SPAR Aerospace Begins Norwegian C-130 Upgrades

, EDMONTON: SPAR Aerospace Limited (L-3 SPAR), a subsidiary of L-3 Communications, received two sets of C-130 outer wings Feb. 20 at its Edmonton facility that were purchased from the Chilean Air Force. 
 
The wings will be refurbished and installed on Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) aircraft. This activity is in support of a Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization (NDLO) program awarded to SPAR in June 2006 for the heavy maintenance and outer wing replacement of four RNoAF C-130s. 
 
Under the scope of this contract, L-3 SPAR will replace the existing sets of outer wings with the wings that the company refurbished from Chile, conduct in-depth inspections and perform required additional maintenance work. Four aircraft were inducted in record time at L-3 SPAR's facilities in July 2006. 
 
The work carried out under this program will resolve structural flight restrictions and will provide an additional 15 years of outer wing life. 
 
“The heavy maintenance and re-wing activity will be carried out concurrently to minimize aircraft downtime and reduce the overall program costs,” said Patrice Pelletier, President of L-3 SPAR. “We are always looking for innovative ways to support our customers. In this case, we searched the world for outer wings and designed a program that addressed the customer's specific life extension needs, while focusing on completing the work as quickly as possible so that the aircraft could return to active service by the summer of 2007.” 
 
“We are pleased with the work being carried out by SPAR,” said Maj. Asbjorn Bjellanes, NDLO Program Manager. “The quality of the work is good and SPAR is focused on helping us return our fleet to service.” 
 
Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a crown corporation that specializes in international procurement markets for Canadian exporters, is the contracting authority for this program on behalf of the NDLO. 
 
Robert Ryan, CCC Vice President, said, “CCC is pleased to be involved in successful international contracting activities involving Canadian industry. This project is providing safe and operationally capable aircraft to the government of Norway while supporting Canadian industry.” 
 
L-3 SPAR disassembled the wings from the aircraft in Chile with the support of Enaer, Chile's national aeronautical enterprise. The outer wings were then crated and flown from Santiago, Chile to Edmonton on an Antonov AN-124 heavy lift aircraft. Two additional sets of outer wings have been provided through the United States. 
 
Wing programs for the C-130 outer and centre wings are part of L-3 SPAR's Herc 2020(TM) total aircraft life extension solution for the C-130 Hercules. One innovative feature of the Herc2020 is the Centre Wing Re-Life. L-3 SPAR is the only company in the world currently under contract to completely refurbish C-130 centre wings, work being done for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. In December 2006, L-3 SPAR completed the first step in this process with the removal of the centre wing from the aircraft. The refurbishment is underway and will be completed by the summer of 2007.  
 
SPAR Aerospace, a division of L-3 Communication Integrated Systems, is one of Canada's leading aerospace companies and is a Lockheed Martin approved C-130 Hercules aircraft service centre – the only one in North America outside of Lockheed Martin itself. L-3 SPAR's corporate headquarters are located in Edmonton, Alberta, with additional facilities in Trenton, Ontario and Venice, Italy. With approximately 600 employees across Canada, L-3 SPAR is a globally competitive market leader of MRO and Aircraft Life Extension Solutions for air mobility platforms.