In a landmark decision that could help airports fight the spread of cellular telephone towers, Wisconsin's Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the city of Delavan's right to use local zoning ordinances to keep a paging company from replacing an existing tower with a taller one at the same site. According to the Wisconsin Aviation Bulletin, Judge Diane P.
Pat Epps was the recipient of the 1999 NBAA American Spirit Award. Epps and ;; ghhis family have been involved in Atlanta's business aviation community for several decades.
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.
Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) is planning a ``massive expansion'' into business aviation training, originating with its SimCom unit in Orlando. SimCom recently signed a long-term agreement with The New Piper Aircraft, for recurrent and transition training at the Piper plant in Vero Beach, Fla. The deal covers five piston aircraft and the new Malibu Meridian turboprop, whose simulator will be online before the end of 2000. SimCom also has added a Cessna Citation II simulator, and will offer type-rating courses for 500-, 550-, 550S- and 560-series Citations.
Pilot resistance to Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO) has diminished capacity and increased delays at the nation's most crowded airports, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the largest controllers' union. Quoting a recent FAA study, the union says delays have increased 210 percent at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport since the implementation of LAHSO restrictions, while the maximum arrival rate at Philadelphia International Airport has dropped from 70 to 52 operations per hour for the same reason.
Companies that provide security equipment are ready to assist you with taking security into your own hands at GA airports. Many of the products are devised to indicate intruder tampering, others are deterrents to keep the wayward honest, and some combine the two features.
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.
Our bodies are not unlike an aircraft from a mechanical point of view, especially when considering hydraulics, communications, fuel management and controlling the aircraft's various internal functions. Our bodies have a circulatory system with a pump, electrical circuitry (nerves) to every functioning part, a communication system (brain) to monitor and control, and a powerplant (muscles and cells) requiring fuel.
Gulfstream and Lockheed Martin have pledged to build a supersonic business jet demonstrator by 2005, with full production following by 2010 if new ``sonic boom-free'' technology is successful. Gulfstream President William Boisture says the aircraft's size and shape will be determined over the next two years. Billionaire Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway, the company that owns both Executive Jet and FlightSafety International, says he sees a ``heavy demand'' for SSBJ fractional ownership.
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.
-- DC-8-71 suffered an engine compression stall during its departure from ORD. A landing aircraft on an intersecting runway is thought to have created the wake. -- Airbus A320 on an ILS approach at ORD encounters wake turbulence. The aircraft rolls 40 degrees left. The flight crew regained full control. One flight attendant was injured. -- Canadair Challenger on approach at ORD experienced wake turbulence resulting in an uncontrolled roll of 45 to 60 degrees. The preceding aircraft was a Boeing 757. The crew executed a go-around.
Rifton Aviation Services is building a 100,000-square-foot Boeing Business Jet dedicated hangar. It also is adding a Citation Excel to its charter fleet, and soon will be offering a daily shuttle service to New York City using Sikorsky S-76 helicopters.
Kenneth Weigand was elected chairman at the organization's recent annual convention in Williamsburg, Va. The organization also elected Harold E. Miller; Dr. John C. Eagerton, IV; Jack Ferns; and Demetrius Glass to one-year terms on the NASAO Executive Committee. Bart Welsh, Rudy Rudolph, Brian Weiler, Anthony J. Amato, Robert F. Juliano, Gary Adams, Anthony M. Culp and Elton E. Jay were elected as NASAO regional directors.
Pratt&Whitney Canada is proceeding with advanced design studies of a new common-core family of small turboprop and turbofan engines. The PW6XX family will be designed for simplicity, efficiency and reliability to keep acquisition and operating costs low. The turbofan would compete with the Williams FJX-2 and would have between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds of thrust. The turboprop would be in the 600- to 900-shp range with fuel specifics more than 20 percent better than the PT6.
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.
Mesaba Holdings has named Paul F. Foley as the new president and CEO of Mesaba Airlines. Foley joins Mesaba from FAR Part 121 freight carrier Atlas Air, where he has served as vice president of operations support since 1996.
Radio provider ARINC has entered a five-year agreement with JenaNet.com that will allow turbine fleet operators to check engine diagnostics in real time. Engine data downloaded from an aircraft will be sent to JenaNet's Fort Worth headquarters using ARINC's GLOBALink data communications system, analyzed and then presented to users via the Internet. Earlier this year, JenaNet.com was awarded a Technology Innovation Award by B/CA sister publication Aviation Week&Space Technology.
Executive Jet has opened the first phase of its new headquarters at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. The new facility, scheduled for completion in December, will include a new operations center the company says is ``unparalleled in business aviation''.
Tokyo's Excel Air Service has taken delivery of the first Mitsubishi MH2000, which is touted as Japan's first indigenous helicopter. The MH2000 accommodates eight passengers and two pilots, and is powered by two MG5-110 turboshaft engines with a maximum takeoff power of 876 shp each.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Richard O. Reinhart, M.D.
Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) are now using the Internet to process pilots' medical certificate applications, in a bid to reduce paperwork and expedite the process. The new format includes several changes to the application itself, FAA Form 8500-8, which was last modified in 1992. These changes include: -- A space for indicating citizenship, in the same block as date of birth.
Ranger Aviation has completed a 14,000-square-foot corporate headquarters building and aircraft hangar, and is renting to six additional corporate tenants. Ranger plans to break ground this month for three 12,000-square-foot hangars, which will open by spring 2000. Each new hangar will accommodate 10 corporate aircraft. Although it has not signed with a fuel dealer yet, plans are in the works.
Stenbock&Everson's Polaris GPS 990 Moving Map System for the cabin keeps passengers in the loop by displaying geographical features, towns, roads and streets, distance traveled, time-to-destination and fuel requirements. The aircraft route can be shown in either course-up or north-up map format. The Polaris 990 system is shipped with Windows 98, Polaris Skyshow software, a GPS antenna and a 12-28-VDC vehicle power adapter. Options include a touchscreen and Windows NT 4.0 system software and a full line of accessories.
