Each January, a group of fanatical tinkerers and machinists gathers for the annual Cabin Fever Expo in York, Pennsylvania to show off their handiwork. The show is subtitled the "Model Engineering Exhibition," and what this group of talented people do is build small-make that tiny-replicas of mechanical devices like steam and piston engines.

The models created by the exhibitors are simply incredible. Replica 18-cylinder radial engines, a beautiful Merlin with a four-bladed propeller, steam engines powering model sawmills, all in miniature scale. One incredible display was a Navy ship model on which the owner spent 25 painstaking years.

The exhibitors don’t stop at making "ordinary" engines. Jerry Hale, a former engineer for a boat motor company, got an idea for a rotary piston engine. Its four cylinders turn inside a fixed outer ring. The propeller is attached to the cylinders. A clever cam-shaped assembly surrounded by links to each piston allows two pistons to move out while two move in at the same time. One spark plug provides ignition as each cylinder passes by it, so the engine delivers four power events per revolution, twice as many as a typical four-stroke. This is purely an experiment. Hale said there is a little oil leakage around the outside ring, but he is working on sealing that up.

Many of the machinists sell plans to people interested in constructing their own little engines. A few machine tools would come in handy for this purpose, and there were plenty on display at Cabin Fever Expo. Some of the machine tools were normal-size and others were miniature–understandable given the nature of the work being done.

For more information and pictures, see www.cabinfeverexpo.com.

Duncan Great Place to Work, Again

Fortune magazine has for the third year in a row selected Duncan Aviation as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America." This year, Duncan ranked number 25, up five places from last year.

What makes Duncan Aviation so special?

According to Duncan president Aaron Hilkemann, the company’s culture plays a large role in making its workplace rewarding. Duncan Aviation encourages its managers to value employees and to host employee appreciation parties, employee/family parties, catered lunches, and cookouts served by company leaders.

Duncan Aviation spent more than $2 million on training during 2002, with employees averaging 40 hours of training per year. The company also reimburses employees fully for applicable college classes.

Every year, Duncan Aviation awards up to 10 $8,000 scholarships for post-secondary education for children of company employees.

Duncan also believes strongly that familiarity with aviation helps "employees relate to customers and increases their enjoyment in life." To that end, Duncan reimburses employees up to $2,500 towards their private pilot certificate and an additional $2,500 for the instrument rating.

Finally, three of Duncan’s locations have on-site exercise facilities, and Duncan employs a dedicated wellness coordinator to encourage healthy lifestyles.

Get Me Those Parts

Will aircraft parts lead the U.S. economy into recovery? Maybe, if Inventory Locator Service’s data on the supply and demand for certain parts is any indication.

The data on ILS’s Aviation Aftermarket Analyzer CD, which provides supply and demand statistics for the 500 most requested parts and the 250 most requested overhaul items, shows strong demand for an overhauled transponder (Part No. 6227878201) and even greater demand for the symbol generator with Part No. 6229436101, based on inquiries for the parts logged through its service. Only four times–in February, September, November, and December–did supply of the transponder in question roughly match demand. Demand for the symbol generator exceeded supply for all of 2002.

Extex Launches Service Network For Rolls-Royce 250 Engine

PMA parts manufacturer Extex, which specializes in Rolls-Royce (formerly Allison) 250 engine parts, has created a network of independent engine overhaul and parts distribution facilities to serve the Rolls-Royce 250 market. Called the ChoiceAlliance Network, Extex’s move is designed to "offer engine owners an improved level of customer satisfaction," according to an Extex statement.

There is currently no fee for overhaulers or parts distributors who want to join the ChoiceAlliance Network, according to Extex vice president of sales and marketing Dave Daniels. Members of the network get "flexibility in pricing," he said, "so they can help customers with their [engine] event. It’s very much like the Rolls-Royce AMC network, except that it’s an independent network."

ChoiceAlliance Network members are required to use Extex parts wherever possible. Extex manufactures most major and many minor PMA parts for the Rolls-Royce 250 engine, except for turbine wheels and impellers.

"We don’t simply offer a choice of parts," Daniels said. "Now we are able to offer a choice of independent facilities, operated by professionals who understand service value."

Nine companies form the ChoiceAlliance Network, including Airwork (Auckland, New Zealand), Helimart (Costa Mesa, California), Rhineland Air Services (Mönchengladback, Germany), Action Aircraft (Dallas, Texas), Superior Air Parts (Queensland, Australia), Precision Air-Power (Woods Cross, Utah), Helipower Service (Santa Paula, California), H.E.R.O.S. (Riverside, California), and Arger Enterprises (Reno, Nevada).

BAE Exit Leads to Rebirth Of Heavy MRO Facility

After BAE Systems decided to shut down its third-party large-aircraft maintenance operation in Victorville, California, managers there elected to buy the business. Late last year, five former BAE Systems employees pooled their resources and launched Victorville Aerospace. The new owners include Ron Stotz, president; Dave Graham, operations; Brian Robertson, material and purchasing, and Tad Jakes, vice president of marketing and customer support. (Rich Caulfield, chief financial officer, was part of the team until he passed away January 18.)

Now that they own the company, these fellows are being careful not to outspend the inflow of revenue, according to Jakes. "Everyone is having tough times," he said. "Our game plan is structured because the MRO industry is so gray right now. We have no secretaries or junior managers. We do all our own secretarial work, and put all of our capital on the hangar floor. It’s a very lean organization."

Victorville Aerospace’s key strategy is to focus on serving leasing companies instead of aircraft operators. Too many MRO competitors, Jakes said, cut their labor rates way too low, and airlines were more than happy to sign long-term commitments with maintenance companies that were charging less than $40 an hour for labor. "After paying the bills, that doesn’t put you in the black," he said. "Our money goes into the mechanics, tools, and the facility. And we try to limit nonbillable hours."

The problem with low labor rates is that it forces the company to cut costs in important areas, Jakes explained. "If you’re going to drop down to a $38 labor rate, you’re not going to get a $38-an-hour mechanic. You’ll get nonbillable hours in there, for planners, clerks, and a whole bunch of stuff. If the airlines are demanding that you come down to $38, something has to give. You’ll have one A&P mechanic to a crew of 10. Our plans calls for us not to do that. We are not going to drop our labor rate or put one A&P to 10 people."

Helping with the management of the operation is Avexus’s Impresa software. "You have to have good software," Jakes said. "Collecting data, that’s time-consuming. If you don’t have the software, it could cost you hours. Avexus customized the software for us. I think it’s a great system, and I think it’s going to work well for us."

Victorville Aerospace specializes in the Boeing fleet and also offers maintenance for VIP transports and corporate aircraft. The company’s location is convenient for drop-in business from airlines ferrying troops for the military and from cargo carriers that are making use of the long Victorville runways. There are about 400 airliners in storage at Victorville, and this gives Victorville Aerospace another source of business, offering maintenance services to companies redeploying the stored jets to overseas airlines. "We have agreements with a lot of the companies that own them," Jakes said, "and it looks like Asia and South America are buying a lot of 737s."

A larger opportunity, Jakes added, may be due to changes coming in the U.S. airline industry, as bankrupt major airlines United and US Airways cut costs, possibly by sending more work to outsourcers like Victorville Aerospace. "We’re waiting to see what happens," he said.

Meanwhile, Victorville Aerospace is taking advantage of its location near the West Coast to serve companies that never had many choices for MRO work in that area. "We’re really close to LAX [Los Angeles]," Jakes said. "And there are no hangars there for long-term repairs. We’ll do a good job, at a fair price, and keep the customer happy. That’s how you get business."