The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter could go back into production. Viking Air Limited of Victoria, British Columbia, has acquired the Type Certificates for seven de Havilland aircraft types in a deal with Bombardier Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Viking gains the exclusive right to restart production for any of the models. "Last year we conducted a market research study on all the DHC out-of-production aircraft," said a Viking spokesperson. "The results showed that the Twin Otter had very good market potential.
The Honeywell GTCP36-150 (CL) auxiliary power unit that has been standard on the Challenger 604 since late 2005 is now available to replace the original GTCP36-100 APU installed on earlier Challenger 604s and on Challenger 601 aircraft. The new unit has higher temperature margins that yield an increased hot-section inspection interval of 2,400 hours, with increased reliability and lower maintenance costs.
Duncan Aviation recently completed the first installation of an Executive Alto Aviation Speaker System in a Falcon 900B. ALTO engineers acoustically mapped the aircraft for optimum sound quality throughout the cabin. The custom mapping and installation resulted in a sound system with sound quality rivaling that of the best home entertainment systems, now available in an aircraft flying at 41,000 feet.
We published the incorrect price for the ACSS TAWS+ collision avoidance system in our May Purchase Planning Handbook (page 193). It should have read $78,413.
The FAA released a draft policy order designed to expedite release of its own Airworthiness Directives in the United States after a foreign state aviation authority issues one. Under an ICAO agreement, the FAD is obligated to "assess . . . and take appropriate action" on mandatory civil aviation information (MCAI) that is released about an aviation product by the country that has design authority over the product. "As such it's important that we take steps to improve the timeliness of issuing FAD ADs for imported products," the agency said.
AOPA, noting that the U.S. total pilot population is down 26 percent since 1980, while the country's population has increased 29 percent on the same period -- and that student pilot starts are down 61 percent since peaking in 1961, launched a formal Project Pilot program to put AOPA members into a mentoring relationship with student pilots. This is despite numerous industry "learn to fly" programs dating back at least to the 1970s.
LOCATED AT SASKATCHEWAN'S lateral midpoint, some 50 miles west of Regina and about 115 due north of Scobey, Mont., Moose Jaw is home not only to the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, the country's precision aerobatic team, but also to the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC), drawing contractors and student fighter pilots from the United States, Europe and Canada. The base has grown to become the largest employer in the region.
Small plane-maker Cirrus took a 25-percent stake in a new air taxi service that will use new Cirrus SR22 aircraft to provide transportation. The service, SATSair, is headquartered in Greenville, S.C., and will operate in an area that essentially is east of the Mississippi River.
Helicopter Association International President Matt Zuccaro received the call on June 7 that the HAI has been waiting to receive for many years. The FAA Joint Resource Council (JRC) approved the investment and funding decisions associated with moving forward with ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) in the Gulf of Mexico. The HAI said the decision is a tremendous achievement for the offshore helicopter community in the Gulf, as the Gulf has been selected for Segment 1 of the new technology.
Due to business growth, TAG Aviation USA has relocated some of its Eastern Support Center personnel from Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y., to larger facilities in nearby Rye Brook, N.Y. "Critical safety and service-related communications require that flight and maintenance standards, flight coordination and charter sales personnel work together under one roof," said J.W.P. (Jake) Cartwright, president and CEO of TAG Aviation USA.
WHEN I REPORTED to San Juan Airport that July morning in 2004, I'd been a professional pilot for two weeks, having passed my Convair 440 check on June 30. I'd scraped and saved for years, even roomed with my cousin in far-off Nebraska to keep flight training costs down, but it had been worth it. I was happy. The day was also Capt. Blaine Garner's birthday, but my "Happy Birthday," was met with a grumble: "When you get to be my age, birthdays aren't worth celebrating." He was 81, but fit, an excellent pilot and mentor.
British Columbia-based General Hydrogen Corp. has been selected for a project to test fuel cell packs to power airport tractors that tow baggage for Air Canada at Vancouver Airport. The Canadian government's Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance is providing $867,000 for the project. "Airports worldwide are looking for a variety of ways to reduce emissions and improve productivity," General Hydrogen President and CEO Frank Totter said. "Most baggage tuggers have diesel engines and are required to go in and out of terminals and service buildings.
The Lineage 1000 should be based on the EMB-190AR, the heavy weight version, an aircraft that's fitted with CF34-10E5A1 engines. I don't have the -190AR AFM, but according to FAA TDCS E00070EN awarded to GE Aircraft Engines, the -10E5A1 is rated at 18,820 lbf for both maximum and normal takeoff thrust. I assume Embraer rates the engine at 18,500 lbf for EMB-190AR due to installation losses. The -10E5 engine, in contrast, is fitted to the STD and LR models. It's rated at 17,100 lbf for normal takeoff and 18,500 for maximum or APR takeoff.
Embraer cut the first metal for the Phenom 100 program on June 7. The first part manufactured, a fuselage component that connects to an engine pylon, was milled from a block of aluminum alloy by a five-axis, high-performance machining center and will be assembled into the first Phenom 100 pre-series-production aircraft.
ExecuJet Europe started its FBO service at Berlin's Schönefeld Airport in June, operating from the Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) complex. LBAS is 50 percent owned by Lufthansa Technik, 30 percent by Bombardier and 20 percent by ExecuJet, a global aviation sales, charter and executive air transport company. FBO services will be gradually phased in during the coming months and will be fully functional by the fourth quarter of this year. LBAS is a full Bombardier and Learjet service center.
(New York, N.Y.) -- Two financial specialists -- Robert Jones and John Donohue -- have joined CIT's new Aerospace and Defense Finance Group. Jones was a director in the Aerospace & Defense Group at Wachovia Securities prior to joining CIT. Donohue was an associate at GE Commercial Finance before coming to CIT.
Midwest Jet Center, located at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, has significantly altered its business plan, and evolved into Air10. "We are implementing many corporate initiatives that will allow us to grow our business significantly," said Jim Day, Executive Vice President of Air10. "While our corporate name has served the company well for many years, it is far too limiting for our business plan." Part of the company's strategy is to expand Air10 to other parts of the country, such as California, Colorado, Florida and the East Coast.
Test pilot Scott Crossfield was in communication with controllers at Atlanta Center who were overseeing traffic in four sectors during his final flight, but he did not get specific warnings about severe thunderstorms in his path, according to a preliminary report by the NTSB. Crossfield, 84, was killed April 19 when his 1960 Cessna 210A crashed about 1110 EDT in mountainous terrain near Ludville, Ga., after entering an area of thunderstorms.
In the early days of the jet age, turbine engines delivered revolutionary power but were famously unreliable. During the test program for the Bell P-59 Airacomet, America's first jet fighter, in the early 1940s, it was not uncommon for ground crews to replace one or both engines between each flight. Today, turbine engines are not only incredibly powerful, but they have become so reliable that many models have inflight shutdown rates approaching once in one million flight hours. They simply never break.
Sikorsky Aircraft and China Aviation Industry Corp. II (AVIC II) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for collaboration on the development and manufacture of civil helicopters. Sikorsky Aircraft is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. Under the MOU, Sikorsky and AVIC II will discuss helicopter manufacturing, assembly, flight test, engineering design and analysis, and new product development in the light, intermediate and medium classes. The companies will also explore establishing Changhe Aircraft Industry Corp.
Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) opened a new hangar dedicated to Learjet service and maintenance at its Berlin-Schönefeld Airport facility. The new addition increases the total useable maintenance area to approximately 64,584 square feet, and increases the center's capacity and flexibility in servicing the growing number of Bombardier Learjet, Challenger and Global Express customers in the region.
Simplex Manufacturing delivered its first Javelin Water Lance Powerline Insulator Washing System to ESKOM of South Africa. The unit, which was displayed for the first time at Heli-Expo 2006, was received by ESKOM in April, and the CAA in South Africa has authorized its use on Eurocopter AS350s there. Simplex President and CEO Steven P. Daniels said the ESKOM crew has been cleaning up to 60 towers per day.
Aerion is in the final stages of fabricating a partial wing cross-section test article, scheduled for testing on a rocket sled this month or in August. The company, which is developing a supersonic business jet, is still in discussions with airframe manufacturers about a teaming arrangement under which the selected OEM would act as the aircraft integrator. Vice Chairman Brian Barents said there is "a lot of enthusiasm" about the project, adding that officials have had "some modest success" in getting potential partners interested.
