jeudi 22 août 2013

Why Some Airlines Outsource Avionic Repairs

By Tara Daniels


If you take a trip to any modern airfield you will be amazed at the variety of aircraft that can be seen there. On the commercial side there will be both long and short haul aircraft, passenger and cargo planes and even small privately owned aircraft. You might even get to see military aircraft also operating from that location. They might look like different aircraft, but they can all suffer from similar problems. Some of these problems will necessitate avionic repairs.

An aircraft is simply just a complicated piece of machinery. If you ever glimpse into a plane's cockpit you will notice how complicated it all looks. There are gauges and lights, also levers and switches. The pilot and his crew can control and monitor what is happening to the plane with all of these items.

All of the bits in the cockpit are linked electrically to various systems. The purpose of the various systems are numerous, One could be for engine management or fuel control, and another could deal with cabin lighting. They all are gathered together under the field of avionics. This word is a combination of aviation and electronics.

Quite often the technicians will have also served in the military, and from there will have been involved with more complicated military systems. These might well have involved offensive and defensive weapon capabilities. Many feel that these systems are purely military, but consider certain airlines also have a defensive decoy facility.

As with all technologies there can be times when things go wrong. The engineers have to identify which part is causing the problem. Sometimes it can be a mechanical or a wiring problem, but more often than not the problem lies with a control box.

The service engineers will remove the defective item and replace it with a working one. They will test the system and declare the aircraft fit to fly. The malfunctioned box can then be assessed. They might even have their own dedicated rectification facility, or most likely it has to be sent elsewhere.

Sometimes it is easier to send the unserviceable part back to the manufacturer, but this is not always the case. Quite often the manufacturer will give authorisation to other engineering firms, especially on a different continent. This engineering firm will have all of the appropriate documentation and licences required by the aviation authorities, which will guarantee the level of their rectification work.

The control box arrives at the facility and is booked in, only then can the technicians carry out diagnostic testing. They are trying to find out which part caused the malfunction, and more importantly why. This is helpful in preventing any further instances of this fault. The broken item is replaced and once reassembly has taken place the control box is subjected to further testing, which will prove the serviceability of the unit.

Providing the final testing has been passed the paperwork is completed. This tells the customer what avionic repairs were carried out, the results of the testing and also if any required modifications were implemented. The unit and relevant paperwork is then couriered back to the airline.




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