If all goes according to the latest timetable, the first commercially viable FAR Part 36, Stage 3 noise treatment for Gulfstream IIs and IIIs should be undergoing flight tests this month with an eye to FAA certification at the end of the first quarter of 1999 (July, page 34). At the end of November, Las Vegas-based Stage III Technologies planned to begin flight tests with a production prototype exhaust system mounted on one side of a G-II owned by launch customer Hubbard Broadcasting of St. Cloud, Minn.
By David EslerO&M News Editor Jim Proulx contributed to this story. ``We...find that personal customer service seems to keep customers coming back over and over again.''
Spoken by Chris Gress, accessory marketing representative at Duncan Aviation, this statement of personalized service seems to be the credo of the small or independent MRO organization. Lincoln, Neb.-headquartered Duncan is one of a diminishing number of independent repair stations and completion centers serving business and general aviation. With Gulfstream Aerospace acquiring Duncan competitor K-C Aviation to boost capacity for cabin completions of the OEM's upscale business jets, the pool in which Duncan swims became a little smaller.
Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. has launched a full-scale research and development effort to create a certifiable prototype of a four-place, piston-powered light aircraft. Dubbed the Toyota Advanced Aircraft, the plane will be constructed entirely of composite media. The R&D project is being conducted under the auspices of Toyota Motor Sales, the automaker's U.S. subsidiary, and is headquartered in the Toyota Technical Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena.
