Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Paul Richfield, in Tamiment, Pa.
Bell Helicopter Textron is considering Boston and Fort Worth for what it hopes will be the first of many heliports capable of handling its new Bell/Agusta BA609 civil tiltrotor.
Texas Air Aces' (TAA) unusual attitude training will now be provided under a new division: Aviation Safety Training. The two-day course consists of two to four flights and a one-day ground school, and covers unusual attitude recognition and recovery, aerodynamics review, uncommanded excursions, spatial disorientation and spin training. TAA says more than 600 corporate pilots have completed its Advanced Maneuvering Program (AMP) over the past four years. Call (281) 379-2237 for more information.
The FAA has selected System Management, Inc. (SMI) and Systems Atlanta, Inc. to design, produce and install ASOS Controller Equipment-Integrated Display Systems (ACE-IDS). The new systems will be integrated into large TRACON installations throughout the United States.
FlightSafety International (FSI) is nearing completion of a business and regional aviation training center at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. FSI plans to open the Atlanta Learning Center in January 2000 with 15 simulators, including the Learjet 31A, 45 and 60; and Bombardier's de Havilland Dash 8-100, -Q200, -Q300 and Canadair Regional Jet.
Sunrise Jet Center, an independent FBO at John Wayne Airport that now manages 80,000 square feet of hangar and office space, changed its name to Newport Jet Center. The facility is home to 14 aviation-related businesses.
Emergency medical transportation provider Air Methods is adding a Bell 206L-1 to its operation at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The company already operates a Bell 222U for Mercy Air Life.
Gentleman guard your flanks. Ever since Warren Buffett moved into Executive Jet, the concerns of chief pilots and aviation managers have accelerated. Buffett is a billionaire long-ball hitter, and his head honcho, Richard Santulli, is a brilliant persuader who has created a monstrous aviation entity out of an idea. EJA -- or EJI, if you prefer -- has millions upon millions of dollars of business jet aircraft on order.
The first Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 to conform with production specifications is taking shape at the company's headquarters facility in San Antonio, with first flight planned for March 2000. The forward fuselage section arrived in July, and the mid- and aft-fuselage sections were due to arrive by early this month. The left- and right-wing assemblies are expected to arrive in San Antonio in early December. Gamesa Aeronautica of Vitoria, Spain, is providing these components, and will build them for the first five SJ30-2 airframes.
The Model 2020-Turbo ProBalancer Analyzer for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters upgrades Aces Systems' Model 2020 ProBalancer analyzer. According to the company, the Model 2020-Turbo ProBalancer provides nearly two times faster data acquisition speed for propeller balancing, rotor track and balancing, and vibration analysis (from the standard 480 ms to the turbo 280 ms), ``resulting in 71-percent faster spectrum updates.'' Also, the Model 2020-Turbo doubles frequency analysis range from the standard 600,000 rpms to the turbo 1,200,000 rpms.
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) has agreed to design and build the fuselage and undertake final structural assembly of the new Fairchild Aerospace 428JET regional jet. The $600 million contract follows an $80 million deal signed by the two companies in June, which made IAI responsible for system engineering and integration, flight testing and certification support for the 428JET program.
Life Flight Network EMS helicopters using the Port of Tillamook Airport and North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City, Ore., now can benefit from real-time weather information, thanks to a donation from the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde and the Spirit Mountain Casino. The Tribes purchased an AWOS weather station for each location from Maryland-based SMI Corp.
The company has announced two staff changes. Jack Hess has been promoted to OEM account manager for the Business and General Aviation Group. Twenty-year Goodrich veteran Russ Myers has been named western region account manager, handling aftermarket sales to authorized dealers and corporate operators.
Lufthansa Flight Training GmbH (LFT) and LanChile Airlines are teaming up to form Flight Training Center Chile. The new center will initially offer Boeing 737-200 simulator training with plans to order an Airbus A319/A320 simulator by year-end.
Lancair also is increasing its European presence, appointing Hanseatische Luftwert GmbH (HLW) as a Columbia 300 dealership at both its Bremen, Germany, headquarters and at HLW affiliates throughout Europe.
Pratt&Whitney Canada President Gilles Ouimet emerging from a Pilatus PC-12. Ouimet recently traveled from St. Hubert, Quebec to Greenland aboard a PC-12, to sign a supplier agreement with Pilatus Business Aircraft regarding a new military trainer.
Century Aerospace canceled ``important announcements'' it had scheduled for this year's NBAA Convention in Atlanta, to ``protect current business negotiations.'' Century President and CEO Bill Northrup says ``a lot is happening, but we feel it would be poor judgment to announce anything as of yet.'' Albuquerque-based Century is developing the CA-100 Century Jet, a proposed entry-level jet. First flight of the CA-100 is planned for second quarter 2001.
In a bid to jump-start sales, MD Helicopters has reduced the price of its MD600N helicopter to $1.2 million, a $50,000 decrease. MD Helicopters bought Boeing's commercial helicopter product lines in February, and immediately cut the prices of three of five helicopters: the MD Explorer ($900,000), MD520N ($35,000) and the MD500E ($12,000). Forty-five MD600Ns are operating worldwide; the aircraft is a stretched variant of the single-turbine MD500 series equipped with a NOTAR system. The U.S.
Airport Manager Charles Gunter is overseeing construction of a $4.3 million runway project, to be completed before the airport hosts the Experimental Aircraft Association's Sun 'N Fun Fly-in, to be held in April 2000. The airport says ``25 to 35 corporate jets'' use it each week.
Italy's Department of Civil Protection will purchase three additional Canadair 415 firefighting aircraft. The Italian government already operates 10 of the amphibious aircraft.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Paul Richfield, in Atlanta
Raisbeck Engineering is requesting customer input to help it develop an aft fuselage baggage locker for Bombardier Challenger 601 and 604 aircraft. Interested parties obtained copies of a related questionnaire at the NBAA Convention in Atlanta last month, and around 400 Challenger operators in the United States, Canada and Mexico already have received the survey by mail.
Corporate Rotable and Supply and Auxilec have introduced a new brushless DC generator for Learjet 35, 36 and 55 series aircraft. The Model A3579-000, a direct replacement for the Bendix/AlliedSignal P/N 30B107-19A unit, features a 3,000-hour TBO, true 400 amps at ground-level operation and a two-year factory warranty. This product is compatible with the existing DC electrical system, including the Bendix/AlliedSignal and Phoenix Aerospace GCUs. Price: Target range is $25,000 to $30,000 Corporate Rotable and Supply, Inc.
The manufacturer announced several staff changes. Newly named vice presidents are Dan Stone, vice president, maintenance and field support, and Robert H. Loehfelm, vice president, marketing. Also, Roger Munt joined as senior director of marketing and sales analysis and Brent Hoben was named senior director of sales engineering.
A Bell 214ST helicopter operated by the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) crashed shortly after takeoff from an offshore oil platform near Abu Sa, Saudi Arabia on October 2, killing at least 12 of the estimated 20 people aboard. According to the NTSB's preliminary report, the U.S.-registered aircraft (N704H) flipped upside-down after crashing into the water, and no U.S. citizens were on board.
Given the changing nature of business aviation, with ever more corporate-operated aircraft having to justify their existence to CFOs and stockholders strictly as business tools, many flight departments are looking for alternatives to the gold-plated interior. Corporate aircraft today are flying more hours than ever before and, in many cases, are being made available to a wider group of employees than just upper-level management.
