Europe's Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) is considering a proposal allowing single-engine turboprop aircraft to fly freight under night and instrument conditions. According to the Single Engine Turboprop Alliance (SETA) -- an alliance of manufacturers, operators and distributors -- current rules force the use of piston-twin aircraft, which have a higher fatal accident rate than single-engine turboprops. Britain's CAA is resisting the initiative, saying Europe's high population density raises the risks posed by forced landings.
The Greek Ministry of Health has ordered five Agusta A109 helicopters for air ambulance use. The 35 billion lira contract includes training and spares, and was signed after a multinational ``fly off'' of various helicopter types. The Hellenic Ministry chose the A109 as the best compromise of cost and performance. Powered by two Pratt&Whitney Canada 206C engines, the A109 is capable of category `A' takeoffs from elevated helipads without any reduction in payload, Agusta says.
Newly elected members of the board of directors are Chuck Johnson, president of ERA Aviation; Bob Ferguson, chairman/president/CEO of Midway Airlines; and Greg Taylor, vice president of US Airways Express. David Siegel, president of Continental Express, was elected the association's vice chairman, succeeding Bob Martens, who resigned from the position after leaving Business Express Airlines.
Former NTSB member and NASA scientist Dr. John Lauber will head Airbus Industrie's new Office of Safety and Technical Affairs in Washington, D.C. The office will support the company's expanding role in the North American aviation market and will combine Airbus' North American government, safety and maintenance oversight. The company's Toulouse, France headquarters will continue to set policy. ``The influential role U.S. agencies play required us to increase our participation here,'' says Jack Schofield, chairman and CEO of Airbus' North American branch.
JAI now sells aircraft parts online. JPI says in-stock parts will be delivered within 48 hours (aircraft on ground), 96 hours (rush orders), four days minimum (expedite) or according to availability.
The FAA has ordered Boeing 727 operators to inspect and/or replace electrical wires running through the aircraft's fuel tanks. The action was triggered by reports of wires burning holes in the coating that separates them from fuel, submitted by cargo operators performing routine maintenance. The AD affects 1,051 U.S.-registered aircraft, out of a worldwide fleet of 1,381. Operators have 20 days to inspect aircraft with 50,000 hours or more, and 30 days to inspect aircraft with 30,000 to 50,000 hours. All other aircraft must be inspected prior to reaching 30,000 hours.
Assessment Compliance Group of Annapolis, Md., offers downloadable standard international operations manuals (approximately 180 pages) and RVSM-RNP operations and maintenance manuals for $3,300. The Microsoft Word documents can be purchased online with a credit card. Custom formatting using the company name, logo and other unique preferences also is available for an extra charge, depending upon the degree of customization.
The FAA has yet to announce whether it intends to continue to allow fractional ownership companies to operate under FAR Part 91 or whether they will be forced to comply with Part 135 regulations, an action the agency has said was imminent for the last year. The wait is contributing to friction over the issue. For instance, a group called Aviators for Safe and Fairer Regulation filed a formal complaint with the FAA asking it to investigate certain fractional flights for failure to comply with Part 135 standards.
FlightSafety International plans to build new regional airline training centers in Cincinnati and Memphis. The Cincinnati site will be adjacent to the location that Comair has chosen for its expanded headquarters and operations base. The Memphis Center will be open within a year and will focus on training Express I CRJ and Saab 340 pilots. Meanwhile, FSI has broken ground on a 70,000-square-foot pilot-training facility for corporate, airline and military pilots in Atlanta
Bombardier Aerospace has named Benn Isaacman as its chief of design, with responsibility for all Bombardier business aircraft paint schemes and interior designs. Since 1984, Isaacman has run his own Tucson-based design consulting group, which designed the paint and/or interiors for many business aircraft, most recently the Fairchild 328JET and 728JET, and the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2.
Aeromaritime Mediterranean Corp. of Chantilly, Va., has acquired Heliwork Services from RCR Holdings of Dunsford, England. Heliwork maintains and refurbishes helicopters at Thruxton Airport in Andover, United Kingdom, and does engine and component overhaul and repair at nearby Weyhill. Aeromaritime operates as a Rolls-Royce Allison 250 maintenance center on the island of Malta, and with the acquisition is able to offer A250 support throughout Europe and Scandinavia. The company also hopes to open new markets for its component and hydraulic system repair services.
Bang! ``Explosive'' or rapid decompression makes quite an impression on your senses, even if it's a simulated event in a hypobaric altitude chamber. Your ears pop, your eyes water, dust flies in the cockpit and the temperature plunges below freezing. Water vapor in the ``cabin'' may instantly condense as fog. If you were in a transport category airplane, warning lights would glare and/or warning horns would blare.
Teal says the high production figures -- driven largely by new aircraft models -- have created a ``near-supply-push'' phenomenon that creates immediate but unsustainable up-front demand. The group expects the new aircraft market to peak this year, with the recent decrease in used aircraft prices indicating a gradual softening. Accentuating this trend will be the entry of fractional aircraft into the used aircraft market over the next several years. ``Still, the worst years of our forecast period (1999-2008) will be better than any year before 1997,'' Aboulafia says.
Avidyne Corp., maker of situation awareness display products for business and general aviation, relocated its headquarters from Lexington to Lincoln, Mass.
Wiggins Airways has completed a new, 97,000-square-foot hangar and FBO complex at Manchester (MHT), N.H.. Wiggins provides FAR Part 135 feeder service for FedEx and UPS, and now will offer maintenance and avionics repair to transient aircraft. Potential customers include aircraft traveling to New Hampshire for the upcoming presidential election campaign, and Wiggins plans to add a $2 million fuel farm later this year in part to meet this demand. Wiggins acquired Manchester-based Stead Aviation in 1997, and subsequently relocated its headquarters to MHT.
DHL Airways routinely violated federal aviation regulations on trans-Mexico flights, due to a 200-mile ``communications gap'' that prevented the cargo carrier's aircraft from talking to its dispatch office, according to the Department of Transportation. The FAA unearthed the discrepancy during en-route inspections, but concluded that DHL ``met the intent of the regulation.'' The DOT disagrees, and has urged the FAA to explore the problem at other air carriers, and issue a bulletin to its district offices.
Hartzell Propeller has agreed to design and develop a propeller system for AERO Vodochody's new Ae270 aircraft. Czech Republic-based AERO Vodochody and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. of Taiwan have teamed to form IBIS Aerospace, which will build the Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6A-42A-powered utility aircraft in pressurized and unpressurized versions. The Walter M601 F engine -- essentially a PT6A copy -- will power a fixed-gear, unpressurized version.
A quote attributed to Everett Dirksen in the June Greenhouse Patter (page 136) should have reade ``A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.''
An American Eagle Saab 340 that overran a runway while landing at New York's Kennedy Airport was stopped by an ``arrestor bed'' made of crushable concrete. Three crewmembers and 26 passengers emerged unscathed, though one passenger sustained minor injuries in the May 8 incident. According to the NTSB, the turboprop landed 7,000 feet beyond the approach end of Runway 4R, and produced 300-foot skid marks before traveling 214 feet across the Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS).
The used aircraft market continued its five-year upswing last quarter, though prices for larger turbine aircraft appear to be slipping. According to Aircraft Bluebook's ``Marketline,'' prices for Challenger 601s are down around $200,000, while Gulfstream IVs, Falcon 50s and Falcon 900s have seen a $500,000 decrease. Driving the trend are new aircraft deliveries, which have pushed numerous aircraft into the used market at the same time. Demand for midsize jets is generally flat, though sales of the Falcon 20F (Dash 5), Learjet 55 and Hawker 700A remain strong.
TWA has exercised options on eight of 31 Raisbeck Stage 3 Standard Gross Weight (SGW) systems for its Boeing 727-200 fleet. The airline will make a decision regarding the rest of the options once it decides on the fate of its 727 fleet. TWA took delivery of the first kit in May, and expects to complete its Raisbeck Stage 3 program by November. TWA was Raisbeck's launch customer for its Stage 3 system, which received FAA certification in December 1996. To date, Raisbeck has received orders and options for 153 of its noise suppression systems.
Garmin International and AirCell have unveiled the NavTalk Pilot, a combination hand-held GPS receiver and analog cell phone for airborne use. The unit has a 12-channel GPS receiver, a Jeppesen navigation database and a monochrome LCD map display. As a backup for FMS or GPS, NavTalk Pilot provides 100-meter navigation accuracy, but is not certified for IFR use.
