Jet Aviation's Teterboro maintenance facility recently performed the first field removal of a BMW Rolls-Royce BR710A1-10 engine from a Gulfstream V. The aircraft -- which belongs to one of Jet Aviation's management clients -- was taxiing for takeoff at TEB when the crew received an engine vibration warning. Inspection revealed small metal deposits in the engine's front bearing assembly, perhaps from the bearing housing. The engine was shipped to Rolls-Royce Canada for disassembly, inspection and repair.
The NBAA has produced a 45-page, glossy four-color guide to Business Aircraft Utilization Strategies. The guide profiles operators to illustrate 19 distinct usage strategies ranging from key employee travel to attracting and retaining key people to corporate shuttles and customer service. Also included are results of a joint NBAA/J.D. Power and Associates survey on utilization. The guide is available free to members and non-members alike. Call the NBAA at (202) 783-9000.
Two new FlightSafety International simulators have received FAA Level ``D'' certification: A Bombardier Learjet 60 based in Tucson and a Wichita-based Raytheon Hawker 800XP. Certification is pending for a Sikorsky S-76C+ simulator in West Palm Beach, Fla., and a Raytheon King Air 90B in Wichita. The company also reports ``significant steps'' bringing training programs into conformity with JAA regulations.
Aviall has been awarded exclusive ``civil after-market distribution rights'' for the Rolls-Royce (formerly Allison) 250 turboshaft and turboprop engines used on several helicopter types. Effective January 1, 2000, Model 250 operators can order parts, publications and related items through Aviall's dealer network, or through Inventory Locator Service (ILS), a Memphis-based Aviall unit that uses the Internet (www.go-ils.com) to link buyers and sellers of aerospace and marine parts and services.
Galaxy Aerospace has launched a new CD-ROM-based maintenance manual for use with its Astra-series business jets. The software includes a parts catalog, wiring diagrams and hyperlinks allowing quick movement from one section to another. Revisions will be issued to operators on a 90-day cycle, and the company hopes to have a similar system ready for the new Galaxy business jet by early 2000.
Bombardier Aerospace sold a total of nine CRJ200s to new operators. China's Shandong Airlines ordered seven aircraft, making it the first regional carrier in China to operate the regional jet. Cimber Air A/S of Denmark ordered two, the first pure jets for the carrier, which currently operates a fleet of ATR turboprops.
A consortium of four French companies has acquired a 20-percent stake in Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, outbidding a BAe/Saab joint venture. Aerospatiale Matra, Dassault Aviation, Snecma and Thomson-CSF reportedly paid around $200 million for 48.5 million common shares of Embraer, shares that are not tied to control of the company. The French consortium says the investment is ``based on confidence in Embraer's growing role in worldwide aerospace markets,'' and is not tied to any specific program or project.
SimuFlite Training International has ordered four new simulators for its Dallas/Fort Worth International training center, including a Gulfstream IVSP, Gulfstream V and Cessna Citation Ultra/Bravo and Citation Excel. The G-IVSP will be on line in 2000, with the remainder expected in 2001. The simulators will be housed in SimuFlite's 164,000-square-foot training expansion, scheduled for completion in April 2000.
Nav Canada will install two new radar systems in Northern Canada at a cost of C$14.5 million, saying the project will enhance safety and reduce customer costs. The first system, at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, will eliminate some lengthy procedural approaches, and improve service for high-altitude overflights. Kuujjuaq in Canada's Eastern Arctic will receive the second system; Nav Canada says its coverage will allow more efficient altitudes and routings for air traffic in the ``transition zone'' between the North Atlantic and North American Air Route Systems.
Photograph: Dallas Airmotive is the marketing arm for Stage III Technologies' hush kit for the G-II, G-IIB and G-III. Dallas Airmotive Environment can be perceived as the major challenge for the aviation industry in the coming years. Noise and emissions are major concerns to [national] populations and have led to numerous political actions in those domains, internationally, regionally and locally.
Aerospatiale Matra of France and Germany's DaimlerChrysler have agreed to merge their respective aerospace businesses, creating the world's third-largest aerospace company behind Boeing and Lockheed Martin. To be called the European Aeronautic, Defense and Space (EADS) company, the new venture will control a number of Europe's largest aerospace ventures, including Airbus Industrie, Arianespace, and Eurocopter.
The FAA has extended the comment period on its proposed revision of FAR Part 145 -- the rules governing aircraft repair stations -- from the original October 19 deadline to December 3. The action is a response to requests from 21 repair stations and the various industry associations, which seek more time to study the FAA's proposal and its possible repercussions. (See August, page 40.) Around 4,509 repair stations in the United States and 525 overseas will be affected by the new rules, which would make repair stations responsible for all outsourced work.
SimuFlite Training International is upgrading the visual systems of 14 of its FAA Level C full-flight simulators. Older visual displays will be replaced with CAE Electronics' new Maxvue Plus daylight systems and BARCO/EIS Monitor Replacement Projectors. The first upgrade -- to a Learjet 55 simulator -- has been completed, and work on the remaining simulators at the company's Dallas facility is expected to be completed by first quarter 2001. Additionally, SimuFlite is providing 24-hour customer response service, available by calling (800) 527-2463 or (972) 456-8000.
Indigo, a new Chicago-based company, plans to offer weekday scheduled service between Chicago's Midway Airport and Teterboro, N.J., using a Dassault Falcon 20 business jet. According to Matt G. Andersson, chairman and CEO of the new venture, prices will be comparable to full-fare coach airline tickets. Joining Andersson at Indigo are John Fenton, the former president of the L.M. Hughey Corp.; Tom Svrcek, an ex-employee of McKinsey&Co. and United Airlines; and Doug Jones, a former vice president of aviation finance at Sanwa Bank.
A nearly $300 billion defense bill passed recently by the U.S. Congress includes $15 million to pay for government sonic-boom research that could benefit supersonic business jet partners Gulfstream and Lockheed Martin. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens' (R-Alaska) original bill allocated $20 million for the research by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration), which was then reduced to $15 million in committee.
The Aviation Trust Fund and FAA budget aren't the only casualties of congressional budget battles. Funds for further development of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) also have been put on hold until the FAA can provide additional justification of the planned expenditures. LAAS, which is expected to reduce air traffic delay in IFR conditions, was successfully tested in November at Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airports.
Here's a fact that will make you feel good: According to Robert P. Mark, author of Professional Pilot Career Guide, some 12,000 pilot jobs were filled this year. While the numbers are forecast to decrease after 2000, the industry will still require some 8,000 to 9,000 pilots per year until 2007 as Vietnam War-era pilots begin to retire in droves.
United Technologies (UTC) will acquire suppliers Cade Industries and Dallas Aerospace and merge them into its Pratt&Whitney Engine Services (PWES) unit. By acquiring Cade, PWES extends its reach into the construction and repair of after-market composite structures; the Dallas Aerospace purchase eliminates a competitor while adding to Pratt's engine sales, parts and leasing business.
China's Hainan Airlines has taken delivery of the first of 19 Fairchild Aerospace 328JETs it ordered to expand its regional network. According to Fairchild, Hainan will be the first Chinese operator to employ regional jets. Hainan's 328JET order is valued at $464 million if all 20 options included in the deal are exercised.
Edited by Paul RichfieldDavid Rimmer, in Atlantic City, N.J.
Atlantic City Mayor James Whalen said he would ``close Bader Field [AIY] tomorrow if I could,'' but is prevented from doing so by the FAA until 2006. Whalen's comments were in response to recent AOPA criticism of conditions at the embattled airport. He called the group's complaints ``absurd,'' adding that Bader ``is not in deplorable or deteriorating condition.''
Sarah MacLeod, executive director of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA), says the new FAR Part 145 rules are not likely to be withdrawn, as was a recent rule change affecting aircraft technician certification (Part 66). ``The noose is still around our necks,'' she says. ``Realistically, we must strive to obtain the issuance of a Supplemental NPRM.
FAA efforts to redesign airspace to enable aircraft to take full advantage of GPS and to ultimately move toward Free Flight won't be speedy. The first part of the redesign -- one of the FAA's top priorities -- centers on the New England region and will be a four- to five-year project including extensive public hearings where noise is expected to be a critical issue. Redesigning airspace in the rest of the country is expected to take an additional three to four years.
