S7 Technics maintenance, repair and overhaul Tolmachevo (Novosibirsk) airport facility has successfully performed scheduled base maintenance activities on one of Globus Airlines’ Boeing 737-800s. Fuel tank structure inspections involving Flight Length Sensitive (FLS) tasks were successfully completed in addition to the C-checks + 6-Year.
With the initial B737NGs first entering commercial service more than 20 years ago, and given the type’s long term aircraft usage, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has prescribed mandatory Boeing 737NG tank structure inspections based on a specified number of flight hours.
As part of the work requested by the customer, S7 Technics’ specialists performed 144 labour-intensive individual FLS operations. Most of the work involved various non-destructive testing procedures, including low- and high-frequency eddy-current inspections and ultrasound appraisals.
“The specific nature of this work was in the limited accessibility of those areas inside the wing of the aircraft, with the limited space and large volumes of sealant that needed to be removed. Most wing areas are reachable by only one specialist – a second person, much less a third, cannot physically fit into such tight areas. It is also worth noting that the labor-intense nature of the works were a result of the complex and time-consuming sealer restoration technology,” says Taras Soldatov, S7 Technics’ base maintenance lead engineer.
S7 Technics is also celebrating their Mineralnye Vody-based aircraft painting center. It has completed the re-painting of its 100th aircraft. About 250,000 man-hours, 30,000 liters of paint and 60,000 litres of accompanying chemicals (solvents, paint removers, etc.), as well as more than 300,000 abrasive disks were required for the aircraft painting center to reach the milestone S7 says.
“For us, 100 painted aircraft is a marker which illustrates a certain professionalism of the painting team, a well-coordinated crew and also indicates the levels of client confidence.” states Danil Naumenko, the S7 Technics Mineralnye Vody deputy director.