Danish oil company Maersk has signed CHC Helicopter subsidiary British International (BI) to a five-year offshore helicopter support contract. Beginning in July, BI will base two Eurocopter AS332L Super Pumas, one Sikorsky S-76A+ and one backup aircraft in Denmark to support Maersk operations in the North Sea. Neil Calvert, BI's managing director, says the new contract is ``in line with our strategy to focus on long-term contracts in stable offshore production markets.'' Maersk, Shell and Texaco team on oil exploration.
Sino Swearingen has retired its SJ30-2 prototype to the company's new factory location in Martinsburg, W.Va., after more than 300 hours of flight testing and several major structural changes. The company called N30SJ a ``non-conforming prototype,'' with enough difference from the final configuration to warrant its grounding. Production models will have a different landing gear design, smaller windows and other structural detail changes.
Table: FAR Part 121.344, Flight Data Recorders for Transport Airplanes (This table is not available electronically. Please see the June, 1999 issue.) Staffers at the NTSB and the FAA are meeting this month to nominate candidates for service on the ``Future Flight Data Committee,'' an advisory body that is expected to steer the direction of flight recording regulations and technology in the United States between now and 2015. The high-profile committee, headed by NTSB Chairman Jim Hall and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, will comprise members from U.S.
AlliedSignal Aerospace, United Airlines and Colorado-based Coherent Technologies (CTI) have agreed to develop a system that uses infrared laser radar to spot clear air turbulence in time for pilots to avoid it. While the technology is being developed for the airlines, its value to corporate operators is clear. According to the FAA, turbulence is the leading cause of injury in non-fatal aircraft accidents across the aviation spectrum.
Members of the Canadian Business Aircraft Association (CBAA) will discuss whether fractional ownership will work in Canada, and other controversial topics, when its annual convention and trade show convenes July 6-8 in Calgary, Alberta. The convention's airy theme, ``Biz Av and Blue Jeans,'' belies the precedent-setting nature of this year's show. Transport Canada and the CBAA will discuss the issue of self-regulation of business aviation in an open forum, while industry decision-makers and conventioneers from around the world observe.
Of course, no amount of technology or ATC capacity will go very far toward alleviating the chaos visited on the ATC system by the NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo and Serbian Yugoslavia. The no-fly airspace over the affected area (see Briefing, May, page 33) constitutes a huge barrier between Western Europe, the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East. The re-routing necessary to traverse gaps in the most popular airways and time necessary to fly around the affected areas are causing monumental delays in departures from major European airports.
Cessna Aircraft Chairman Russ Meyer plans to step down as chief executive officer (CEO) before year-end, but is likely to retain a ``reduced role'' in product development. Company Vice Chairman Gary Hay will assume the CEO duties, and Charlie Johnson will continue as the company's president and chief operating officer. Meyer, 66, has been with Cessna for 25 years, with 24 spent as CEO. Under his leadership, Cessna has become the world's largest supplier of business jets, with more than 2,500 delivered since the first Citation rolled off the assembly line in 1972.
Three former Gulfstream executives have broken ground for Savannah Air Center, a new aircraft painting and completion business, at Savannah International Airport in Georgia.
Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland plans to increase PC-12 production from four to five units per month to meet demand, and says its completion center in Broomfield, Colo., also has added staff to keep up with the new delivery schedule. ``Interest in the PC-12 is increasing rapidly, as more aircraft are in the field,'' the company says. Pilatus sold 22 of the single-engine turboprops during the first quarter, and delivered six. Most of the sales (19) were to North and South American customers. The company delivered seven PC-12s in first quarter 1998.
Cessna's derivative Citation CJ2 prototype made its first flight on April 27 in Wichita. FAA certification of the eight-seat jet is planned for early 2000, with customer deliveries commencing in first quarter 2001. The CJ2's cabin is 14.1 feet long, three feet longer than the CJ1's, with a larger tail-cone baggage area. Two Williams/Rolls FJ44-2C engines power the CJ2 to a maximum cruise speed of 400 KTAS, 20 knots faster than its smaller sibling, which is equipped with the earlier -1A engines.
With an order for 15 aircraft, South African operator Interdoc Aerospace will launch the Turbine Windeagle, a four-seat aircraft marketed by Canadian Aerospace Group International (CAGI). The Windeagle is an updated version of the Windecker Eagle, a low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear first designed by Dr. Leo Windecker in 1959. The first all-composite aircraft to gain FAA certification (1969), the Eagle has languished in relative obscurity ever since.
Edited By Paul RichfieldPaul Richfield, in Phoenix
Photograph: The heart of the Fairchild 328JET is its P&WC PW306B engines. B/CA Photo: Paul Richfield The appearance of two small regional jets -- Embraer's ERJ-135 and the Fairchild Aerospace 328JET -- highlighted the 1999 Regional Airline Association (RAA) convention, held in May in Phoenix. Both aircraft are being aggressively marketed to U.S. carriers as a replacement for 30-37 seat turboprops and as a growth tool, illustrating a fundamental shift in the U.S. regional airline business.
Thomas F. Piper, Sr., 84, of Fort Myers, Fla., died April 3 after a long illness. The third of five children of Piper Aircraft founder William T. Piper, he held management positions at Piper's Lock Haven, Pa., plant until retiring in 1969. During World War II, he was a U.S. Army flight instructor.
BFGoodrich says it has received 18 orders from corporate operators for its ``Super 27'' modification to Boeing 727-200 aircraft. Launched by Rohr in 1996, the Super 27 program uses new Pratt&Whitney engines and nacelles to bring the aircraft into compliance with U.S. Stage 3 and ICAO Chapter 3 noise requirements. BFGoodrich says the modification also results in increased range, 30 percent more thrust, 10 percent better fuel economy and 10,000 pounds of additional payload.
Illustration: Typical ``bubble sheet'' (answer sheet used in test taking). Since excellent flying skills and a service attitude go hand in hand in business aviation, how can you assure yourself that you've done everything you can to find someone who will be a good fit with your flight department and with your passengers? Some flight department managers are better judges of a potentially good flightcrew fit than others.
To owners of Astra-series aircraft, Galaxy Aerospace is shipping an advanced CD-ROM-based manual, which includes maintenance manuals, an illustrated parts catalog and a wiring diagram manual
Edited By Paul RichfieldPaul Richfield STARS To Be Delayed
The FAA says modernizing its air traffic controllers' displays could take several months longer than planned, after an interim system provided by Raytheon proved slower than the one it replaced. The STARS (Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System) was to have been installed in Boston in December 1998, and at Washington's Reagan National in March 1999. Instead, two smaller facilities -- Syracuse, N.Y., and El Paso, Texas -- will see it first.
The worldwide business aviation services company made the following organizational changes: In the West Palm Beach headquarters office, Frank Wieland was promoted to director of flight operations, and Sandra Lazzinnaro was promoted to manager of flight administration. For the company's Eastern Region operations, Dwain Gadway now is chief pilot. In Basel, Switzerland, Rainer Albecker will become the FBO chain's general manager effective July 1, succeeding Elie Zelouf, the current vice president and general manager.
Wexford Management will lease 10 Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets to its Chautauqua Airlines unit through Solitair Kapital, a Swedish leasing company it also controls. The Indianapolis-based carrier will receive the first two aircraft in July; the remainder will be delivered one every other month beginning in September, with the last arriving in late 2000. All will operate as US Airways Express aircraft, though routes had not been determined by press time. Wexford retains options on 20 additional ERJ-145s, but in 1998 shelved plans to acquire the smaller ERJ-135.
Raisbeck will charge $1,295,000 for the first 50 Boeing 727 heavy gross weight kits it sells, a reduction of up to $500,000. The action was taken in order to ``make immediate inroads in the Boeing 727 Stage 3 market,'' says company President James Raisbeck. ``With only nine months remaining for U.S.
Raytheon Aircraft will sponsor a performance at the Pensacola Naval Air Station Air Show November 5-7 featuring aerobatic pilot Patty Wagstaff flying the T-6A Texan II.
Passenger service has begun at the new Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, formerly Bergstrom Air Force Base. According to the federal government, the $585 million project is the first successful conversion of a military air base to civil use. New construction included a second (9,000-foot) runway parallel to the existing 12,250-foot runway, and a 600,000-square-foot passenger terminal and control tower. The new facility replaces Austin's Robert Mueller Airport.
