DC Aviation Launches New Wheel Shop

DC Aviation is launching its new wheel shop at its Maintenance Center at Stuttgart airport. Services will now include repair and maintenance of main landing gear wheels and nose gear wheels.

DC Aviation 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 other airplane type.

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 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.

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.