Vector Aerospace’s Fleetlands aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Gosport, Hampshire, has completed a full paint/ refinish job on the Airlift Super Puma helicopter that provided assistance to the Hoegh Osaka, the car transporter ship which was deliberately run aground on 3rd January after it began to list in the Solent near Southampton.

Airlift, global suppliers of aerial lift solutions, decided to book the helicopter in for the refinish project as soon as the Hoegh Osaka mission was completed. This followed a visit to the Fleetlands site  where the Airlift inspection team were extremely impressed with both the state of the art facilities there and the turn-round-time, the latter beating the previous supplier by eight days.

Indeed, having seen the capabilities on offer at Fleetlands, Airlift decided to upgrade the scope of work to the full Plastic Media Strip (PMS) process. Once the aircraft was inducted a composite survey revealed that some repairs were necessary and this was added to the work scope.

The aircraft was inducted into PMS on 5th February, moved into paint on 12th February and completed refinish on the 19th of the month, all on track and with all composite repairs completed, a significant achievement given the challenging paint scheme.

A key element in the success of the project was the close co-operation between Vector and Airlift. In addition to working with the Airlift engineers who were on-site at Fleetlands, Vector also sent photo updates, technical advice and live updates to the customer in Norway.

Vector Aerospace UK Managing Director Michael Tyrrell said, “This project is further evidence of the successful deployment of our capabilities in the civil helicopter sector.”

About Vector Aerospace

Vector Aerospace is a global provider of aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services. Through facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, South Africa, Kenya and Singapore, Vector Aerospace serves commercial and military customers in supporting gas turbine engines, components and helicopter airframes. Vector Aerospace’s 2,700 employees act with integrity in setting the standard of customer service. Vector Aerospace holds approvals from some of the world’s leading turbine engine, airframe and avionics OEMs. Powerplants supported include a wide range of turboshafts, turboprops and turbofans from General Electric, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca.

Vector Aerospace also provides support for a wide range of airframes from Airbus Helicopters, Bell, Boeing and Sikorsky, its capabilities including major inspections and dynamic component overhaul, and offers full-service avionics capability, including aircraft rewiring, mission equipment installation and glass cockpit upgrades More information can be found on the company’s website at www.vectoraerospace.com