The airline industry is required by FAA regulations to perform regular inspections of an aging aircraft's fuselage for cracks and corrosion. An aging aircraft is one that has at least 36,000 cycles on its airframe, which is equivalent to 10 take-offs and landings per day for ten years.
Worldwide, there are 3000 aging commercial passenger aircraft.
Airbus Industries, in its Global Market Forecast 2000-2019, states that 80% of all jetliners are withdrawn from airline passenger service before they reach 30 years old . This means that 20% of these 30 year old aircraft continue as passenger carriers. The retired passenger aircraft are either converted to cargo carriers (which have the same FAA requirements) or retired from service altogether.
Current Inspection Technique:
The required fuselage inspection is a headache for the airline industry. The present technique is visual inspection. To prepare for this inspection, the interior of the fuselage must be stripped of seats, bins, galleys, panels, and insulation. Then every one of the millions of fasteners and joints must be inspected, a task which consumes 6,000-10,000 man hours over a two week period. There may be as many as 50 inspectors in an aircraft at one time. Even with this level of thoroughness, it has been demonstrated that visual inspection typically won't detect a crack until it reaches a length of 2-4". Cracks and corrosion of internal layers or hidden frame members can't be observed at all. The cost for a visual inspection due to loss of service alone can be $2,000,000 or more, depending on passenger load factor and number of flights per day. Overall, the visual inspection technique is slow, laborious, damaging to aircraft materials, costly, and can't detect small cracks.
Airlines would like to use digital x-ray equipment to inspect the fuselage because it can provide superior detection of cracks and corrosion. Additionally, the panels and insulation would not have to be removed. However, there is currently no practical way of performing a comprehensive x-ray inspection of an aircraft for the following reason: to obtain an x-ray image through a fuselage (or wing) requires that the source and detector, located inside and outside of the fuselage respectively, be precisely positioned with respect to each other at the time an image is obtained. It is very difficult to obtain this alignment at most points in the fuselage since there can be no direct physical or optical link between the source and detector. Currently, there is no system or set of equipment that allows efficient x-ray inspection of an aircraft.
To summarize, there is a large and growing number of aircraft that must be inspected by what is currently a laborious, expensive, and imperfect process. This is a safety concern as well as an economic burden upon the airlines.
The Solution:
JETRAY has developed a new system for efficiently performing an automated x-ray inspection of an aircraft. Automated x-ray inspection will allow airlines to dramatically reduce the time required to prepare an aircraft for inspection (we estimate a 90% reduction), reduce the downtime during an inspection (85% reduction), reduce inspection man-hours (from 6000 man-hours to 24), and realize increased confidence in the reliability of the inspection (crack detection to 1/2").
JETRAY's automated x-ray inspection system is called JET-X. It comprises both equipment and a method. JETRAY has developed a sophisticated and unique set of motion control equipment, consisting primarily of two gantries, electronic hardware, and software. Digital x-ray equipment is readily available from a number of vendors. The gantry is a mechanical device which controls the position of an x-ray source or detector mounted to its end via commands given by the machine operator or under automated software control. The x-ray detector gantry is positioned outside the fuselage and the x-ray source gantry is positioned inside. Motion is controlled to allow precise and stable relative positioning between the detector, source, and airframe. The digital x-ray system collects data, displays it real-time, and stores it for future reference.
JETRAY believes that automated x-ray inspection will quickly obsolete visual inspection of airframes. JETRAY's mission is to be the exclusive provider of automated x-ray inspection service domestically and abroad. Currently there is significant interest in this technique and in our capabilities. A large, stable, and growing market exists, and it is currently unserved.
The Solution (Continued)
Competitive and Strategic Issues:
• There is no automated x-ray technique being used on aircraft today, nor is there any indication that such a system is being developed.
• A US patent application on the underlying motion control technology has been filed. Interim foreign patent protection will be sought within nine months.
• JETRAY will manufacture the JET-X system for its exclusive use as a service provider. The equipment will not be sold.
• A demo system (motion control equipment, software, and x-ray equipment) capable of a limited range of x-ray inspection exists today and has been demonstrated to Delta Airlines and Northrop Aviation.
• We estimate that FAA certification can be achieved within 9 months.
• Five different manufacturers produce compatible x-ray equipment. We are not tied to a single manufacturer.
• JETRAY is not a typical startup company: much of its core technology has been instrumental in providing special effects to the motion picture industry for many years. The technology has received five technical achievement Academy Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Company:
JETRAY was incorporated in 2001 for the purpose of providing service for automated digital x-ray inspection of aircraft. It founders are Michael Sorensen and Fred Linker. JETRAY is located in Ashland , Oregon and Silicon Valley .
Michael Sorensen is the founder of Sorensen Design International and is co-founder of AeroCrane USA , which is the dominant supplier of motion control equipment leases in the motion picture industry. Mr. Sorensen's background is in mechanical design engineering, and he is the principal systems and hardware developer of the equipment to be used in the JET-X system.
Fred Linker has extensive experience as the managing mechanical engineer in both start-up and established companies in the fields of industrial-scale inspection, scientific instrumentation, semiconductor capital equipment, and medical equipment. He has a MS in mechanical engineering from Stanford.
1.2 Mission
JETRAY's mission is to be the exclusive provider of automated x-ray aircraft inspection service domestically and abroad. JETRAY believes its technology will entirely supplant visual inspection within a few years.
Our clients will receive reliable, consistent, and cost-effective service. We will also provide expertise in the development of specific automated x-ray applications.
JETRAY will be profitable in its third fiscal year, and consistently maintain a high level of profitability . We will provide a rewarding work environment and fair compensation to its employees. Our investors will achieve a good rate of return.
3.0 Services
JETRAY will provide automated x-ray inspection services to commercial airlines, freight carriers, and charter companies. Initially, JETRAY's equipment will be distributed at ten or more major hubs in the US . The FBO's (Fixed Base Operator - the aircraft service center) at each airport will provide equipment housing. The JET-X operators and technicians will be employees of JETRAY. Automated x-ray inspection will be provided on a scheduled basis, typically for Class-D inspection of aging aircraft. These services will be performed regularly (approximately every 4-6 years) on each aircraft as long as it is in service. JETRAY will also seek to service the foreign commercial aircraft market in FY2004.
A typical JETRAY inspection service call begins by driving the inspection system across the airport to the aircraft. The operators then install and initialize the equipment. Image acquisition begins, and digital x-ray images are obtained automatically according to a preset pattern of motion for the gantries. These images can be ported to airline inspection teams for real-time interpretation, or they can be downloaded on storage media and distributed to the airline. A typical inspection will take 12-16 hours.
3.1 The Aircraft Service Industry
The Aircraft Service Industry is an important sector in the economic life of an airline. JETRAY will capitalize on this existing model of third-party service to the airlines when launching its JET-X system. The following examples of aircraft service companies serve to illustrate that JETRAY's business model as an independent service provider is in conformance with current practice.
Raytheon Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon Aircraft Company, is a leading provider of aircraft maintenance and other services at 280 sites worldwide. For the year ending December 31, 2000, Raytheon Aerospace had sales of approximately $500 million and over 5300 employees.
Aircraft Service International Group, or ASIG, is one of the five largest independent airfield services companies in the world, with operations in over sixty business units worldwide. ASIG provides a range of services including fueling, fixed base operations, and aircraft maintenance. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001, ASIG reported revenue of $162 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $15 million.
General Electric Aircraft Engines operates the On Wing Support unit, which offers engine maintenance and other scheduled and non-scheduled services.
© JETRAY Corporation
