The Aviation Industry has had to jump over many hurdles during recent years due to ongoing struggles with the economy and pressure to meet environmental responsibilities. Aircraft maintenance is the inspection, repair, overhaul and modification of an aircraft or its components. Ensuring that your company has a strong aircraft maintenance program is vital so that your business runs effectively. Cutting corners when it comes to ensuring aircraft is safe is a risky business, which is why businesses should make sure that they commission high-quality machinery that is maintained to a high level. At the same time, aircraft manufactures understand the financial constraints that most businesses have, so will employ the most cost-effective processes to provide aircraft parts and maintenance services.
Aircraft Parts Suppliers
Your trusted parts supplier should offer essential equipment to build and maintain your aircraft and they will often provide calibration services. It is good practice to buy your equipment from suppliers that have a quick turnaround when it comes to replacing faulty parts. It is usually best that you get parts from the same supplier so that they are fully compatible with one another.
Bodies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICOA) society, will ensure that companies in the aviation industry adhere to the Airworthiness Directive, which certifies aircraft and aircraft parts to be safe. The ICOA will hand out approvals ale licenses only when a manufacturer or business is fully compliant and there is no risk to anyone involved in making, flying or travelling on an aircraft. With this in mind, when starting up your own aviation business, it is important to carry out research into suppliers that can offer a reliable service for your personal business requirements.
Essential Aircraft Parts
Working with trusted suppliers and manufacturers will give you peace of mind that your aircraft is running smoothly and puts customer safety first. If a part of your aircraft is showing signs of failure, you will need a company that will react quickly and resolve your issue before you begin to lose money. We all know about the obvious parts of an aircraft that need maintenance, wings, tail, fuselage and propellers for example, but it is the small components that we often don’t see that are most important.
Flowmeters
A flowmeter is an essential part of an aircraft and within that meter, there are small components that all require maintenance. A flowmeter is a device that is used when measuring gases and liquids that move through a pipe or line.
Varieties of flow meter include:
- Variable Flowmeters
- Turbine Flowmeters
- Positive Displacement Flowmeters
- Open Channel Flowmeters
- Mass Flowmeters
- Velocity Flowmeters
There are many components within flowmeters that will all need servicing. Investing in high-quality parts will mean that you may need to not have to fork out for replacements on a regular basis, but, nevertheless, inspections are required.
Other components that need regular attention are:
Each aircraft will vary in the number of components that it uses and how often each part will need replacing, but they all have one thing in common, in that they will only fly safely if all of the parts are in full working order.
Inspections
Once you have all of your parts commissioned and your aircraft is built, it is essential that maintenance on these parts and finished products are inspected on a regular basis. Regular inspections will allow your business to stay on top of faults, dirt and any debris that could damage the functions of your aircraft.
Many suppliers and manufacturers will have a servings and calibration service, in which they will offer mobile repair services and structural repairs when needed. This type of service can be essential to certain businesses.
Aircraft Maintenance Checks
The Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) in the US will ensure that inspections, as explained above, will be carried out by airlines and the civil aircraft industry periodically.
Aircraft maintenance checks are usually carried out at the following milestones of an aircraft:
Check A occurs at every 400-500 flight hours or 200-300 take off and landings.
Check B takes part every 6-8 months and requires up to 180 man hours to complete.
Check C takes place every 20-24 months or after a certain amount of flying hours as directed by the manufacturer of the aircraft. This check is more in depth than check C and requires a closer look at individual components of the aircraft.
Check D is an extensive check that is carried out every six years. This check involves a full strip down of the aircraft to ensure that each component is in full working order and is working in harmony with other parts of it.
Some of the checks required include the following:
- cleaning aircraft parts
- application of corrosion prevention compounds
- lubrication of components
- draining fuel systems
- checking hydraulics
- checking pneumatic systems
- replacing faulty or damaged components
- looking out for general wear and tear
With so many checks to be a carried out and strict FFA and ICOA guidelines in place, it is vital that businesses have a full schedule of when checks are due. This will ensure that they follow full procedures and will also have everything recorded in the necessary documentation.
The Benefits of Using a Maintenance Company
- Lower operating costs and the potential to keep aircraft in circulation for longer
- Improved service availability and predictability
- Streamlined operations will allow for effective resource management
- Trust in a company that can consistently deliver, so there are no nerves or doubts that you may not get an issue fixed quickly
- Seamless integration with your current business systems
- Confidence that your aircraft and aircraft parts are meeting industry standards and are officially airworthy (the ability for aircraft to deliver a safe flight)
Aircraft maintenance companies, whether in the civil aviation field to the tourist field, are part of a $135.1Billion industry that needs to keep moving and working with businesses to push the boundaries, when it comes to improving aviation.