West Star Aviation is nearing completion of construction on a new 60,000 sq. ft. hangar at its East Alton, IL (ALN) location. The hangar is anticipated to be operational by the end of fourth quarter of 2018.
The hangar features 40,000 sq. ft. of hangar space and 20,000 sq ft. of back shop and office space and will support West Star’s growing capabilities allowing the company to fully expand existing aircraft maintenance programs. This planned growth will employ an additional 28 technicians to support the expansion, in addition to their existing hiring efforts.
“We are pleased to expand our East Alton facility. With this hangar, we occupy over 380,000 sq. ft. of hangar and shop space at St. Louis Regional Airport,” said Scott Sweeney, general manager, West Star Aviation. “Having a new hangar provides us the necessary capacity to continue offering world-class service to our customers and ensure we meet scheduled deadlines,” Sweeney continued.
West Star was recently named as a Rolls-Royce Authorized Service Center for BR 710A-20 engines installed on Bombardier Global aircraft. As a Rolls-Royce Authorized Service Center, West Star will be authorized and approved to perform scheduled and non- scheduled inspections and repairs. Additionally, they are approved to receive warranty and “CorporateCare” approval via the Rolls-Royce “MyAeroEngine” portal to process warranty claims directly to the OEM.
The West Star ALN location will be a primary facility providing support as necessary for their other locations including Grand Junction, GJT and Chattanooga, CHA locations to support the engines. West Star East Alton will feature a full line of specialized tools, spares, parts and components as well as a large inventory of highly-utilized consumables that are necessary to support the BR710A-20 engine. The company will also have access to additional tooling reserved exclusively for Rolls-Royce Authorized Service Centers.
The company also recently received several STCs for Transmitting Portable Electronic Devices (TPED) compatibility in the 2.4 GHz/5GHz frequency band using IEEE 802.11 b/h/n/ac protocols. This allows crew and passengers to use their electronic devices in-flight without disrupting navigation signals.
The STCs have been completed at their state-of-the-art East Alton, IL (ALN) facility for the following airframes: Falcon 900EX/900B/2000/7X, Gulfstream GIV, and Challenger 604. West Star is in the process of finalizing these STCs for Challenger 601 and Global Express 5000/6000 aircraft with projected completion in the fourth quarter of 2018.
“By blanketing these STCs we can minimize the downtime required for testing Wi-Fi installations in the cabin and flight decks, getting our customers back in the air more quickly since they do not have to wait for FAA Approval,” said Dave Feuerhak, technical sales manager, Avionics.
West Star also received EASA approval for installation of a Honeywell CD-830 Control Display Unit (CDU) at their Grand Junction, CO, facility. West Star Aviation is approved to install these units in various models of aircraft including Hawker, Challenger, Global Express, Embraer, Falcon, Gulfstream and more that were previously equipped with a Honeywell FMS model CD-810, CD-815 or CD-820 CDU. The CD-830 offers equipped aircraft a high-resolution display and has full touch screen functionality.