Page 11 - mro-business-today-01-07-2024

SPECIAL STORY

ally in use for 22 hours a day, 7 days a apart from take-off and landing, rarely
week. This leaves a very short window get the chance to sit down, so their
for regular inspections and necessary seats will get less wear than the passen-
maintenance, and a rapidly increasing gers’ ones. In a crew trainer, however,
backlog if a problem is found. different teams will be regularly up and
Commercial aircraft have many differ- down responding to whatever issue is
ent flight patterns and resulting wear thrown at them; the wear on seats will
and tear issues. Short domestic flights therefore be higher. The controls in a
rack up a surprisingly large amount of flight simulator are also likely to need
wear and tear in comparison to long regular replacement. They get much
haul flights. For example, every day more use than those on a larger aircraft,
there are between 22 and 40 flights as pilots will be using them all the time
direct from London to Edinburgh with to rehearse their reactions to emergen-
an average flight time of 1 hour and 20 cies, quite likely with slightly sweaty
minutes. Whilst those won’t all be the palms as they encounter situations they
same plane, that’s a lot of people shuf- will hopefully never come across in
fling in and out of seats, putting tray real life! In contrast, especially on long
tables up and down, sliding hand bag- haul flights, the pilot will be able to use
gage in and out of overhead lockers and autopilot for lengthy stretches of the
adjusting the air conditioning, so these journey and remain hands off.
are items which will need very regular Flight simulators are complex ma-
replacement. On long haul flights the chines. The visual systems arguably
seats will often be put up and reclined require the most maintenance with
back but, visits to the cloakroom aside, cathode ray tubes, printed circuit
the passenger will mostly stay seated. boards (PCBs) and power supply units
On an aircraft, some of the parts getting a lot of punishment. Switches
most frequently needing replacing are can be used roughly in emergency situ-
example, the Federal Aviation Admin- wheels and brakes; the strain placed on ations, fuses can blow with overuse and
istration (FAA) requires commercial op- them during take-off and landing is im- the hydraulic systems which keep the
erators to undertake an inspection after mense. Batteries are another, and win- simulator moving will be in constant
every 50 hours and 100 hours of flight dows and window frames need regular use. In addition, users of flight simula-
time. The 50-hour inspection covers changing due to cracking and the wiring tors get through quite a number of
the exterior (wings, fuselage, tail and round them becoming damaged. The oxygen masks during emergency train-
landing gear), the interior, the engine, type of climate an aircraft flies through ing due to rough handling and the sheer
battery and landing gear system. The can also make a difference to wear and number of situations in which they are
100 hour check is more comprehensive tear. If a plane regularly gets iced up, required to be utilised.
and covers the overall aircraft struc- propellers, engine fan blades and parts Whether it’s an aircraft or a flight
ture, engines, propellers, landing gear, of the wings can become damaged. simulator, time spent out of action due
electronics and radio and navigation Simulator training is used for both to damaged or malfunctioning compo-
system. pilots and cabin crew and will usually nents is both time and money wasted;
Such is the demand for flight simula- involve emergency training. Cabin crew this is where a reliable component sup-
tion training that simulators are gener- in an aircraft are constantly busy and, plies specialist, like Artemis, is crucial

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