International Aviation Composites: Experts in rotor blade repair

This sponsored article was created by Perception journal, the sponsored content material division of MHM Publishing, on behalf of Worldwide Aviation Composites.

Over 30 years of specializing in helicopter rotor blade restore just isn’t a milestone that many corporations can have fun. However Worldwide Aviation Composites — referred to as IAC — has already surpassed that milestone and achieved a number of others because it continues to serve established and new clients in 2024. 

As one of many few impartial helicopter rotor blade restore stations worldwide since 1992, IAC has honed its expertise and processes to make sure the environment friendly and secure inspection and restore of each metallic and composite principal and tail rotor blades.

As well as, and to raised serve its clients, the IAC staff has just lately obtained AS9110 and AS9100 certifications.

“We’re very pleased with these distinctions as we proceed to achieve new targets,” stated director of gross sales and advertising and marketing Alfredo Garza. 

The IAC 53,450-square-foot (4,965-square-meter) facility is positioned in Fort Value, Texas. It features a composite materials reducing room, managed setting cleanroom, static stability room, engineering lab, built-in machine store, and in depth testing capabilities. Since 1992, IAC has honed its expertise and processes to make sure the environment friendly and secure inspection and restore of each metallic and composite blades.

IAC is a component 145 restore station licensed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Security Company (EASA). As a part of the Fort Value aviation cluster — with helicopter producers together with Sikorsky, Bell, Schweizer, and Airbus — IAC can draw from a pool of skilled technicians, however the firm is at all times seeking to increase its workers with new expertise to strengthen its capabilities.

“We prefer to make the most of expertise from different industries as nicely, together with our navy veterans,” stated Kenny Murray, IAC’s manufacturing supervisor. “It makes it simpler to coach our technicians, and it does take a few years to correctly prepare somebody to carry out blade repairs.”

When a blade involves IAC for restore, the inspection division can draw on its in depth knowledge historical past and decide if it has an accepted restore course of on file.

IAC president Randy Stevens stated the corporate’s in-house engineering functionality provides the corporate the flexibility to develop new restore processes, that are despatched to the FAA for approval earlier than the work is completed.

“There are two kinds of FAA approval for restore knowledge. One is a serial quantity particular restore, which is tied to a blade with a selected serial quantity or a collection of serial numbers. There are additionally restore specs, that are tied solely to a blade half quantity, so the specification is out there for repetitive use,” Stevens stated. “We should not have to rely upon OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] for restore knowledge. We have the flexibility to develop our personal via reverse engineering and supplies testing, as required.”

As rotor blade design and manufacturing know-how have superior and developed, IAC’s restore processes have stayed in step.

Blade repairs have been as soon as carried out with discrete instruments, with a selected instrument required for every blade or every sort of restore.

To enhance the method, IAC developed a common autoclave instrument that allows its technicians to make giant repairs on nearly any sort of rotor blade. To correctly treatment the restore of a composite blade, it wants time in an autoclave beneath strain and excessive temperature.

The inside of IAC’s autoclave is supplied with a financial institution {of electrical} retailers, so whereas the unit is pressurized, the inside air isn’t heated — as a substitute, the rotor blades get a direct warmth therapy.

“We use electrical warmth blankets. You get the strain of an autoclave, but it surely provides you the localized heating functionality of a warmth blanket. The repairs are extra even, with improved strain uniformity,” Stevens stated.

General, the typical restore interval on composite blades is for much longer than on metallic blades, and the event of composite blades has led to a big discount within the want for rotor blade upkeep, together with improved restore methods.

“It’s not too typically that we are able to’t restore a blade,” Murray stated. “It actually must be in fairly dangerous form earlier than we decide that it’s scrap.”

And if a blade can’t be repaired, he stated that IAC is sustaining its coverage of not charging its clients for the price of the inspection.

“We’ll have to offer them the dangerous information, however not a invoice. That in itself is nice for a buyer,” he stated.

With IAC’s success charge in repairs, Stevens factors to that general profit to his clients.

“It’s the improvements that we’ve been capable of make in blade restore, and the blades we’ve been capable of save for purchasers, particularly for the smaller operators. In the event that they must go purchase a brand new rotor blade, it simply crushes their price range,” he stated.

Together with its stable repute for high quality work, it’s the helicopter business’s private community on which IAC depends to achieve new clients.

“A lot of our new clients come to us primarily word-of-mouth. That has been very profitable for us during the last 30-plus years,” Stevens stated.

“IAC is sufficiently big to deal with all restore wants, however sufficiently small to offer private service to our clients,” Murray added. “Our excellent buyer assist staff is at all times obtainable, together with after hours assist if wanted, and we deal with every buyer the identical, whether or not they want only one blade inspected or a set of blades repaired. Our company-wide dedication to offering high quality service at an inexpensive price and fast turnaround time is paramount for IAC’s continued development and success.”

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