A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Everything in aviation is going digital these days, including maintenance, as Comlux (Booth P718) is underscoring at ABACE 2018 with news of its first digital maintenance inspection, performed recently at its U.S. completion center on the Hyundai Motor BBJ. The facility adopted the inspection method as part of its Comlux 3.0 innovation and technology program, said Scott Meyer, CEO of Comlux Completion.

 


With digital maintenance, all task cards and part-tracking efforts are performed electronically using wireless tablets and bar code scanners, instead of using paper task cards and boards. Documentation and data is directly entered into the system via hand-held devices rather than at an off-aircraft computer workstation, allowing technicians to stay on task at the aircraft.

 


Calling it “a fully integrated workorder management tool,” the paperless process “increases reliability, eliminates potential human errors, and decreases redundancies,” Meyer said.

 


The facility also performed the completion on the Hyundai BBJ before it entered service, and has been providing maintenance since. The general manager of Hyundai’s flight team said the new process “further improves their capabilities and allows my own team to track in real time the work that has been performed on our aircraft.”&nbsp;

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

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