SR Technics Selected for Boeing MD-10 Cockpit Modifications
SR Technics, an SAir Services company based in Switzerland, has been selected to perform flightdeck conversions as part of a Boeing MD-10 program to transform DC-10s into advanced-technology cargo jetliners.
SR Technics will modify 15 airplanes in its facilities at Zurich from 2000 through 2002. Options for conversion of up to 10 additional airplanes are part of the agreement.
SR Technics' installation of the Boeing Advanced Common Flightdeck (ACF) is the program's second phase of work. The first phase of modifications, converting the fuselage from passenger to freighter configuration, is under way at facilities in Goodyear, Ariz.; Mobile, Ala.; and Venice, Italy.
The new MD-10 flightdeck employs state-of-the-art avionics systems provided by Honeywell Air Transport Systems of Phoenix, Ariz. The new cockpit will feature six 8-inch (20.32 centimeters) by 8-inch liquid-crystal displays operated by a Honeywell VIA 2000 computer system -- similar to those found in newer airplanes such as the Boeing 777 and 717. The instrument-panel layout will be the same as the Boeing MD-11's.
The new cockpit will enable the MD-10 to be flown by a two-person crew, in contrast to the three-person crew required to operate the original DC-10s.
Federal Express owns the airplanes. The Douglas Products Division of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group manages the overall modification program.
SR Technics has been developing the implementation plan for use at ACF modification sites. A team of SR Technics specialists is working at the Douglas facility in Long Beach.
SR Technics is a company that specializes in maintenance, overhaul and modification of airplanes and systems. It is responsible for the Swissair fleet of MD-11s and has performed more than 200 D-checks on DC-10s and MD-11s.
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