driver stands in the shadow of his ten-wheel dump truck, which sits empty on Boca Chica Beach, deep in South Texas. After working all day at the site, he finally has a moment to relax and snap a picture of the beautiful view over the Gulf of Mexico to send to his wife. In clumsy but functional Spanish, I ask about the load of dirt that used to be in his truck. Did it go to the SpaceX launch site? There aren't many destinations near this wind-swept beach, so the answer is obvious. Yes, he replies with a sharp grin as he pantomimes a rocket tearing into space with the blade of his hand. Here is history happening in the most banal way-a load of earth meant to stabilize the ground so that Elon Musk's company can develop and test powerful rockets that will leave that Earth far, far behind. One truck of 14 expected to unload that day as SpaceX completes its mission to bring in 300,000 cubic yards of soil. The South Texas launch site represents aspects of SpaceX's most ambitious and visionary agenda. Hoping to launch large rockets at a fast cadence, company officials wanted a spaceport that didn't have to vie for launch times. Instead of waiting in line with others at the increasingly busy Cape Canaveral or the government-focused pads at Vandenberg Air Force Base, SpaceX built its own. Although the first dirt deliveries came in 2016, two years later the fruits of this effort are not immediately apparent. Or impressive. A trapezoidal mound rises behind the facility's fences. It looks more like an ancient burial cairn than a monument of the new space age. If you want to know what's happening along Route 4, talk to the Border Patrol agents manning the road's single lonely checkpoint. These dirt runs, they say, have only recently restarted. As proof they point to the grass that grows atop parts of the mound. In 2016, SpaceX was on a hot streak, with crewed capsules and satellites leaving Florida and California and an ambitious timetable to launch large rockets that could reach Mars. But then a rocket exploded on the launchpad in Florida, destroying the payload and damaging the pad In response, the company refocused its efforts on returning to flight and, soon after, fulfilling the NASA contract to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station. This led to two years of limbo in Texas. (SpaceX's strategy of cleverly using its existing programs to speed the engineering of future projects has worked very well. But when a delay hits one, the effects ripple through the system, and other timelines suffer along with it.) SpaceX now says it is on track for testing a new, giant Big Falcon Rocket in 2019. According to company officials, "initial hop tests will be similar to those of SpaceX's [test lander] Grasshopper and Falcon 9 development programs" that took place at SpaceX's facilities in McGregor, Texas, in 2012 and 2013. Those tests readied the rocket's second stage for takeoffs and also for the company's groundbreaking controlled landings and rocket reuse-something the BFR must do on a much larger scale SpaceX officials say that McGregor and the new South Texas site both will be involved in the BFR development, which makes sense given the capability to test the Raptor engines at McGregor. The company can complete hop tests with the Big Falcon in South Texas that are higher in altitude than ever attempted with Grasshopper or Falcon 9. Signs on the Beach Up the road from the beach, another SpaceX project grows behind chain link. One area has enough rows of solar panels to generate more than 600 kilowatts. Nearby, a pair of workers slather white paint on a cylinder that must measure hundreds of feet long. It appears to be a cryogenic fuel-storage tank. The white color deflects light and helps keep fuel or oxidizers cool, even under the hot Texan sun. A shout over the fence to the painters confirms this is a tank. It also earns a visit from guards who arrive abruptly in a white security truck. "Private property," the guard says, still on the near side of polite, since no trespassing is actually occurring. The white truck follows me until I drive past the last of the SpaceX facilities on Route 4. A follow-up query sent to SpaceX the next day identifies the tank as part of the test equipment needed for BFR. The enormity of the tanks-95,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 80,000 gallons of methane-reflect the size of the rocket that will be tested here. "SpaceX has now received the final major ground system tank needed to support initial test flights of the Big Falcon Spaceship," says SpaceX spokesman Sean Pitt. "The ongoing construction of our launchpad in South Texas is proceeding well." Just up the road from the launchpad (and a safe distance from any potential pad explosion), SpaceX also installed a pair of 30-foot parabolic antennas. These are S-band tracking stations, veterans of space shuttle launches. SpaceX relocated then from Kennedy Space Center and says the dishes will track crewed Dragon flights from Florida that are expected to take place next year, as well as the BFR testing. SpaceX has not yet made a final decision on where orbital flights will occur with BFR. In January, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell acknowledged that much more work would need to be done to make the Texas test site into a full-fledged launch center. SpaceX's plan is to have Falcon Heavy launches from Florida supply funds to develop BFR, shifting the South Texas spaceport's use farther into the future Still, there is progress. The dirt mound grows. The trucks continue their repetitive crawl along Route 4. And although there's nothing yet for the new antennas to track, their appearance is a welcome sign of things to come-whatever those things turn out to be. https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a24485421/spacex-brownsville-texas-spaceport/ Curt Lewis