French Aircraft storage, maintenance, and recycling firm TARMAC Aerosave, and Donecle, a manufacturer of drones specifically for aviation maintenance purposes, have signed an agreement to develop automated aircraft inspections.
A 100% French autonomous drone designed for aircraft inspections
At the Atlanta MRO Americas trade fair, TARMAC Aerosave and Donecle announced the signature of a partnership to develop drone-based fuselage and engine inspection solutions.
Donecle, based in Toulouse, France, develops a range of automated solutions to optimise visual aircraft inspections. The Donecle system consists of a fully automatic flight – without a pilot or GPS – coupled to image analysis software and a secure platform for digital inspection monitoring.
Faster inspections that reduce re-delivery times
As part of its innovating and permanent client satisfaction strategy, TARMAC Aerosave considered the Donecle solution with great interest.
Without being a substitute for maintenance procedures or mechanics, drones make it possible to carry out inspections in less than two hours – such as general visual inspections (GVI), lightning strike inspections, paintwork and regulatory marking inspections – thus making faster aircraft delivery to clients possible – whether on exit from storage or from maintenance. It is a valuable decision aid tool.
A successful test campaign was conducted by the two partners on the TARMAC Aerosave site in Toulouse-Francazal. The solution is currently fully operational for narrow-body aircraft in hangars. Developments are now focusing on the capacity to carry out inspections outside and on wide-body aircraft.
The large number of aircraft accommodated by TARMAC Aerosave, the varied types, the regular flow of arrivals and departures and the three Tarbes, Teruel and Toulouse sites, allow Donecle to develop its products for every environment.
About TARMAC Aerosave
Set up in 2007 in Tarbes (France), in 2013 in Teruel (Spain) and Toulouse-Francazal (France) in 2017, TARMAC Aerosave provides the largest aircraft and engine storage capacity in Europe, supported by maintenance, transition and recycling expertise. The three sites can accommodate over 280 aircraft, while the maintenance activity covers the main commercial platforms (Airbus, Boeing, ATR). A dedicated engine workshop also handles the storage, transition, dismantling and repairs of CFM56 and LEAP engines. Using an environmentally-friendly approach, TARMAC Aerosave continues to develop advanced dismantling and recycling techniques that are recognised by ISO 14001 certification. It has a recovery rate of over 90%. TARMAC Aerosave also has ISO 9001, EN 9110 and EN 9120 certifications and is an EASA/FAA Part 145 and EASA Part 147 approved organisation. Benefiting from a solid shareholder structure (Airbus, Safran Aircraft Engines, Suez), to date, TARMAC Aerosave has accommodated over 1,430 aircraft, has redelivered over 970, and has dismantled 345 aircraft and 190 engines.
About Donecle
Donecle proposes an automated aircraft inspection solution. Combining a 100% automated drone (without a pilot or GPS) with advanced image analysis algorithms, the technology makes it possible to carry out inspections up to ten times faster than current methods. Carrying out operations such as lightning strike inspections, general visual inspections (GVI), regulatory marking and paintwork quality checks, the solution is used to optimise maintenance activities by reducing inspection times while improving traceability and creating a digital history over time. Donecle works with airlines, MROs, equipment manufacturers and military operators worldwide.
Source: Press Release