Safe Air operates an engineering design department under NZCAA Part 146 Design Approval. We hold design delegations from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, covering structural, mechanical and avionics design changes.

Safe Air works closely with other Air New Zealand design groups to provide additional design capability. Our design team uses NX 3DCAD, AutoCAD, Strand 7 FEA, and Mathcad software.

KEY SERVICES

• Aircraft and component modification development and approval
• Aircraft structural repair design and approval
• Structural testing
• Tooling and mechanical equipment design
• Certification and approval of design data

SPECIALIST SERVICES

• 3D data capture
• Documentation services
• Engineering design consultancy services
• Engineering design contract services

MODIFICATIONS

In house design and manufacture projects undertaken at Safe Air include:

• P-3 autopilot installations
• B747 coat closets design and build
• SAAB 340 galley reconfiguration design
• SH-2G door jettison mechanism
• Galley equipment, design and manufacture to customer requirements
• C-130 usage monitoring equipment installation
• Replacement of radome shell for P-3 aircraft

REPAIRS

Developed over 500 repairs schemes for a wide variety of commercial and military aircraft.

STRUCTURAL TESTING

Design, construction and operational of structural testing equipment to demonstrate compliance with specified loading conditions. Documentation of test plans and test results.

TOOLING AND GROUND SUPPORT EQUIPMENT

• Jig for manufacture of helicopter weapons pylon
• Rear fuselage removal stand for P-3 Orion aircraft
• Adaptor for Mobile Engine Test Stand (METS) to enable testing of different engine configurations

Certification and approval

We provide expert advice and assistance with certification of products to comply with airworthiness authorities, covering: modifications, Type Certificates (TC's), Supplemental Type Certificates (STC's), Parts Manufacturing Approvals (PMA's) and Technical Standards Orders (TSO's) etc.

This capability includes development of technical data to meet certification standards and compiling compliance documentation. We can also issue Design Statements of Compliance and Design Approvals and assist with EASA, CAR 35 (Australia) and FAA (USA) approvals through our global engineering design network.

Other aerospace work undertaken

• Preparation of aircraft trim charts to FAR 121 requirements
• Takeoff and landing charts for light aircraft

SPECIALIST SERVICES

3D data capture using a laser tracker

We operate a laser tracker which is capable of capturing and displaying 3D coordinates for the following applications:

• Aicraft symmetry and alignment checks
• Jig alignment checks
• Positional and planarity checks
• Mapping data (damage plots on aircraft surfaces, modeling aircraft interior and exterior surfaces)
• Reverse engineering

Liaison engineering

The design department has extensive experience in engineering liaison during manufacture and repair programmes. Eg concessions, engineering orders etc.

Documentation capability

• Technical data packages
• Engineering drawings
• Publications created to industry standards, including manual supplements
• Bulletins
• Engineering reports
• Illustrations, 2D and 3D

CONSULTANCY DESIGN SERVICES

Aeronautical and mechanical enginnering consultancy services.

Contract design services

We provide on-site and contract design services to aircraft manufacturers and maintenance service providers, which has included Kaman Aerospace, Air New Zealand and Boeing.