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Mar 29, 2025 | 
avm-mag.com | Ian Harbison
Non-destructive testing (NDT) has always had an important role to play in aviation production and maintenance. It has had to adapt to examine new materials and processes but has also developed technology to improve fault detection and analysis. Ian Harbison reports. As well as basic visual inspection by eye or with magnification, there are a number of other techniques in common use to inspect a variety of components in a range of different materials.
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Nov 20, 2024 | 
avm-mag.com | Ian Harbison
The freighter conversion market, especially for narrowbody aircraft, is in a state of post-pandemic depression, mainly caused by external pressures. Ian Harbison found out more from some leading players. According to the Airbus Global Market Forecast 2024, the world freighter fleet in service will reach 3,360 aircraft by 2043, up from 2,220 in 2023, with the 2,240 deliveries split between 1,140 for growth and 1,330 for replacement, and 890 remaining in service.
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Nov 5, 2024 | 
airmedandrescue.com | Ian Harbison
Hoist operations are not restricted to search and rescue (SAR), Ian Bonthrone, Managing Director of Air Rescue UK, pointed out, dropping engineers onto wind turbines being an example of other work. What is different with SAR is the environmental conditions that can come with the task – for example, night, poor visibility, high winds, rain and choppy seas.
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Aug 1, 2024 | 
airmedandrescue.com | Ian Harbison
In the past, emergency responders would have used bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation until arrival at an intensive care unit (ICU) and transfer of the patient to a large and complicated ventilator, explained Anne-Marie Willems, Application Specialist at WEINMANN Emergency. However, BVM requires one person to hold a mask tightly over the patient’s mouth while another squeezes a rubber bag to force oxygen or air into the lungs.
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Jul 2, 2024 | 
airmedandrescue.com | Ian Harbison
Texas Department of Public SafetyThe Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS*) is probably the largest public safety uncrewed aircraft vehicle (UAV) operator in the USA, its uncrewed aerial system (UAS) program having grown since its inception in 2017 to 368 air vehicles and 325 pilots. In 2023, a record year, there were 51,674 flights that accumulated 12,344 flight hours.
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May 21, 2024 | 
avm-mag.com | Ian Harbison
Maintenance personnel, flight crew, and cabin crew are generally seen as carrying the banner of aviation safety. But what if that attitude could spread throughout an entire airline? Japan Airlines is a prime example, as Ian Harbison discovered when he visited the airline’s Safety Promotion Center in Tokyo.
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Mar 14, 2024 | 
avm-mag.com | Ian Harbison
The landing gear MRO business is in a state of flux at the moment. With a typical overhaul interval of 10 years or 25,000 cycles, demand can be forecast with some accuracy based on historical aircraft delivery patterns. However, while the high utilization of low-cost carriers means that the period can be reduced to eight years, the pattern has been further distorted by many airlines having delayed maintenance during the pandemic but are now back flying at previous rates.
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Aug 29, 2023 | 
aerospacetechreview.com | Ian Harbison
Biomimetics is the science (or art) of engineering natural phenomena. Sharks are known to be extremely efficient swimmers and this is helped, in part, by their skin, which is covered in denticles, or small riblets. These smooth the flow of water and reduce drag. As the science of hydrodynamics and that of aerodynamics are similar, this has been of interest to aviation for some time but has taken on a new lease of life with the increased push towards the reduction of CO2 emissions.
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Aug 29, 2023 | 
aerospacetechreview.com | Ian Harbison
Tom Samuel, CEO of Comply365, says that the move to a single platform for authoring and distribution of operations manuals is a recent trend. The overall business need for airlines is the need to streamline their operational content management processes — and they prefer a single platform for authoring and revision management, as well as distribution and compliance tracking for all types of operational manuals and to make them easily accessible to customers across all departments.
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Aug 29, 2023 | 
aerospacetechreview.com | Ian Harbison
Various IT systems and applications are being used to improve aircraft engine maintenance and overhaul. Ian Harbison spoke to three major players about their different approaches. Firstly, we look at the views of a software supplier with Rob Mather, vice president, aerospace and defense industries at IFS. He says the engine maintenance market, for IFS, comes from two angles: the first is the engine operator/owner, the other is the engine maintainer, either the operator or an MRO.
