McEvaddy company wins refuelling contract for US Navy

by ipsiphi Mon Mar 10, 2003 12:39

So this company is a Military Industrial Component. That is part of the modern Ireland. Remember that every Paddy´s day.

by air head Mon Mar 10, 2003 13:15

October 2000

Navy Considering Commercial Tanker Lease
Company contends it can refuel naval jets at half the cost of military tankers

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=296

by Sandra I. Erwin

An Irish entrepreneur is trying to convince the U.S. Navy that it should lease refurbished Boeing 707s as refueling tankers for naval jets.

Omega Air, based in Dublin, Ireland, recently completed a series of tests at Patuxent Naval Air Station, Md., where a commercial tanker refueled an F/A-18C jet. The company wants to prove that commercial tankers can do the job and can save the Navy money, said Ulick McEvaddy, director of Omega Air. McEvaddy conceived the idea of buying used 707s, DC-9s and DC-10s from airlines and transforming them into tankers.

McEvaddy believes the demand for U.S. military aerial refueling will grow, as the pace of American deployments abroad increases and the availability of pilots declines, he told National Defense in an interview.

According to McEvaddy, most military tankers fly less than 300 hours a year. This is less than one month’s flying for a civilian aircraft. And he predicts that the military services will become increasingly reluctant to buy more tankers because of the large investment involved in aircraft, flight crews and maintenance personnel.

Omega offers a modified 707 aerial refueling tanker as a “turnkey” solution, with the company providing all fight and maintenance crews, the aircraft and the logistics support, he said. The lease periods could range from one week to 10 years. The tankers could be leased for routine training missions, scheduled deployments, exercises and contingencies.

The company has liability insurance that covers all peacetime operations. In wartime, said McEvaddy, “the jury is still out. ... Normally, you wouldn’t bring a tanker into harm’s way. Refueling [typically] takes place behind the front lines.

“We are targeting the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps to fill the dearth they have in tanker capability,” he said. “They are losing people to the airlines. The requirement is going up all the time.”

Omega’s tankers are equipped with hose/drogue systems, which makes them suitable for aerial refueling of Navy jets. The tanker releases a hose with a drogue (a funnel-shaped device) attached to it. The pilot seeking to receive fuel releases a probe and has to “fly into the drogue.”

The 707 tanker has a dual hose/drogue centerline system, which allows it to refuel two airplanes simultaneously.

This refueling system would not work with most Air Force fighters and bombers, which require a tanker with a boom, a rigid tube that must be aimed into a receptacle on the receiving plane’s fuselage. The Air Force KC-135 tanker is equipped with a boom only.

The Navy currently relies on C-130 and S3 Viking tankers for short-range aerial refueling. It also plans to reconfigure some F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters with external fuel tanks, to serve as tactical tankers. The service does not have its own fleet of long-range tankers. The Air Force KC-10 strategic tanker, which can do both probe/drogue and boom/receptacle refueling, is used for Navy long-range refueling. For an Air Force KC-135 to be able to refuel a Navy jet, the boom operator must attach a hose with a drogue at the end of the boom, so the fighter pilot then must insert the so-called probe into the drogue. The Navy also has employed commercial tankers. Other navies around the world, such as Australia’s, use commercial tankers equipped with probe-and-drogue systems.

Omega currently has one prototype tanker, which was on display at this summer’s Farnborough air show, in the United Kingdom. “We have a couple more in the United States, waiting to be overhauled,” said McEvaddy. “There is no shortage of supplies of 707s.”

Even though Boeing discontinued production of 707 airframes, it is not difficult to get spare parts, said McEvaddy. The U.S. government still uses them, and there are about 560 in service around the world today. Omega also is marketing its services to the U.K. Ministry of Defence, which is looking for a “future tanker concept that will involve leasing services,” said McEvaddy. “We are hoping to participate in that program also.”

The price of leasing an Omega tanker varies, depending on the number of hours and the terms agreed, he said. “The more hours they contract, the lower the price.” Omega crews would consist of former military pilots and maintainers, he said.

Among the potential customers who visited the display at the show was Gen. James L. Jones, the commandant of the Marine Corps, who supports contracting out military refueling services. McEvaddy said Jones “was very positive that this tanker capability is what he needs.”

Omega currently owns a fleet of about 20 DC-9s and DC-10s, none of which is configured as a tanker, but could become tankers “once we make some management decisions,” said Gale E. Matthews, president of Omega.

The projected hourly rate for an Omega tanker is $5,500, said Matthews. That compares favorably with the cost operating a KC-135, he noted, which runs at about $11,000 an hour.

In addition to the Navy work, he said, “We did a joint study with the Air Force and the results indicated there are measurable opportunities for contracting air refueling.

“Based on the enthusiasm at Farnborough, we believe we will expand.”

by air head Mon Mar 10, 2003 13:18

Sunday Tribune makes further claims about Harney and McEvaddys Sunday, August 29 1999
Filed at: 12:40 PM
http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0829/harney.html

A report in today's Sunday Tribune claims that the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, took part in a European Council of Ministers meeting that saved the aviation company, run by the McEvaddy brothers, millions of pounds. The paper also claims that the Progressive Democrat leader discussed the introduction of new air noise pollution regulations with Ulick McEvady earlier this year. The allegations follow on from last week's disclosure that Ms. Harney, and the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, had been a guests at Ulick McEvaddy's villa in France.
The Tánaiste denied that she broke any Oireachtas rules on accepting gifts by staying at a villa the businessman. She said that the McEvaddy family had been her friends since before she became a minister. The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said that the two ministers would not be absenting themselves from any Cabinet discussions about Mr Evaddy's application to build a second terminal at Dublin airport or the question of Government support for McEvaddys' fight against new EU rules on aircraft engine noise.

Responding to today's, report a spokesman for Ms. Harney said that the Minister had no material involvement in the EU meeting last April. He confirmed that she had discussed proposed regulations with Mr. McEvaddy earlier this year, but that she had made no regulations.

The newspaper also claims that Ulick McEvaddy tried to persuade a TD not to give evidence against Michael Lowry in the McCracken Tribunal. Fine Gael TD, Paul McGrath, told the paper that he had received a telephone call from Mr. McEvaddy before telling anyone that he was due to appear. Mr. McGrath claims the businessman suggested that the TD should not give his evidence. In his evidence, Mr. McGrath said that Michael Lowry appeared to believe that anyone who gave significant sums to the party should be treated favourably. He said that he had been lobbied by Mr Lowry in relation to a tax designation for Fine Gael.

by air head Mon Mar 10, 2003 13:20

A civilian airline is trying to prove that by leasing its aircraft as aerial refueling tankers the Navy can save money, plus receive valuable training that otherwise may have to be dropped.
The Air Force is responsible for refueling everything from carrier-based Navy F/A-18 Hornets flying from the Arabian Gulf to B-2 bombers flying overseas from the Mid-Western United States. But the war in Afghanistan and an aging military tanker fleet is leaving the Air Force increasingly strapped to provide refueling to aircraft training within the United States.

Omega Air is hoping to step in. It has been refueling military jets since early this year in a trial program sponsored by the Navy Air Systems Command, which will decide at the end of the year if it's a viable concept.

more at
http://www.pilotonline.com/business/bz0820fue.html

by isf Mon Mar 10, 2003 15:44

Omega offers aircraft all fight and maintenance crews, logistics support from one week lease on routine training missions, scheduled deployments, exercises and contingencies with liability insurance that covers all peacetime operations.

Omega owns 20 DC-9s and DC-10s,
Gale E. Matthews is president of Omega.
Omega has done a joint study with USAF.
Omega is liked at Farnborough ["the Blitzkrieg Death Market".....^where playstation meets hell^]

other google key search terms : Navy Air Systems Command USAF.
The McEvaddy brothers are Irish.
They need spare parts.
They need help fighting against new EU rules on air pollution and noise pollution.

by unamerican chris Mon Mar 10, 2003 20:08

These "gents" have their offices in a large grey building as you get near to Dublin Airport I think on the old Santry road it is just after a very large pub/resturant that used have a large sign with a Wright Bros. style old airplane on it. We did an action years ago as Earthwatch at the airport and at this building as their were an interest who wanted to build facilities for medium tern storage of nuclear waste in Pembrokeshire, Wales. They did not like the publicity one bit and quickly ushered our spokespeople inside the building for sandwiches, tea, and cha. I'm sure a similar action would prove fruitful, just don't anounce it too widely in advance.