The FAA has awarded UND Aerospace employees Ron DePue, Alan Palmer and Dana Siewert the FAA Good Friend Award for their efforts in furthering the agency's mission.
Bombardier has added a new West Coast facility for Global Express completions. Under the terms of a new agreement with the manufacturer, The Jet Center of Santa Barbara, Calif., will perform interior completions on the Global Express at its 165,000-square-foot hangar. Completion of the first aircraft is under way with a second aircraft expected soon. The Jet Center can accommodate up to four simultaneous Global Express completions. The Jet Center of Van Nuys, Calif., became a Global Express completion facility in 2000.
For John Ross, the perfect complement to a G-IV trip across the Atlantic is a J-3 hop across Great South Bay. A captain with North American Air Charter in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, Ross is very much a part of today's technologically advanced business aviation community. But once the Gulfstream is hangared, he frequently makes his way to Bayport Aerodrome, a grass strip just south of Islip, N.Y., and rolls out his other pride and joy -- a tiny yellow bird with a familiar black stripe down the side.
It is a simple question of social policy: If a pilot or mechanic makes a mistake that results in an accident, is it better to find out the truth of what happened and why, or is it more important to inflict criminal consequences on those at fault?
The Chinese government is adding a fourth Raytheon King Air to its flight inspection service. The King Air 350 is scheduled for delivery in the spring, joining two other 350s and a King Air B200.
Jet Aviation, West Palm Beach, Fla., has made the following appointments: Patrick Coval as senior vice president/purchasing; Cecil Rodriguez as international controller; William Stuck as vice president of maintenance and outfitting; and Brian Wilson as the West Palm Beach avionics manager. Martin Bernegger was named vice president/general manager of the European charter division in Zurich, Switzerland.
The NBAA is seeking nominees for its annual Meritorious Service to Aviation and John P. ``Jack'' Doswell awards. Presented at the group's annual Meeting and Convention, the awards recognize significant lifetime contributions to aviation. Deadline for submissions is January 26. Further information is available at the NBAA's Web site (www.nbaa.org) or through Joe Ponte at (202) 783-9452.
Changing market conditions have led Bombardier Aerospace to ``indefinitely shelve'' plans to build the BRJ-X, a new regional jet design proposed for the 90- to 110-seat market. Few are surprised: Building a 100-seater would place Bombardier in direct competition with the Boeing 717 and Airbus A318, and the Montreal-based manufacturer already has committed to build a 90-seat stretch of its Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ).
New air traffic management philosophies bring new terminology. Here are a few of the acronyms you will be using in discussions about the place of the business/ corporate aviation community in the airspace. You'll also find some familiar terms that survive into the new age of ATM. AAR -- Airport Acceptance Rate or Airport Arrival Rate. The number of arrivals an airport is capable of accepting each hour. ADS -- Automatic Dependent Surveillance. A space-based ATC system destined to replace the radar-based ATC system currently in use.
The first on-demand charter flight of a Galaxy business jet took place at the end of November 2000, within days of completing FAA proving runs. Cleveland-based Avbase Aviation operated the Galaxy from Raleigh, N.C., to Teterboro on November 22. Retail charter rate for the aircraft is $3,700 per hour, although Avbase President John DePalma expects much of the Galaxy's time to be spent providing supplemental lift to Executive Jet's NetJets fractional program. The flights may be a dress rehearsal for NetJets, which is said to be mulling a possible Galaxy order.
The FAA has awarded an STC and TSO to Garrett Aviation's Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) package for Gulfstream II aircraft. The retrofit includes dual BA-250 altimeters, an AL-861 altitude alerter and Dual AZ-960 Digital Air Data Computers. Garrett says that five aircraft have been equipped with the package and that it has orders for additional installations, which can be completed at any of the company's heavy maintenance facilities and at Electrosonics facilities in Columbus, Ohio, and McKinney, Texas.
Flight Services Group, Stratford, Conn., has named Thomas Connelly as vice president of technical services, Jamie Baciuska as manager for aircraft management in the northeast region and Janet Julian as charter development specialist.
Within the next 60 days, the NBAA's directors will decide whether to take a seat at the ATC collaborative decision making (CDM) roundtable along with other major users of the national airspace system.
The Aviation Research Group/US (ARG/US) has upgraded its Web site at www.aviationresearch.com to include online product ordering, free samples of the company's research reports and frequently updated data such as fuel price surveys, crew salaries and preliminary accident information
I've enjoyed Torch Lewis' columns over the years. In all that time, I've never read anything with which I could disagree. He finally got me in the October issue (page 192).
AviationTracker has announced the release of its Web-based maintenance forecasting, tracking and scheduling system for aircraft record keeping. The software is designed to allow companies to carry out maintenance and inventory procedures over the Internet with access to real-time information. AviationTracker's system combines all technical data functions, including technical records, inventory control, maintenance planning, purchasing, inspection document management, maintenance production control, component reliability and technical logbooks.
The first conforming prototype Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 business jet flew for the first time on November 30, 2000, marking the beginning of the aircraft's estimated one-year FAA certification flight-test program. Test pilot Carroll Beeler and flight engineer Mitch Soth departed San Antonio International Airport and flew for approximately 45 minutes. ``The aircraft performed beautifully, and met or exceeded every parameter we had established for the first flight,'' Beeler said.
In the waning hours of his term of office, President Clinton launched a new, ``performance-based organization'' (PBO) within the FAA that could one day oversee the nation's air traffic control system. Designed to alleviate mounting air traffic congestion, flight cancellations and delays, this new Air Traffic Organization (ATO) will have a five-member governing board and a chief operating officer with a financial incentive as outlined in the AIR-21 legislation passed in 2000.
NORDAM, Tulsa, has promoted Jim Sweedyk to director of business development and Brett Benton to director of sales and customer support of its Interiors and Structures Division.
AAR will supply composite interior linings for 12 Boeing Business Jets under the terms of a new agreement with Lufthansa Technik. The contract also provides for options on an additional 20 aircraft.
