Wood Group Turbopower (Miami Lakes, Fla.) -- Fenton Appleby is promoted to director of PT6 sales and Jim Herbert is now director of customer service. Recent additions to the company include new regional sales manager for Midwestern sales Rich Carney, regional sales manager for Southern states Steve Gustus and Debbie Williams, who will head national telemarketing at the company's Millville, N.J., office.
Grand Canyon air tour operators and their government regulators are still awaiting the NPRM formalizing the new Special Flight Rules Area over the Grand Canyon. The new rules will restrict flight paths over noise-sensitive zones and Native American cultural sights. Local FAA officials are hoping for a five-month grace period that will give them sufficient time to educate operators about the new rules.
Dassault Falcon Jet (Teterboro) -- Senior Vice President for Customer Service Peter L. Ginocchio is retiring. Gerald A. Goguen, who had been Ginocchio's second-in-command, will succeed him. R. Patrick Reardon has been promoted to field service representative.
By the time you read this, the FAA should have concluded its review of the Fractional Ownership Rulemaking Advisory Committee's proposal to regulate fractional ownership under a new Subpart K of FAR Part 91. The report is long -- more than 30,000 words -- and complex. But it bears reading, because it likely will stand for decades as a watershed in business aviation.
Years ago, I climbed into the right seat of a Cessna 182 for a night IFR flight from White Plains, N.Y., to Reading, Pa. The fellow in the left seat was Archie Trammell, former B/CA editor and an enthusiastic proponent of single-engine business airplanes. Their economy, utility and safety are unbeatable, argues Trammell, so long as you take a few precautions including good maintenance, thorough flight planning and the installation, where possible, of dual alternators, vacuum pumps and pitot-static systems.
When Gulfstream Aerospace announced the Gulfstream IV in the early 1980s, the firm promised the third-generation Gulfstream business jet would have the most advanced technology of any business aircraft yet built. The G-IV also promised to have the most operational flexibility and offer passengers the most comfortable cabin of any Gulfstream yet built. Just as importantly, it would offer historical Gulfstream dispatch reliability.
AirFlite at Long Beach Airport in California will again be the ``official FBO'' of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The CART championship race takes place in the streets of Long Beach from April 14 through 16. AirFlite is a Toyota subsidiary. For more information about the race, contact Peggy Zaun at (562) 690-6200.
Spring may be in the air, but Brad Nelson, Airport Operations Manager at Jefferson County Airport in Colorado is already planning for next winter. The airport has acquired four new, high-speed runway ``brooms'' and a military surplus snowblower, enabling crews to attack snowfalls directly. In the past, crews had to wait for accumulations of an inch or greater before efficient removal operations could begin. ``We noticed braking actions improving from poor to good while testing the brooms on the ramp area,'' Nelson says.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Paul Richfield, in Washington, D.C.
Airports in the United States had an ``economic impact'' of close to $1 trillion in 1999, according to Bob Zuelsdorf, president and CEO of Wilbur Smith Associates, a consulting firm. Speaking recently in Washington, D.C., Zuelsdorf and a panel of airport officials used such figures to plug the benefits airports provide beyond their function as transportation hubs.
Aircraft completions consultant Aerospace Concepts of Canada (ACI) has tapped Bryan Landry to manage the completions of all client aircraft. Landry was preflight supervisor and modification line manager for the Bombardier Global Express and will be based at ACI's Montreal headquarters. Fred Denson, former maintenance director of Toyota's AirFlite, is joining Aerospace Concepts as director of technical completions, overseeing work at Bombardier's Tucson and Long Beach, Calif., completion centers. AirFlite is the world's first Global Express operator.
Embraer has chosen Honeywell's Primus 1000 avionics suite for installation on its proposed ERJ-140 regional airliner. The manufacturer had already chosen the system for ERJ-135 and -145 aircraft while the Primus Epic system is planned for the ERJ-170 and -190. Honeywell's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) and cockpit voice recorders have been selected for installation on Embraer ERJ-135, -140, -145, -170, -190-100 and -190-200 aircraft. Total value of the deal is estimated to be more than $180 million through 2013.
Avfuel Corp., which claims to be the nation's leading independent supplier of aviation fuels and services, has added two FBOs to its nationwide dealer network: DB Aviation at Waukegan Regional Airport in Waukegan, Ill.; and TICO Executive Aviation at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titus- ville, Fla.
Worldwide Flight Services has closed its FBO at Stewart International Airport (SWF) in Newburgh, N.Y., leaving Rifton Aviation as the only FBO on the field. Rifton said its ``enthusiasm for and commitment to business aviation'' may have been a factor in Worldwide's decision to vacate its general aviation terminal, close a hangar and focus on providing service to the airlines. Peter Pappas, Worldwide's chairman and CEO, said the reasons had more to do with business imperatives.
Jet Aviation Basel in Switzerland is outfitting its first Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner and recently finished its exterior paint. The facility also is completing a larger A320 as a business aircraft, with a 13-seat VIP area in the forward section and 35 seats in the back. In February, the company completed its second Boeing Business Jet.
Back when business aviation was beginning to blossom in the mid-1950s, most corporate operators were still flying piston-powered aircraft, either one of the new general aviation designs that had emerged after the war, such as the Beech Bonanza or Cessna 310, or converted military or airline transports, such as the Douglas DC-3/C-54 or Lock-heed Lodestar. Few airframe manufacturers were ready to invest the substantial sums needed to produce an all-new, turbine-powered aircraft designed solely for business transportation.
According to an account in the NBAA International Operations Bulletin, the pilot of a Raytheon Beech King Air 300 was arrested upon landing in Luanda, Angola for wearing an ``improper uniform.'' The pilot -- who was wearing a golf shirt -- was released a few hours later after paying a $1,100 fine.
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Mike McNally says his union is continuing to fight the ``piecemeal'' privatization of ATC facilities. He contends that privatization led to two recent Chicago-area accidents and will lead to further problems if budget pressures put ``the corporate bottom line ahead of safety.'' NATCA is lobbying members of Congress and the administration as well as encouraging a grassroots lobbying campaign to ``educate'' leaders about the risks of contracting out FAA installations.
British Airways' Concorde is returning to the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture Oshkosh again this year. The aircraft will arrive on July 28 and will depart on July 31. The EAA is offering ``local'' subsonic flights aboard the aircraft on July 29 and 30 to members for $725. The price for non-members is $750.
Business aviation will have a presence at this month's Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In. In addition to the aircraft and gear for recreational pilots and homebuilders, Cessna, Raytheon, Socata and Pilatus each will exhibit aircraft for the kerosene crowd in Lakeland, Fla., including a CitationJet, Raytheon King Air, TBM 700 and a PC-12. New Piper will not be bringing either the Meridian or a Meridian mockup due to space limitations and scheduling conflicts, but plans to show off the new aircraft in Oshkosh this summer.
The NBAA's board of directors has elected new officers, including PAR Travel Tech's Phil Roberts as chairman, succeeding retired Sears, Roebuck executive Tom Myers. Ken Emerick of General Motors and Automotive Air Charter will serve the remainder of Myers' term as a board member. The NBAA directors also elected George Saling of Philip Morris as vice chairman and Texaco's Don Baldwin as treasurer while reelecting NBAA President Jack Olcott and Corporate Secretary Lise Margin as officers.
Raytheon Aircraft will provide on-site maintenance and technical support for 109 C-12 aircraft -- a derivative of the King Air 200 -- under the terms of a $695 million contract with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.
Peregrine Aviation (Hackensack, N.J.) -- Steve Dandeneau is now president of the company's International Peregrine division. Tim McCool joins as vice president of International Peregrine's San Juan, Puerto Rico hub.
