Airplane Acquired For A 'Head Of State' Customer

Associated Air Center (AAC), StandardAero's Large Transport Category VIP Completions Center has redelivered the company's and the industry’s first Boeing 787-8 Head of State aircraft completion.  Shortly after a celebration ceremony, the aircraft departed from the company’s facility, located at Dallas Love Field, on February 2, 2016.  

This project was AAC’s first Boeing 787-8 model aircraft completion and the company’s eighth wide-body completion project.  The Head of State configuration features 2,404 square feet of cabin space.  This interior configuration can comfortably accommodate 82 VIP passengers separated in three cabin zones, while the office, bedroom and lavatory suite comprises the additional fourth, presidential zone.

Every VIP passenger seat is equipped with a Portable Electronic Device (PED) outlet and a High Definition (HD) in-arm, 11” LCD touch screen monitor to supplement the seven 42” LCD bulkhead mounted monitors connected to a variety of In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) sources that include six global and local Blu-Ray players, Audio Video On-Demand (AVOD) servers, passenger flight information systems (moving maps) and landscape camera system.

The interior configuration features eight passenger lavatories, a forward cabin Overhead Flight Crew Rest (OFCR) accommodating two sleeping berths, an aft cabin Overhead Flight Attendant Rest (OFAR) accommodating six sleeping berths and fourteen high comfort flight attendant seats.

In order to reduce the completion schedule, AAC designed, engineered and manufactured the bulkheads, monuments, furnishings and headliner grid system for the interior configuration prior to the green aircraft's arrival.  Upon the aircraft’s original input, the VVIP interior was ready for installation once the supporting structure, wiring, plumbing and sound insulation were installed.  AAC's in-house team designed the aircraft interior.

Working with Boeing, AAC was the first in the industry to complete a 757-200 Head of State customer interior configuration in 1989.  Once again, working with Boeing, this same customer received the industry’s first Head of State configured 787-8 aircraft.

Working closely with Boeing on the 787-8, AAC was able to achieve an interior completion weight 20% lighter than initially projected, allowing the customer to carry additional fuel to fly longer, non-stop missions.  Similarly, AAC was able to achieve unprecedented (44 Db SIL) cabin sound readings for a quiet environment in the presidential bedroom.

"We are extremely pleased to have pioneered this new territory for VVIP completions for composite, wide-body aircraft,” said James Colleary, President, Associated Air Center. "We overcame significant new engineering challenges during this project and maintained our goal of providing the safest and highest quality completion services in the world."

AAC will soon redeliver a Boeing 747-8 wide-body aircraft and the company anticipates winning additional wide and narrow body completion programs during 2016 with full capacity to accommodate additional customers for both aircraft completions and MRO services.

(Source: Standardaero news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.standardaero.com