Loadmasters Press Pack Summer 2010

Transcription

1 Loadmasters Press Pack Summer 2010 Loadmasters Limited 4 Weyside Park Newman Lane Alton Hampshire GU34 2PJ T: +44 (0) F: +44 (0) W: About Loadmasters: Loadmasters is a market leading, independent provider of aircraft weight and balance services throughout the UK and Europe. As specialists in the weight and balance fi eld, Loadmasters expert technicians assess the needs of the client based on knowledge of a wide range of techniques, ensuring that the methods used meet customer requirements as well as complying with manufacturer guidelines. Loadmasters provides weight and balance services to all areas of the aviation sector, including commercial organisations, private owners and specialist historical aircraft. With quality assurance from the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Loadmasters profi cient engineers can be relied upon to achieve reliably accurate, high quality results for your organisation. With many years of experience in the weight and balance industry, the Loadmasters team offers highly specialist accumulated knowledge, achieving consistently reliable, accurate results. Steve Cook, Managing Director Steve Cook has had a long career in the aviation world, starting out as an aircraft maintenance engineer working on various types of commercial aircraft and progressing to work in aircraft design. Later Mr Cook moved to a small aircraft weighing company, working as a key employee and substantially contributing to its growth. When this company was sold in 1998, Mr Cook decided to set up his own aircraft weight and balance company, Loadmasters Ltd. Phil Baker, Operations Manager and Senior Weights Engineer Phil Baker began his aerospace career in 1986 with an apprenticeship at RAE Farnborough, through which he gained an HNC in Aeronautical Engineering. Phil moved on to become an aircraft technician working on the research and development fl eet at RAE Farnborough. After a 14 year career with the MOD, Phil attained several promotions, among which were the position of Apprentice Master, ISO 9000 Auditor and Mechanical Design Engineer. Mr Baker joined Loadmasters in 2000 and has since contributed enormously to the growth of the business and been promoted to Senior Weights Engineer and Operations Manager. Loadmasters notable achievements The Loadmasters team was responsible for weighing the Virgin Global Flyer in 2006 Loadmasters travelled to the Falklands in 2001, 2005 & 2009 to weigh Sea King helicopters for British International Loadmasters has worked with many major airlines, manufacturers and operators, including Boeing, British Aerospace, British Airways, Cargolux, DHL, TNT and KLM UK Loadmasters weighed the first ever production Concorde Loadmasters works with clients around the world, in countries including the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Denmark and Sweden 01

2 Services offered by Loadmasters: Weight and Balance Documentation Loadmasters can produce and prepare a wide range of weight and balance documents including: Loadmasters Services: Loadmasters offers clients a range of weight and balance related services that can be tailored to meet the requirements of each individual business or organisation. The broad expertise of the technicians at Loadmasters means that the company can offer weight and balance services to operators of all types, from large commercial jets to helicopters and light aircraft. Weighing Records Weight Change records Weight & CG Schedules Loading Analyses for air test or ballast arrangements and load placement Weighing preparation Check Lists Design of aircraft loadsheets and loadmessage information, e.g. AHM560, may be done in collaboration with Loadmasters partner company, Aircraft Loadcontrol Limited. Hire of weighing equipment Loadmasters offers hire of a complete package of equipment for commercial aircraft, with reliable technical backup for all aspects of the process. Items available for hire include: Low profi le scales High capacity wide body aircraft scales Load cells Ramps, bridges and axle jacking equipment to suit most aircraft Calibration of Weighing Equipment Loadmasters can calibrate most types of weighing equipment to satisfy the regulating authorities from any part of the world. The calibration equipment used by Loadmasters is traceable to an approved national industry standard. Loadmasters Facts Loadmasters was founded by Steve Cook in 1998 In June 2000, Loadmasters gained its fi rst full UK Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ) approval and employed its fi rst weights engineer In 2005, Loadmasters achieved a means to certify aircraft weight and balance under European Aviation Safety Agency ( EASA ) approval Over the last 12 years, Loadmasters has developed highly specialised equipment and methods to maximise the safety and effi ciency of its processes In July 2010, the Loadmasters team will reach a landmark, weighing their 5,500th aircraft Purchasing Advice Loadmasters is available to provide proven, impartial advice on purchases in order that clients obtain the right equipment for their requirements. Loadmasters owns and regularly uses equipment from several of the world s leading manufacturers and can provide guidance based on experience. Consultancy Services The experts at Loadmasters offer consultancy to help you achieve better integration of your weight and balance systems. Training Courses Loadmasters provides bespoke training courses designed around the requirements of your business or organisation. 02

3 Why must aircraft be weighed? Aircraft must be weighed regularly as their weight and weight distribution change constantly. This is due to a number of factors, the most crucial influences being: Modifications, paint and repair schemes The accumulation of trapped moisture Dust and dirt building up The importance of weight and balance control It is vital that an aircraft is regularly weighed so that operators or flight operations departments can be advised of its current weight and, more crucially, the location of its centre of gravity. This is particularly important for light aircraft and helicopters as their balance can be affected by the smallest change in weight. Military aircraft must also be weighed more frequently than commercial planes as their balance is influenced by a number of variables such as missile payload and distribution. Weight and balance control is a matter of serious concern both to pilots those working on the ground, as it plays a vital part in the safety and efficiency of a flight. Weight changes must be accounted for and proper notations made in weight and balance records. It is essential that pilots have access to up to date information about an aircraft s weight - this usually takes the form of operating handbooks and official records. This is important as the pilot has responsibility for ensuring that the loading and fuel management of an aircraft keep it within its established limits. Some possible consequences of an aircraft being over its optimum weight: Higher takeoff speed Longer takeoff run Reduced rate and angle of climb Lower maximum altitude Shorter range Reduced cruising speed Reduced manoeuvrability Higher stalling speed Higher landing speed Longer landing roll 03

4 Profile Name: Steve Cook Organisation: Loadmasters Ltd. Title: Managing Director Steve Cook started out in 1971 as an apprentice Aircraft Electrical and Instrument Technician at Dan-Air Engineering, later becoming an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer and gaining experience working with all types of fi xed and rotary wing aircraft. Steve then progressed to become an Electrical Design Engineer with an aircraft interior design and manufacturing company within the AIM Aviation Group. In the eighties, Steve was employed at Dan-Air as a Weights and Modifi cations Engineer, with duties including all aspects of weight and balance and load and trim certifi cation as well as fl ight testing of small, medium and large commercial transport aircraft. Another aspect of this role was working with the UK CAA design departments to gain approval for updating and amending aircraft Flight Manuals for company and customer fl eets. Whilst in this role, Steve attained a UK CAA maintenance engineer s licence for pressurised and unpressurised aeroplanes Category A (Aeroplanes 2). Later Steve became a key employee at a small aircraft weighing company, assisting in substantially increasing the company customer base and therefore its profi tability, until it was bought by a holding company in In 1998, Steve set up Loadmasters, initially as a sole trader using his maintenance engineer s licence as approval to sign the weights documents of aircraft registered all over the world. Loadmasters has since grown, employing its fi rst weights engineer and achieving full UK CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) approval in June The same year, Loadmasters negotiated an open ended agreement for back-up and calibration support with the scale supplier, Intercomp. Under Steve s guidance, the company has continued to expand, employing more weights engineers and forging a partnership with a weight and balance consultancy to win contracts with CityJet and XL Airways. As MD of Loadmasters, Steve has negotiated contracts with over two hundred customers from major airlines, including Boeing, British Airways, Icelandair, Air Malta, Jet Aviation, LTU Gmbh, Air Berlin, KLM (UK), Cargolux, Eurocopter, EasyJet, Ryanair, as well as the Imperial War, Science and RAF Museums. 04

5 Profile Name: Phil Baker Organisation: Loadmasters Ltd. Title: Operations Manager Phil started his aerospace career in 1986 when he secured a sought after Airframe Engine Apprenticeship with RAE Farnborough. During these formative years he succeeded in attaining an HNC in Aeronautical Engineering. In 1990, after completing his training he was taken on as an aircraft technician working on the many different aircraft types that the RAE had as part of a research and development fl eet including Jaguar, S61 Sea King, Boeing 737 and HS748 Andover aircraft. During his 14 year career with the MOD at Farnborough then Boscombe Down Phil achieved promotion to Chargehand, became an Apprentice Master also qualifi ed as an ISO9000 Auditor. During the later years Phil moved into the design offi ce as a Mechanical Design Engineer and also studied at Cranfi eld University. In 2000 Phil joined Loadmasters as a Weights Engineer, recognising this as an opportunity to help build the company from a two man team into a larger multifaceted organisation. Phil has developed his role within the company from Weights Engineer to Senior Weights Engineer and Operations Manager, taking aboard the company mantra of Accuracy, Profi ciency and Service. In addition, Phil achieved a Chartered Management level 5 Diploma in Business Management. Over the last ten years Phil has helped to see the company double in staffi ng levels and been closely involved in marketing the company to improve sales and win new business, as well as developing new revenue streams. 05

6 Affiliations and Accreditations Loadmasters is a member of The Farnborough Aerospace Consortium ( FAC ), a trade association for the aerospace and defence industry in the South East of the UK. The FAC aims to make a signifi cant contribution to sustaining prosperity in the UK defence and aerospace industries by enabling members to improve their business winning opportunities and capabilities. FAC is recognised internationally as a key portal for investment and business winning aerospace and defence opportunities in the UK, particularly for SMEs. For more information please see All Loadmasters engineers are members of the International Society of Allied Weights Engineers ( SAWE ). The society s goal is to promote mass properties engineering as a specialised discipline and to provide a means for the professionals working in this sphere to collaborate and further their career aims. SAWE includes chapters from 22 countries, including members from the USA, Canada, Europe and the UK. For more details please visit Loadmasters has quality approval from The Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA ), the UK s specialist aviation regulator. Through its skills and expertise the UK CAA is recognised as a world leader in its fi eld. For further details, please see Partners Aircraft Loadcontrol Ltd, offers a range of weight and balance services including detailed weight and balance calculation of modifi cations/stc s, specialised on-site consultation on weight saving and improved weight management systems. Loadmasters works in partnership with Aircraft Loadcontrol Ltd to deliver a complete aircraft weighing service. Intercomp, is the world s largest manufacturer of portable weighing solutions. With ISO 9001:2008 registered facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom, Intercomp services a worldwide customer base. Intercomp has worked in partnership with Loadmasters for several years and has been serving the international weighing industry for over 30 years. Loadmasters Ltd Press Offi ce Singleton PR M : +44 (0) T: +44 (0) E: info@singletonpr.com 06