Story ID: 406
StandardAero Keeps GE's CF34s Spinning
By: Mark Phelps
Caption: Having recently delivered its 3,000th CF34 workscope, StandardAero is seeing significant growth in services for the GE engine.
Word Count: 485
StandardAero recently celebrated the delivery of its 3,000th workscope on a GE CF34 turbofan. Widely used on regional jets and Bombardier Challenger business jets, the CF34 made its first run in 1982. There are close to 6,000 in service worldwide, and the 3,000th to be serviced by StandardAero is installed on a SkyWest Airlines CRJ700 regional jet.

StandardAero (Booth V93) has been servicing CF34-3s and -8s since 2001 and supporting Utah-based SkyWest since 2004. The company offers a full range of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for the engine at its Winnipeg, Manitoba facility in Canada. Since 2012, StandardAero has supported Challenger operators through its business aviation team as an authorized line service provider with facilities in Augusta, Georgia; Springfield, Illinois; and Houston, Texas. In 2013, GE appointed StandardAero as its first independent TRUEngine-authorized MRO provider for the CF34.

“The delivery of our 3,000th CF34 engine workscope is a significant achievement for StandardAero as we enter our twentieth year of supporting CF34 operators worldwide,” said David Green, StandardAero v-p and general manager for CF34/CFM56. “We look forward to continuing to meet the needs of the global CF34 operator community for the next two decades and beyond.”

Challenger business jet operators typically fly far fewer hours than airlines do, so StandardAero offers its 7/10 Program on-condition maintenance plan. According to StandardAero, because of this “low-utilization” dynamic, many business aviation CF34s stay on-wing for 7,000 hours/10 years or more without a shop visit or attention to OEM service bulletins. They are thus at greater risk of undetected problems inside the engine. The three-tier 7/10 Program is offered as an affordable path to on-wing reliability for low-utilization operators. The program’s predictive or condition-based maintenance uses data from trend-monitoring or periodic inspections to drive service events.

Meanwhile, on the avionics front, StandardAero and Thales signed an agreement to jointly develop and certify an advanced autopilot system for several light helicopters, starting with the Airbus AS350.

Thales’s lightweight, four-axis Compact Autopilot has built-in aircraft stabilization capability, eliminating the need for a dedicated flight-control computer. Additionally, the autopilot can fully control the helicopter from initial hover to coupled approach and position-hold.

StandardAero’s expertise in aircraft modifications will help in obtaining approvals for the autopilot in the AS350 and other light helicopters, as well as provide after-sales support. StandardAero said the fielded solution will “far exceed basic certification requirements and will satisfy operators’ exacting expectations for system operation, airframe integration, simplified maintenance, and product support.”

In addition, StandardAero and Robertson Fuel Systems recently delivered two crash-resistant fuel tanks (CRFT) to the first operator in Canada to adopt this potentially lifesaving equipment. The CRFTs will be installed on an Airbus AS350BA and an AS350B2 owned and operated by Ontario-based Zimmer Air Services. Both helicopters have HeliLynx FX2 or Soloy SD2 modifications using Honeywell LTS101 engines.