Maintenance

Intelligent wing monitors load, structural health Researchers at the German Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and Systems Reliability (LBF) are convinced that next-generation lightweight aircraft designs will require intelligent load-monitoring technologies to make sure that the residual fatigue life and structural health of an aircraft can be realistically detected or calculated. Read full story

Transducers take the load off bolts In an ideal world, each bolted joint connection in an aircraft or spacecraft would be fastened to achieve precisely the desired load and all bolts belonging to a specific application area would get a consistent load to ensure even force distribution. Read full story

Safety at no cost If mandatory safety systems fail, they can cause significant disruption to an airline with subsequent repair costs, loss of revenue, and possibly loss of customer confidence. To avoid this, maintenance generally has to be rigorous—but there are exceptions and STG Aerospace’s SafTGlo photoluminescent (PL) floorpath marking system is one of them. Read full story

Lufthansa Technik keeps the fleet flying Lufthansa Technik is responsible for keeping the Lufthansa fleet in shape. It was facing a huge challenge due to required fuselage inspections of all Boeing 737s prescribed by Boeing as a consequence of the “Aloha” accident in 1998. Read full story