Stork Herron earns rigorous Bell Helicopter approval

Stork Herron in Cleveland was pleased to announce that the laboratory has been approved by Bell Helicopter as an authorized supplier of testing services.

Stork Herron Quality Manager Gregory Cznadel explained how the Bell Helicopter Program came to include Stork, "Stork Herron customers petitioned Bell to add Herron to their approved supplier list, which will make Herron one of the only Bell-approved labs in the Midwest. Stork Herron then took the next step to earn Bell Helicopter testing approval in early 2007 by completing a supplier profile for Bell. Stork Herron Sales Manager Mark Bixby was the initiator and he spent many hours working with Paul Haases from Bell to complete quality and accounting surveys, determine the scope of tests for which we were seeking approval, and to download and review specifications and laboratory instructions from the Bell website.

"We were able to work with our sister laboratory in California (Stork Materials Testing & Inspection) to prepare for the Bell audit and build our own procedure. When everything was in alignment, Bell sent Bill Barnett to perform the audit on October 8th and we finished on the 10th.

"The final step, prior to approval, was for Stork Herron to create a test plan and demonstrate our capability. We accomplished that and were informed of our approval on December 4. We're grateful to our customers, our consultants and to Karen Baumiller and all the technicians and customer service staff at Stork Herron for their participation in achieving this prestigious approval for our lab."

Stork Herron will assist Bell Helicopter with their V-22 program. The unique Vertical Take Off & Landing aircraft  was first successfully flown in 1989 and is now in full production. Bell, which produced the V-22 in a strategic alliance with Boeing, describes the craft this way, "The V-22 offers twice the speed, three times the payload, five times the range, and can fly more than twice as high as older rotorcraft it is destined to replace."

Orders for hundreds of aircraft from the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force Special Operations Command are process, and with sales agreements to medical transportation companies in hand, Bell Helicopter is preparing to commercially release the V-22 Osprey in the near future. The three Bell-approved portions of the aircraft are manufactured in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, and Philadelphia. Final assembly and delivery occurs in Amarillo, Texas.