New DC Aviation wheel shop is launched

DC Aviation is launching its new cutting-edge wheel shop at its Maintenance Center at Stuttgart airport, offering its customers even more comprehensive services. These will now include repair and maintenance of main landing gear wheels and nose gear wheels. In the near future, DC Aviation will be in a position to perform maintenance work in the new wheel shop on the wheels of larger business jets. DC Aviation already obtained C14 Approval for repair and maintenance of main gear and nose gear wheels in 2017. Currently, these types of services are performed for the Cessna Citation XLS, Bombardier Challenger 300/604/605/850, Bombardier Global 5000, and Gulfstream G650. DC Aviation plans to further expand these services.

To this end, DC Aviation has enlarged the capacity of the existing wheel shop and invested in state-of-the-art equipment. The floor of the new 77 m2 area has been sealed with high-gloss epoxy sealer. The cutting-edge equipment includes two bead breakers to detach the rubber from rims of various sizes, a hydraulic lift for more ergonomic and effective work around the wheel, a rim washing machine, and a sand blasting cabin for preparing wheels for the detection of cracks. 

Jürgen Sehne, DC Aviation’s Vice President Maintenance & CAMO, states: “The wheel shop expansion is an ideal complement to our maintenance service portfolio. By performing repair and maintenance work on wheels inhouse, our customers can optimize aircraft idle times and save costs.”

Due to their exposure to high stress and their critical role for flight operation safety, aircraft wheels require significant maintenance work. In the DC Aviation wheel shop, each wheel passes through numerous stations until it is re-certified with a new EASA Form 1 after rigorous final control. In the future, DC Aviation plans to offer these services for other airplane types, as well.