RED aircraft has announced its intention to provide training programs for maintenance repair and overhaul centers, owing to the continued successful growth and utilization of their game-changing RED A03 piston engine.
It will be a requirement to provide safe and efficient maintenance on the engine, repairs, and inspections can only be carried out by RED authorized organizations. By completing the course, MRO’s can be officially registered as an Authorized Service Center. With the number of aircraft operators set to realize the growing advantages of the RED A03 and ever-increasing sales, this certification could be highly beneficial and profitable for MROs looking to provide solutions for clients looking interested to use the engine.
Enrico Evers, Head of Sales at RED Aircraft GmbH, issued the following statement as the course was announced: –
“We at RED aircraft are thrilled to see the strong response in the aviation market and as we need to stay ahead of our game, we are looking for MRO organizations capable of delivering our customers the service that they deserve”
In the last year, the number of aircraft fitted with the RED A03 has grown significantly and will continue to do so. At present, this includes:
- Agricultural retrofits, such as the Fletcher FU24 and Air Tractor 301
- Conceptual aircraft in the design phase, such as the Pro Avia twin
- New high-performance aerobatic training aircraft, including the YAK-152
- Air Ships such as the Airlander 4
- Highly efficient and revolutionary commercial aircraft, such as the Otto Aviation Celera 500L
- Hybrid aircraft projects
There are numerous advantages presented to MRO’s looking to undertake the course. It will enable those organizations to perform regular maintenance, diagnosis, and repairs on the RED A03 engines.
One of the key features of the RED A03 engine is that it is custom-designed to permit cost-efficient maintenance. RED has developed its own diagnostic tools to allow operators to access FADEC recorded data, allowing for early maintenance decisions and failure prediction and minimizing any downtime while work is carried out.
In aviation, time is a valuable commodity. By receiving training on how to optimally interpret engine data, operators can ensure that the engine is running at its most efficient for the greatest amount of time.
One highlight of the RED A03 is its safety and reliability. This is further enhanced by ensuring that all work is carried out to the same standards to which the engine was designed and constructed originally. The course will also permit trained operatives the ability to quickly and accurately diagnose faults, increasing safety and reducing downtime.
As with any successful course, there are two elements, both of which are vital if the above benefits are to be realized. They are quite simply the theory and the practical.
The course is both detailed and broad in scope from the theoretical side. Participants can expect to learn the various mechanical systems present and how they interact together. They will also learn how the engine is controlled and how indications are fed back to the user.
Unlike more traditional (and much less efficient) aero engines, the RED A03 uses a system called Full Authority Digital Engine Control (or FADEC). This, in essence, is a computer-controlled system that interprets the various inputs and outputs of the engine and ensures that they are both safe and optimized for the best performance. This computer is also capable of recording a huge array of engine parameters. While normally automatic and very much ‘in the background’, a strong understanding of how this system works is hugely beneficial.
While theory is good, getting ‘hands-on’ is perhaps the best way to learn. The course provided by RED Aircraft will certainly enable this. The practical training is as extensive as the theory, with detailed guidance and practice on exchanging components, understanding and acting on the data provided by FADEC, and even the opportunity to see ground operation and simulation of the RED A03 engine.
By operating as a RED service center, participating MROs will be putting themselves at the forefront of maintenance solutions for brand new and revolutionary aviation technology. If initial uptake is used as an indicating metric, the RED A03 promises to become one of the ‘big players’ of the future in aviation propulsion.
