Page 8 - Dec18T

Supporting the Supply Chain
Known as King Air landing gear overhaul experts, Aerospace Turbine Rotables challenges dependability and costs with its pool stock of repaired components and 46 years of MRO solutions.
by MeLinda Schnyder
Dave Seavey walks through the 72,000-square-foot Aerospace Turbine Rotables facility in Wichita, Kansas, like a kid on a playground, fascinated by one shiny object after another. Aircraft parts have been in his blood since his first aviation job: the second shift in the parts department at
United Beechcraft. He was a “Beechcrafter” from 1974 until 2002, when he went to work for one of the suppliers he’d worked with throughout his career.
He knew the people at Aerospace Turbine Rotables and liked their MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) solutions that tackle the rising costs, long lead times and uncertain availability that many owner/operators face. The company started in 1972 and cut its teeth on Wichita-born Beechcraft and Cessna fleets. By the time Seavey joined as vice president and general manager, Aerospace Turbine Rotables had grown alongside the expanding King Air fleet.
Two-thirds of the company’s activity supports the turbine owner-operator, either directly or through their maintenance provider or parts distributor. With an estimated four King Air aircraft coming due for their 6-year inspection every business day, there’s a steady flow of operators looking for alternatives to new part replacement.
Seavey recently took us on a tour of the facility, which the firm moved into in 2015 to double its square foot- age in south Wichita. Here’s what he shared about the MRO business:
TWIN & TURBINE: You first experienced Aero Electric, the company that eventually became Aerospace Turbine Rotables, as a customer, correct?
SEAVEY: Yes, I worked with Phil Rapp, one of the founders of Aero Electric, when I worked at United Beechcraft. We needed some help with landing gear overhaul programs, flap actuators and gearbox overhauls. That was in the 1970s and these are the programs that eventually grew to become an essential part of what is now the Aerospace Turbine Rotables business.
6 • TWIN & TURBINE December 2018
PHOTO COURTESY OF CLINT GOFF