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.
Automotive Air Charter, the joint venture between General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, flew its first charter flight on October 2 aboard a Hawker 800XP owned by DaimlerChrysler Aviation. Company officials say customer response to the FAR Part 135 charter operation has been encouraging, citing Gulfstream V charters to Sydney, Australia and Johannesburg, South Africa planned for the winter holiday season.
General Electric subsidiary Garrett Aviation Services will be the completion integrator for the Fairchild Envoy 3 and Envoy 7 aircraft, and will support both types after delivery. Envoy 3 completions will be done at Garrett's Springfield, Ill., plant; Envoy 7 completions will be done at a Garrett and/or Fairchild facility to be named later. ``With this agreement, we are also setting up a separate, dedicated corporate customer support organization inside Fairchild,'' says Joe Vreeman, the company's senior vice president of customer support.
Meanwhile, HPN users are concerned that the occupancy of Bell Faire, a new housing development located directly under the approach path of Runway 34, will lead to fresh noise complaints and flight restrictions. The Westchester Aviation Association (WAA) -- a local user group -- has sent letters to the Westchester County executive and Board of Legislators addressing the issue, but has yet to receive a response.
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.
Era Aviation Center, the only full-service, 24-hour FBO in Alaska, has opened a new 40,000-square-foot hangar exclusively for use by business aviators at Anchorage International Airport ``This year, we're celebrating our FBO's 20th anniversary, and we're excited to add this new feature,'' said Chuck Johnson, the company's president.
Airwolf Helicopter Co. says it is now the sole manufacturer and supplier of main-rotor drive shafts for the venerable Sikorsky S-58 helicopter. The company says more than 500 S-58s are still flying, and ``many more can be re-activated to service'' once new drive shafts are made available. Sikorsky built more than 2,200 of the piston- and later turbine-powered helicopters from the mid-1950s onward; the S-58 was replaced by the turbine-engine S-61. Middlefield, Ohio-based Airwolf also builds spray rigs for Robinson helicopters.
Bell's most recent upgrade to its ubiquitous UH-1H ``Huey'' helicopter features the main rotor system, tail rotor, tail boom and drive train from its Model 212 civil helicopter. The ``Huey II'' also is equipped with the more powerful L-703 variant of the AlliedSignal T53 engine, commonly used on the Cobra attack helicopter.
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.
ATC is required to apply no less than the specified minimum separation if you are operating behind a heavy jet (aircraft capable of takeoff weights of more than 255,000 pounds) and, in certain instances, large non-heavy aircraft (Boe- ing 757).
Newburgh, N.Y.-based FBO Rifton Aviation Services has teamed up with Sikorsky's Associated Aircraft Group (AAG) to offer helicopter connections to arriving business aircraft. AAG has repositioned a Sikorsky S-76B from its Poughkeepsie base to nearby Stewart International Airport for the new service, which is primarily intended to transport passengers to locations within New York City.
John Rahilly has been named vice president of a newly formed technical services operations unit that will oversee the daily operations of various BBA businesses, including Signature's Regional Main- tenance Centers and Precision Avionics.
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.
AlliedSignal predicts the market for traditional business aircraft will remain strong in the short term, but crest in 2000 before climbing again toward the end of the decade. According to the company's eighth annual ``Business Aviation Market Outlook,'' this perception is driven by the impact of new and derivative aircraft models, and by the expansion of fractional ownership.
Air carrier operations experts consider a turbine aircraft ``automated'' or ``advanced technology'' if it is equipped with EFIS (a glass cockpit) and an FMS of some sort. Early studies and piles of anecdotal accounts suggest that the transition from electromechanical instruments and traditional navigation gear has been not been altogether seamless.
A 1983 Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain operated by Hawaiian operator Big Island Air crashed into the side of the Mauna Loa Volcano on September 25, killing the pilot and all nine passengers aboard. According to the NTSB, the wreckage was discovered at the 10,200-foot level on the northeast slope of the 13,677-foot volcano. The Chieftain (N411WL) was one of two operated by Big Island Air, a 14-year-old air tour business.
Why worry about security issues involving the company aircraft and your corporate passengers? After all, the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute (ACPI), of Hagerstown, Md., says aircraft theft is at an all-time low. It reports 21 aircraft stolen and 112 burglarized parts in 1998, compared with 41 stolen aircraft and 217 burglarized parts in 1990. All thefts involved single-engine aircraft.
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.
Avcorp reported sales of C$75 million in its just-ended fiscal year, but expects to take a C$8 million write-down and show no profit due to costs associated with developing the tail section for Bombardier's new 70-seat CRJ Series 700. These results are said to have triggered a reshuffling of Avcorp's senior management: Michael Scholz is stepping down as chairman, and the executive chairman role will be assumed by John W. Sandford, who became interim president and CEO when Peter Jeffrey resigned in July.
ARINC and British Telecom are partnering to provide high-speed data service for use in inflight entertainment systems and flight deck/cabin communications systems.
Hawaiian Airlines has signed a letter of intent to purchase 13 Boeing 717-200 regional jets, with options for seven more. Delivery of the first BMW Rolls-Royce BR715-powered aircraft to the Honolulu-based carrier is planned for February 2001, with the 12 remaining aircraft slated to arrive before the end of that year. The 717-200s will replace the airline's aging fleet of 15 McDonnell Douglas
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.
Flight Level Corp. has just released an upgrade of its electronic aviation logbook. The Microsoft Windows-based FlightLevel LogBook 2000 includes the following additions and/or improvements: complete new ICAO, FAA aircraft database; complete and current airport database; database merge capability; compound filtering by any column, date range, aircraft type or N number; and custom print options. Record entry allows copying flight time to any field (PIC, X country, day, night). Price: $49 as an upgrade; $99 for first-time users Flight Level Corp.
The third Raytheon Premier I business jet flew for the first time on September 17, and has joined the first two aircraft in the type's flight test program. Test pilot Dave Newton and flight test engineer Corey Eckhart completed a variety of maneuvers during the two-hour sortie, testing the aircraft's various systems and overall handling qualities while reaching 16,500 feet and 320 KCAS.
