Engineering Commons^™

Assessing Past Airworthiness Directives And How Safety Management Systems May Benefit Aviation Product Design And Manufacturing, Damon Lercel Ph.D., Manoj Patankar Ph.D., Richard Steckel Ph.D.

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) continues to promulgate Safety Management Systems (SMS) across aviation organizations when it recently issued SMS requirements for EASA certificated Part 145 maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organizations and Part 21 Design & Manufacturing (D&M) organizations. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has no such rule in place for these U.S.-based organizations, which may challenge those doing business in countries where EASA policies apply. Given that a majority of the United States’ D&M and MRO population is made up of smaller organizations, it is likely a U.S. SMS regulation will require justification of the …

Qualitative Findings From The Practice Of Outsourcing By The Aviation Technical Services Industry In Northern Europe: Comparison With Literature, Jukka Holkeri

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The outsourcing of maintenance and other technical services is a trend in both military and civil aviation. This article uses input from real outsourcing cases in Northern Europe to verify previous literature findings and to introduce new viewpoints to fill an identified research gap.

Interviews of deeply involved individuals from six cases were selected and analyzed using the Delphi method. The findings were synthesized using a framework that articulates contexts, observed outcomes, and generative mechanisms.

Many of the key literature findings were verified by this case analysis, but there were also some contradictions and new observations that had not been …

Performance Results Of Using Waste Vegetable Oil Based Biodiesel Fuel In A Turboshaft Gas Turboshaft Engine, Donald Bartlett 5218591, Blaine M. Heisner

Journal of Applied Sciences and Arts

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel product made from triglycerides with properties similar to petroleum-based fuel. It is blended with various petroleum fractions to produce automotive and transportation fuels and is not typically utilized as a standalone fuel. Biodiesel can be manufactured from various feedstock including straight vegetable oils (SVO), waste vegetable oils (WVO), and animal fats. Although most U.S. biodiesel is made from SVO, using WVO feedstock is a much cheaper option. As biodiesel fuel offers certain advantages over petroleum based fuels, the aviation industry has gradually advanced the use of the fuel in gas turbine engines. However, increased viscosity …