D.O.M. Blogs

I was recently asked by a customer, “Is it possible to wash my Pratt & Whitney engine too much?” The operator considered his inquiry to be silly when, in fact, it’s a very valid question. In fact, it’s important to periodically clean your engine as a part of preventive maintenance. And, if you operate your aircraft in adverse environments, such as air pollution and salt-water exposure, it’s very important to increase your wash schedule. Here's why.

Bombardier has released Service Bulletin (SB) for all Challenger 600 model aircraft. SB ATA 55-11 titled "SPECIAL CHECK/MODIFICATION – PASSENGER DOOR –EPOXY RAMP REMOVAL AND CORROSION PREVENTION."

According to the SB ATA 55-11:

I put this in the news section of the July/August issue of D.O.M. magazine (which will be mailing soon), but felt it was important to get the word out on my blog as well.

The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum will be setting aside a space at its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center for a Wall of Honor. This memorial will have names on an airfoil-shaped wall along with aviation heroes like the Wright brothers, Jimmy Doolittle, Neil Armstrong, Alan Shepard, Amelia Lockhart, John Glenn and Jim Lovell.

Contributed by aircraft parts consignment experts, Bob Tooker and Susan Masek

I was sitting down watching a NASCAR race recently and it struck me how the sport places a huge emphasis on its maintenance professionals!

Every NASCAR fan has his or her favorite driver. But their knowledge typically doesn’t stop with the driver. NASCAR does a good job of educating the public about the drivers’ crew chiefs – the top mechanics for the teams – at every opportunity it gets. As a result, not only does the typical NASCAR fan know who the crew chief is for their favorite driver, they likely know the crew chiefs for many of the drivers on the track.

The Helicopter Association International (HAI) Heli-Expo 2012 is next week. The staff of D.O.M. and HeliMx magazines will be there!

We will be in Dallas, TX February 12-14 attending Heli-Expo 2012. Heli-Expo is a great opportunity so learn about the latest helicopter maintenance-related equipment, products and services. Our team will be out in full force scouring the show floor for information relevant to our readers. 

Contributed by Chuck Zahnow, Airframe Tech Rep

The normal engine startup sequence for Citation 560XL aircraft removes power from the avionics system, causing it to drop offline. The reason for this is the avionics are isolated from the start system. SB560XL-24-14R2 allows the avionics to stay online by using the APU generator during engine start.

I recently asked a customer who logs many hours flying in international skies what he thought was most important when landing on foreign soil. His reply was simply, “make sure your SAFA manual is up to speed.” After a little bit of research and a quick Google search, I found the following link that does a good job explaining the EU Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) programme.

Most of us in aviation are aware of FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt’s arrest this past weekend on drunk driving charges. Babbitt has been placed on administrative leave while FAA and DOT officials try to figure out what to do.