Bell Aerospace Services Begins Work on U.S. Marine Corps Reset Maintenance Contract
March 9, 2009
BEDFORD, TEXAS (Mar. 4, 2009) – Bell Aerospace Services Inc. (BellAero), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that it has begun work on a multi-year contract with a projected total value of $173 million, as a subcontract member of a team led by PKL Services Inc of Poway, Calif. The team is currently providing selected organizational-level maintenance (Reset) for Lot 3 and Lot 4 of U.S. Marine Corps rotary wing aircraft.
“We are very proud that U.S. Marine Corps has selected the team led by PKL Services for this crucial task of aircraft reset and field maintenance support,” said Randy Pilling, BellAero Support Services general manager. “This award further validates the confidence that the U.S. Marine Corps and PKL Services have in the value that BellAero offers.”
“This is also the first contracted opportunity for BellAero to prove our capability to support Boeing and Sikorsky platforms and we are eager to show how well we can perform,” Pilling added. “It is indeed an honor and privilege to play a vital role in supporting the USMC as part of the PKL Services Team.”
The primary goal of the USMC Reset Project contract is to optimize the material condition of U.S. Marine Corps aircraft that are participating in the Global War On Terror. The Reset Project employs a program of conditional inspections and phased maintenance which includes inspection, cleaning, corrosion treatment, servicing, disassembly, reassembly, repair and select mandatory replacement of parts.
A secondary goal of the Reset Project is to allow civilian contractors to reduce the maintenance burden on active-duty Marine maintainers by performing scheduled and unscheduled organizational level maintenance. The PKL Services, JK Hill and BellAero team will perform this work on both Lot 3 aircraft (AH-1W, UH-1N, CH-53D/E) and Lot 4 aircraft (CH-46E) at multiple locations worldwide.
Bell Aerospace Services provides competitive turnkey aviation maintenance and support services to the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and U.S. Special Operations Command on multiple rotary wing and tiltrotor platforms throughout the world. In June 2005, BellAero acquired US Helicopter, widely regarded as the premier maintenance and modification center for H-1 helicopters in the world. Over the last fifteen years, US Helicopter has refurbished more than four hundred UH-1 helicopters and installed more than one hundred and fifty Huey II upgrade kits.
== About Bell Helicopter
Bell Helicopter, a wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., is an industry-leading producer of commercial and military, manned and unmanned vertical lift aircraft and the pioneer of the revolutionary tilt rotor aircraft. Globally recognized for world-class customer service, innovation and superior quality, Bell’s global workforce serves customers flying Bell aircraft in more than 120 countries.
GE Aviation Moving To Apply Ceramic Matrix Composites to the Heart of Future Engines
March 9, 2009
A Technology Leap
EVENDALE, Ohio – March 9, 2008 – It is no simple feat introducing
durable, lightweight composite components into the “hot section” of a
flying jet engine. But GE Aviation is achieving this elusive,
technical milestone.
The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team’s F136 development engine for
the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) contains third-stage, low-pressure
turbine vanes made by GE from ceramic matrix composites (CMC). This
could lead to the first commercial use of CMCs in a jet engine’s hot
section (combustor and turbine areas) when a F136-powered JSF begins
flight testing in 2010.
CMC development is a key initiative at GE Aviation, and an enabling
technology in several of GE’s private and government-funded engine
demonstrator programs now underway. Also, CMC components are a key
feature of GE’s eCore program, the cornerstone for the company’s
next-generation of jet engines for narrow-body, regional, and business
jets.
CMCs are made of silicon carbide ceramic fibers and ceramic resin,
manufactured through a highly sophisticated process, and further
enhanced with proprietary coatings.
They are highly desirable for jet engine components for two main
reasons: 1. They are lightweight – one-third the density of metal –
providing weight reduction and thus, better fuel efficiency. 2. They
are durable and more heat resistant than metals, requiring less
cooling air, and thereby improving overall engine efficiency. Simply
put, removing cooling air allows a jet engine to run at higher thrust
and/or more efficiently.
GE Aviation and GE’s Corporate Research Center have pursued CMC
technology for more than 15 years. Several years ago, GE Aviation ran
a government demonstrator engine with a combustor liner and
low-pressure turbine blades. GE Aviation produces CMC at its facility
in Newark, Delaware.
“Developing new jet engine materials takes many years of investment
and commitment,” said Robert Schafrik, GE Aviation’s general manager
of materials and process engineering. “But the benefits can provide a
considerable competitive advantage. CMCs are a new frontier that will
raise the bar in jet engine performance.”
GE Aviation has already led the jet propulsion industry in advancing
composites in the “cold section” of jet engines with polymeric matrix
components made of carbon fiber and epoxy resin. In 1995, GE
introduced the first carbon fiber composite front fan blade in an
airline engine with its GE90, which powers the Boeing 777. For the
new GEnx engine, which will power the Boeing 787, GE will introduce
both composite fan blades, using the same fibers, resin, and
manufacturing processes as the GE90 blade, and a fiber-braided
composite fan case. Both will provide dramatic weight savings.
Schafrik sees a day when CMC components will populate many areas in
the engine’s hot section, including high- and low-pressure turbine
vanes and blades, turbine shrouds, and combustor liners. For example,
CFM International, a 50/50 joint company of Snecma (SAFRAN GROUP) and
GE, will run a Leap-X demonstrator engine in 2010 with CMC components
as CFM pursues technologies for next-generation engines for narrowbody
aircraft. Also, CMC combustor liners are under consideration for
future GEnx production models.
“Over the next 15 years, jet propulsion advances at GE could help to
lay the groundwork for a broader use of CMCs across several industrial
sectors,” said Roger Doughty, manager of CMC Design and Technology at
GE Aviation.
Happy Birthday, LAN
March 9, 2009
The Chilean based network airline is celebrating its 80th birthday with a number of events. The airline was founded in 1929 by Arturo Merino Benitez and carried 762 passengers in its first year. Today the airline carries 13 million passengers and 660,000 tons of cargo. In 2008 it carried 4.7 million domestic passengers, up from 2.8 million in 2003.
Avianca takes delivery of its first A330-200 in Toulouse, France
March 9, 2009
The A330-200 will operate Madrid-Bogota and Cali nonstop as well as Barcelona-Bogota. The A330-200 fleet will be used to expand the airline’s strategic long haul markets such as the United States and South America.
Chile reports summer season tourist arrivals were up 6%
March 9, 2009
The Chilean Tourism Service Office reports that while non regional markets were down (as was to be expected because of the global crisis), regional tourism helped to increase the total number of tourists to 780,000 during the season, up 6% from last year. Argentina, with 353,000 tourists was the largest contributor, having grown 29%. Out of the region tourists were down, US visitors were 50,900 with a drop of 23.1%. Canada with 13,400 was down 11.1%; Europeans totaled 106,500, down 11.4%.
Copa to increase frequencies to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
March 9, 2009
Panama’s “model airline” has announced that it is increasing its five weekly to daily flights to Punta Cana. This will make it 39 weekly flights between Panama and the Dominican Republic. The airline is also considering additional destinations which it currently doesn’t serve, like Puerto Plata and Samana.
Delta Airlines to add service to Bermuda and launches Haiti
March 9, 2009
The world’s largest airline is adding service from New York’s La Guardia airport to Bermuda on May 22. The service complements existing service from Atlanta and Boston to Bermuda. It is also reinstating service to Port au Prince, Haiti from New York’s JFK on June 20.
Aero Republica had the best on time performance in 2008
March 9, 2009
According to the Colombian Civil Aviation Authority, the Copa affiliate had the highest on time performance in 2008, with 82% domestic and 91% international. It carried a record 365,000 passengers in 2009 with a December increase of 46%.
Pluna reports its best summer season in 10 years
March 9, 2009
The CEO of the “born again” airline, Matias Campiani, reported to the media that the airline had its best season in 10 years this summer. He also said: “2009 remains a big question mark, nobody knows what the impact of the global crisis will be in Latin America but we are going ahead with our plans cautiously but prepared for a good year for Pluna.” He also stated the airline is looking at adding service to Chile and Paraguay, serving domestic destinations.
Costa Rica: the most competitive tourism destination
March 9, 2009
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), in its “Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009”, Costa Rica leads all Latin American countries with the highest tourism competitiveness, for the third time since the study has been produced. It also states that Latin America has improved its tourism competitiveness significantly. Of the 133 countries in the study, Costa Rica ranked 42nd, followed by Brazil (45th), Mexico (51st), Puerto Rico (53rd), Panama (55th), Chile (57th), Uruguay (63rd), Argentina (65th), Guatemala (70th) and Colombia 72nd. At the bottom of the list are Venezuela (104th), Bolivia (114th) and Paraguay (122nd). On a global basis Switzerland, Austria and Germany are the top three.
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