Transport Canada has awarded the Canadian Business Aircraft Association (CBAA) a C$100,000 grant to study the feasibility of self-regulation of business aviation, it was revealed at the group's annual meeting in Calgary. Art LaFlamme, director general, civil aviation at Transport Canada, said the CBAA's mandate is to examine areas such as issuance of private operator certificates, operations manuals, and training and maintenance requirements, while further reducing the accident rate.
The manufacturer has announced the retirement of Neil J. MacDonald after 39 years of service. Successors for MacDonald and their new positions are Ronald A. Zielinski, vice president of marketing for the U.S. Western region, and Jeffrey M. Habib, director of international sales.
Major underwriters likely will continue to brighten the days of flight department managers who are negotiating renewals or new policies for liability insurance for the remainder of the year and into 2000. Aviation insurance companies view corporate operators as their ``cream of the crop business.'' However, in most cases, the insurers are hurting while keeping their customers happy.
Canadian Airlines subsidiary InterCanadien becomes the first Canadian operator of the Embraer ERJ-145 with a $230 million order for six aircraft and options for six more. The order is especially noteworthy since Bombardier manufactures the competing Canadair Regional Jet in Montreal -- InterCanadien's hometown. InterCanadien operates 16 ATR 42-300s, and recently took over Air Atlantic's Canadian Airlines regional feeder contract when the latter two companies failed to reach an agreement.
Keystone Helicopter's new Keytech Battery Alarm System reduces the chance of costly aircraft battery damage. With a variable delay circuit, Keytech can be programmed by flight and maintenance crews to sound an alarm when the battery master switch is left on up to five minutes after the aircraft is shut down. The alarm is powered by the battery it monitors. Price: $350 Keystone Helicopter Corp. 1420 Phoenixville Pike West Chester, Pa. 19380-1498 Phone: (610) 644-4430; Fax: (610) 644-7681
This company has made a number of executive appointments: Greg Laabs will become vice president of oper- ations, while Don Clark will replace him as director of maintenance. Mary Groves will be the new CFO/treasurer, and Cecil Sloan will be the company's new manager, sales and marketing.
Seat maker ERDA has acquired the aircraft seating division of Derlan Industries in a further consolidation of the aircraft completions industry. ERDA CEO David Brandt says ERDA will continue to build and support the full line of Derlan products, and will revive Derlan's ``Tosington'' line of aircraft seats. Manufacturing will shift, however, from Derlan's Santa Ana, Calif., plant to ERDA's Peshtigo, Wis., facility, which recently expanded its production capacity.
With a three-aircraft order from China Northern Airlines, the venerable, venerated (all right, old) Britten-Norman BN2A Mark III Trislander has a new lease on life. The Shenyang-based operator will use the Trislanders to replace its fleet of 15 antiquated Harbin Y-5 biplanes, license-built versions of the Antonov An-2 that often are flown from semi-prepared grass strips. According to Britten-Norman commercial manager Guy Palmer, ``there is no more cost-effective way of conveying passengers by air air than the Trislander.''
Jim Spinder has been named chief operating officer of the company's Engine Maintenance&Overhaul Division. Spinder most recently was executive director of Standard Aero Alliance, and was president of Alliance Engines before its purchase by Standard Aero. Mark Larsen was chosen to be director of TFE731 engine sales for BizJet's Sales&Support unit.
The British government will buy five Bombardier Global Express aircraft equipped with Raytheon radar to meet its military Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) requirement. Defeated in the long-running, $1.3 billion competition were consortiums led by Lockheed Martin/BAe and Northrop Grumman, both of which selected the Gulfstream V as a platform.
A recent FAA interpretive ruling of 14 CFR (U.S. Code of Federal Regulations) 91-123 puts read-back responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the flightcrew and illustrates the need for unambiguous phraseology in all realms of flight between crewmembers and ATC. Improving communication skills with an emphasis on listening is critical, as both the policy change and the following CFIT accident illustrates.
Sikorsky Aircraft plans to consolidate its Connecticut operations and cut 1,100 jobs before the end of the year, due to decreased demand for its military helicopters. The action comes just two weeks after former McDonnell Douglas Helicopter President Dean Borgman was named president of Sikorsky Aircraft, replacing Eugene Buckley, who retired.
The Society of British Aerospace Cos. (SBAC) has initiated a public relations campaign, ``Air Travel -- Greener by Design,'' to refute claims that the aviation industry causes more than its ``fair share'' of environmental problems. SBAC president and Rolls-Royce chief John Rose says most pollution around airports is caused by road transport, not aircraft. ``Aviation has only had a small impact on the environment, and has probably done more than any other global industry to improve its environmental performance,'' Rose says.
Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) has agreed to acquire up to 110 Fairchild Aerospace 328JET and 428JET aircraft. The deal will remain conditional, however, until United Airlines agrees to allow the Dulles, Va.-based airline to operate regional jets with fewer than 50 seats as United Express flights, or until ACA waives the condition itself. United's ``approval process'' is under way now, ACA says. The agreement includes firm orders for 25 328JETs and 30 428JETs, with options for the remaining 55 aircraft.
The state of this nation's aviation infrastructure, the cost of flying and whether aviation excise taxes will continue to be held hostage by the federal government are all at stake as Congress wrestles with new FAA reauthorization legislation. The final product is likely to be the most important piece of aviation legislation since the General Aviation Revitalization Act was signed into law in 1994.
Gulfstream Aerospace and Dassault Aviation have signed long-term extensions to their training agreements with FlightSafety International (FSI). The Gulfstream deal adds 30 years to its 30-year relationship with FSI, and provides for Gulfstream training at FSI facilities in Savannah, Ga., and Long Beach, Calif. A third center will open in second quarter 2000 with the addition of a G-IV simulator at FSI's Greater Philadelphia/Wilmington Center.
If you have an aircraft equipped with an older-generation GPS receiver, you may be in for an unwelcome surprise, come the third week of this month. This is when Week Number Roll Over (WNRO) potentially will become a problem for some GPS receivers.
Rocky Mountain Helicopters (RMH) of Provo, Utah, has ordered six EC135 and four AS350B3 helicopters to support its air ambulance operations. The deal is valued at around $30 million, and deliveries will begin in first quarter 2000. RMH says it operates 82 rotary-wing aircraft at 52 hospitals in 29 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and more than half of its fleet is Eurocopter-built. RMH chief executive Russ Spray says health care reform has seen the aeromedical business grow, as more hospitals use helicopters to expand their reach.
Budgeting programs for avionics repair, parts and labor costs are available as a standard feature or option in most airframe programs (Smart Parts, Pro Parts, JSSI, etc.) and also directly from the major avionics manufacturers. In fact, if you are getting avionics protection through an airframe program, the avionics maker ultimately provides it anyway.
Airlines and airports in the United States and Canada are 95 percent finished with Y2K preparations and will continue testing throughout this year, according to Air Transport Association (ATA) President Carol Hallet. The ATA's $16 million Aviation Millennium Project is working with 102 airlines, around 500 airports, the FAA, and hundreds of suppliers and manufacturers. ``Individual carriers have been working for several years to tackle Y2K problems, and the situation is well in hand,'' Hallet said.
AirLink of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has suffered its second fatal accident this year, with the crash of an Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante on a flight between Lae and Goroka. The cause of the crash is unknown, but company sources say the wreckage was discovered around 12 miles from the point of departure in mountainous terrain, and the pilot had at least 3,000 hours in type. The accident aircraft (registration P2-ALX) was one of three EMB-110s in AirLink service. In February, a company Britten-Norman Islander crashed in West New Britain province, PNG, killing all 11 aboard.
Honeywell's new Primus Epic avionics system has found a home in the retrofit market even before the system is certificated on its first production aircraft application, the Hawker Horizon. Garrett Aviation and Midcoast both plan to offer Epic retrofits beginning in June 2000, following certification of the system. The system being offered is the Epic CDS, which is designed around Primus 1000 and 2000 systems. (See May, page 36).
Era Aviation, Alaska's only 24-hour full-service FBO, has joined Avfuel's expanding family of dealers. Era is the largest FAA-certified repair station at Anchorage International Airport, offering aircraft maintenance, avionics and instrument service. Founded by Carl Brady in 1948, Era has grown to become the third-largest U.S. helicopter operator, and its fixed-wing division is one of Alaska's largest regional airlines. Avfuel has more than 700 dealers throughout the United States.
Aerospace Products International (API) is marketing its ConversionAir R134a for business and general aviation aircraft. The conversion kit enables operators to convert from R12 to R134a Freon in compliance with the federal law banning production of R12. The ConversionAir kit requires 20 to 40 man hours for installation and has STC and PMA approval. The kit is available for a variety of aircraft including the Raytheon King Air, Queenair, Baron and Duke; Cessna 300 and 400 series; and Piper Cheyenne.
