ARINC Aircraft Services Named 'Designated Alteration Station'
ARINC, of Annapolis, Md., announced Oct. 11 here at NBAA that the FAA has awarded the "Designated Alteration Station" authorization to the ARINC Aircraft Services organization based in Colorado Springs, Colo. "This makes us one of just a handful of non-OEM companies in the U.S. to have FAA DAS authorization, and we are already seeing significant interest and opportunity," said Tom Robeson, ARINC's director of aircraft services. The award means the company will be able to reduce the time required for designing and approving its own Supplemental Type Certificates at Colorado Springs. "ARINC plans to develop and approve a range of new modification kits for purchase by authorized repair stations, which will benefit the industry as a whole," Robeson said. "We can also assist in certification activities of avionics OEMs by qualifying hardware that can only be installed under an STC."
ARINC can now speed up any number of avionics modification programs, such as RVSM and the retrofit of new safety equipment such as terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS). "We'll be able to control scheduling to a much greater degree because we can perform certain functions internally," said Robeson. ARINC expects to reduce the time needed to approve aircraft data, conduct conformity and compliance inspections, approve inspection reports, plan and approve tests, issue Type Inspection Authorizations and Experimental Certificates, amend Standard Airworthiness Certificates, approve Airplane Flight Manual supplements, and issue, amend, or reissue DAS STCs.
In other ARINC news, with the recent award of several STCs for popular business aviation aircraft, ARINC Direct and its partner AeroMech, Inc., now offer RVSM modifications and/or installation kits for nearly 40% of all business jets in North America. The two companies combined have over 170 STCs. The team offers RVSM mods in kit form available to FAA-certified repair stations. The RVSM kits include avionics, installation and group certification STCs, PMA'd installation kits, installation documentation and technical support. In addition, the companies offer RVSM height monitoring services, and will prepare aircraft operators' requests for Letters of Authorization.
