Roach and Swindell made inroads on ARP6821- guidance for assessing the damage detection capability of structural health monitoring. Looks like it will go to a vote later this year or early next year for committee approval. At one stage the guidelines forged were referred to as 'the bible' of the industry. More guidelines will follow.
The FAA tech center has set up 2 testing facilities to test and collect data for structural monitoring, they can be hired out for independent use or used for free in conjunction with the FAA to formulate guidelines. They said they're fielding more and more enquiries. They're planning on building 2 more testing facilities by 2024. Boeing are currently using 1, I'm assuming its for us. Needless to say they're hiring it out.
Boeing seems to think they've have found a bit of a sweet spot for the type of data set and the amount of coupons needed to get consistency. Apparently they've been eyeing out our flight data. My way of thinking is, with the new FAA testing facilities and the help of Boeing, we should be able to expedite the approval process significantly. By the sounds of it also, the OEM's will be paramount for support during the installation process. It seems like a big advantage going through an OEM/FAA rather than DE/FAA.
In regards to the APB the planes are generally in the hangar for 3-10 days but in some circumstances can be in the hangar up to 30 days, quote-unquote " This kills us! The data gets collected every 90 days and it takes longer to drive over the tarmac to the plane than it does to collect the data from the plane".
Other applications are presenting opportunities. One of the major American carriers is having big issues with a particular crack and are apparently really ticked off at Boeing. Boeing have revised the AB/SB inspections for this particular area to every 600 cycles after lowering the original threshold. I would be flabbergasted if they weren't knocking on our door.
We have over 1.5 million hours of flight data, It's us and then daylight.
Sit tight.
SMN Price at posting:
54.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)