As 2018 came to a close, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) awarded Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd a Production Organisation Approval. Following the successful award of our Design Organisation Approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in October 2018, this latest achievement sees HAV starting 2019 in a strong position to launch production.
A Production Organisation Approval (POA) considers the manufacture and assembly aspects of aircraft production. This includes supply chain management, processes relating to manufacture and assembly, and the production facility itself. Both the Design Organisation Approval (DOA), which covers design activities and flight test, and the POA, covering manufacture and assembly, are required to move forward into a type certification programme with the production Airlander 10.
Being awarded the POA in 2018 is a remarkable achievement. It typically takes over a year to prepare a facility for a POA audit. HAV only moved into our production facility, the Airlander Technology Centre, in June and were able to be audit-ready in under six months. This success is down to the effort of the Production team, led by Ivor Pope.
In addition to preparing the facility, the team at Technology House has been working to establish rigorous supply chain and quality assurance processes.
“The POA approval is a significant milestone for HAV. It is the culmination of months of hard work and focused effort,” comments David Lindley, HAV’s Head of Aviation Safety & Quality Assurance. “It demonstrates that the safety, quality assurance, and supply chain management processes are in place, along with the production facility.”
“Successfully being awarded our POA in the same year as our DOA is fantastic,” adds Executive Director Nick Allman. “The POA is the regulator’s stamp of approval for us to move ahead with the productionisation of Airlander 10 on the path to type certification. This puts us in a great position going into 2019.”
Source: Press Release