September-October 2022 - 8

IN D U S T R Y INSP E C T IO N
GE Aviation Opens New Asia-Pacific
Service Centre in Australia
GE Aviation opened an $8 million state-of-the-art facility in Australia to provide
maintenance, repair and overhaul services for customers across the Asia-Pacific
region. The new $8 million Asia-Pacific Service Centre will be the largest GE Aviation
systems service center in the Asia-Pacific region. The facility supports avionics, flight
management, electrical power and DOWTY propeller systems on various aircraft
including the Boeing 737 and
787, Q400 and F-50 regional
aircraft, and the Royal
Australian Air Force's fleet
of C-130J Super Hercules
and C-27J Spartan Military
Transport Aircraft. GE
Australia Country Leader
Sam Maresh said, " A key
part of GE Aviation's global
customer services network,
this truly world-class facility
offers cutting-edge technology
and highly skilled technicians
at a one-stop shop for aviation customers from across the Asia-Pacific
region. We are delighted to mark a new chapter in our Australian operations and
our near two-decade relationship with Brisbane Airport with the opening of a
leading aviation servicing facility that creates fresh opportunities for GE Aviation. "
www.aviationpros.com/21279861
Researchers Develop IceShedding
Coating That's 100X
Stronger than Others
A University of Houston mechanical engineer has
developed a sprayable ice-shedding material that is
100 times stronger than any others. The new durable
coating material has been tested by Boeing under
erosive rain conditions at 385 miles per hour and has
outperformed current state-of-the-art aerospace coating
technologies. The principle of the new " fracturecontrolled
material " lies in the fact that for detachment
of any external solid object from a surface (like ice
from an airplane wing), force must be applied, and
that force will inevitably lead to formation of some
cracks at the interface. These cracks, or fractures, grow
until full detachment of the object from the surface.
Through a new concept developed by Hadi Ghasemi,
Cullen Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering,
detachment can be accurately controlled and accelerated.
" We developed a new concept in which, through
material design, you can significantly accelerate the
crack formation and growth and easily remove external
objects from the surface. This concept is implemented
to develop materials that are highly durable,
and ice does not attach to these materials, " reports
Ghasemi in the cover article of Materials Horizons.
Ghasemi's research team includes his doctoral student,
Sina Nazifi.
www.aviationpros.com/21280420
Airman's Innovation Saves Time, Money
Thousands of hours are spent each year removing
and installing a boom cover on a KC-135 Stratotanker
aircraft - hours that could be used elsewhere. One 100th
Maintenance Squadron Airman has invented a new boom
cover tool that has
the potential to save
the U.S. Air Force
40,000 man-hours
and approximately
$1 million per year.
" I noticed as soon
as I got to Mildenhall
that removing
and installing the
boom cover was
tedious and time consuming, " said Airman 1st Class Jacob
Helzer, 100th MXS hydraulics maintenance journeyman.
" Removing the cover the conventional way involves
calling the Aerospace Ground Equipment backshop
for an aircraft stand and requires two Airmen and a
substantial amount of time. " The current conventional
method hinders daily operations, whereas the innovative
solution Helzer created is easier, takes less time and
lessens the impact on the flow of operations. Helzer,
using his skill and knowledge with 3-D printing, created
a prototype called the " Boom Cover Tool. " The tool was
manufactured with Helzer's 3-D printer and resembles a
butterfly net on the end of a retractable pole with a hoop
mechanism that tightens and loosens the net covering on
the opposite end. " Once I created the prototype, I brought
it to my section and tested it out, " Helzer said. " A 30-minute
job became a one-minute job with the Boom Cover Tool. "
The Boom Cover Tool greatly reduces the number of manhours
needed every time a cover needs to be removed or
installed on an aircraft and the cover itself better protects
the boom pod during adverse weather conditions. Each
Boom Cover Tool costs roughly $200 to produce.
Written by Airman 1st Class Alvaro Villagomez,100th Air
Refueling Wing Public Affairs
www.aviationpros.com/21278655
8 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
http://www.aviationpros.com/21279861 http://www.aviationpros.com/21280420 http://www.aviationpros.com/21278655
September-October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September-October 2022
