NIAR, NCMS pioneer KC-135 sustainment program

Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) are supporting partners with the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC) to establish a KC-135 Stratotanker innovation testbed.

A retired KC-135 air refueling aircraft was flown to McConnell Air Force Base and delivered to NIAR to establish the Sustainment Technologies, Research, and Automation for Transformative Operations Testbed (STRATO-T). The plane will be located at the former site of Boeing Wichita, Air Capital Flight Line, which shares runway access with the base.

STRATO-T will be available for government, industry, and academia to study, develop, and test innovations for reducing legacy aircraft operations costs.

The aircraft will maintain its flight-representative configuration to facilitate ground evaluations and studies of innovative sustainment, energy efficiency, and aircraft automation concepts. It’ll be used to generate digital models to improve long-term supportability of similar aircraft and advance technologies such as digital engineering, predictive data analysis, and advanced manufacturing. https://www.amc.af.mil; https://www.ncms.org; https://www.ustranscom.mil; https://www.wichita.edu/niar

AFI KLM E & M inducts first P&W GTF engine

Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) has inducted its first Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan (GTF) engine. AFI KLM E&M joined the Pratt & Whitney GTF maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) network in 2022 with disassembly, assembly, and test capability for PW1500G model engines for the Airbus A220 family. In 2021, Air France selected 60 A220-300 aircraft with an option of adding up to 60 more, powered exclusively by GTF engines. The airline currently operates 24 of these aircraft, with an additional 37 on order.

“With the induction of our first GTF engine, we’re growing our capabilities with today’s most advanced technologies,” says Anne Brachet, AFI KLM E&M executive vice president.

In the past four years, the GTF MRO network has more than doubled in size. There are currently 13 active GTF MRO engine centers worldwide with an additional six expected online by 2025. https://www.afiklmem.com; https://www.prattwhitney.com

Mobile maintenance kits

Based on customer input, Aviation Mobile Maintenance Kits from Snap-on Industrial are built for tool control, organization, and visibility, enabling effective auditing for International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) and safety management systems. They come with sliding drawers or pallets that can accommodate foam cutouts, allowing users to quickly identify missing tools.

The kits are available in an all-weather hard case for protection against the elements or a soft-sided bag to prevent damage to aircraft interiors.

Technicians can choose from the aircraft on ground (AOG) Large Mobile Tool Kit with more than 200 essential tools or the AOG Medium Mobile Tool Kit with more than 170 tools. https://b2b.snapon.com/aogkits