Heading off aircraft part failures at the pass | Aviation International News

Maintenance and Modifications

Heading off aircraft part failures at the pass

How much would it be worth to be able to reliably predict the structural failure of any part or component of an aircraft long before any flaw becomes visib

By David A. Lombardo • Contributor

October 3, 2007

How much would it be worth to be able to reliably predict the structural failure of any part or component of an aircraft long before any flaw becomes visible? To be able to discover that there would be a structural failure in the top of a fuselage, in a vertical stabilizer or even in a landing gear before there was any visible indication such as a crack? Scott Ritchie, director of operations for Boise, Idaho-based Positron Systems, claims his company is offering exactly that technology.

“Our first prototype photon induced positron annihilation [PIPA] technology unit will be available by this fall,” he told AIN. Ritchie anticipates a mobile version of PIPA will be available by year’s end and sell for between $2- and $4 million, depending on a customer’s requirements. The cost would include operator training (technician-level expertise required).

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