Aircraft Maintenance

If you had unlimited resources what would your facility look like, what equipment would you have? A couple of recent projects are setting new standards.

Hawker Beechcraft recently completed a $14 million maintenance facility in Indianapolis. Spanning 80,000 square feet, the new facility is located at Indianapolis International Airport and features a maintenance hangar, shop and part storage area, administrative office, and fixed-base operation. The facility includes a 40,000-square-foot maintenance hangar that can accommodate up to 15 aircraft at a time, a 23,400-square-foot shop and part storage area, and a showroom area that allows clients to review and purchase upgrades such as aircraft interiors or avionics.

The construction company, VJS Lincoln which specializes in aviation development and construction, worked with Mike Robinson, general manager for Hawker Beechcraft Indianapolis, and Paul Powell, service manager, to include all of the items on their wish lists.

So what is included? Trench drains, crane, fall protection systems, hazardous waste storage, in-floor APUs, and more.

Another project under construction is the San Luis Jet Center and Aviation Consultants corporate jet center. It will be a two-story 24,734-square-foot jet center offering services to both corporate and private aircraft users. The new facility will incorporate numerous energy-saving technologies that utilize ambient lighting and natural airflow to minimize the amount of energy necessary to light, heat, and cool the building. It will also be equipped with an 85KVA solar panel installation that will supply nearly all of its electrical requirements. (The current facility is also powered by a 50 KVA system making it the only solar powered building at the airport.)

What would be on your list? Send your wish list to editor@amtonline.com, we’d like to know what would make your lives easier.