Bob Frenzel has decided to take early retirement from the Air Transport Association (ATA), where he has served as vice president for aviation safety and operations. Frenzel joined the ATA in 1998 after a 23-year career with UPS. Frenzel was one of the architects of Spring/Summer 2000, the joint FAA-airline initiative to reduce severe weather delays throughout the national airspace system. ATA President Carol Hallet said Frenzel intends to expand his ``second career'' -- as a professional singer.
Heavy summer air traffic has led the FAA to upgrade the airspace around Kissimmee Airport (ISM) in Florida from Class G to Class D. In an agreement with Orlando International Airport (OIA), Kissimmee will control airspace up to 2,000 feet agl, and OIA will control the airspace above.
Photograph: Piper Malibu Meridian With FAA certification received, New Piper's Malibu Meridian turboprop has taken precedence over the piston Malibu Mirage on the company's Vero Beach, Fla., production line. New Piper built 66 Mirages this year, but suspended production in August to put manufacturing muscle behind the Meridian program. The company claims 135 wholesale orders, and plans to deliver more than 100 Meridians in 2001. ``We met our performance and design goals and achieved basic certification within weeks of our original goal,'' says Charles M.
BFGoodrich Aerospace has launched a multimedia Web site designed to educate pilots on the FAA's new Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) requirements. The site features an explanation of the regulation, which requires turbine-powered aircraft with six seats or more to have an FAA-approved TAWS, plus an overview of BFG's recently certified Class B TAWS for general aviation aircraft.
Flight Options will team with Chauffair -- a U.K.-based charter operator -- in a bid to sell shares of new Cessna Citation Excel aircraft and open Europe to U.S. fractional customers. The deal represents a departure for the Cleveland-based fractional ownership business, which hitherto has stuck to selling shares of used business jets in the U.S. domestic market.
Elrey Jeppesen, a name known to fame in days of yore, may it always be glorious . . . as the song goes. Can there be an airline or business pilot who has not heard of Cap'n Jepp or used his products? I rather think not. Perhaps in the Alaskan bush where mountains are in abundance for navigation and rivers course through their valleys. But throughout the rest of the hemisphere Jeppesen manuals containing charts and approach plates are de rigeur, like satchels still carried by physicians who make house calls (include my late pater among these).
When it comes to calendar age, there are more than 5,000 jets and more than 6,000 turboprops in service that are 20 years or older. Production has ceased for most of these designs, but, unlike many piston-powered designs, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or a successor company remains in business. Most provide some level of support.
Canadian and Russian aviation officials are seeking to raise $33 million (U.S.) to enable full use of polar routes for flights between North America and Asia. A recently concluded feasibility study for Nav Canada and the Federal Aviation Authority of Russia (FAAR) determined that there is heavy demand for the routes, which would save operators both time and money. The Russians have granted temporary authority for demonstration purposes, but say they need additional funding to update air traffic systems for the routes.
George Seielstad has been named president of NASA's Earth Science Infor-mation Partners Federation and Thomas Schellinger was named vice president of airline programs.
Business aviation consultant Aerospace Concepts Inc. (ACI) is opening the first general aviation facility on Guam. ACI President Terry Habeck says the new location will serve as home base for three Gulfstream aircraft his company manages, as well as provide hangar facilities for up to five Gulfstreams and a full complement of maintenance and support personnel. He hopes to launch a fractional ownership program from Guam, as well as an air charter service using a recently refurbished Gulfstream IV for Pacific Rim customers in early 2001.
The CJ2 caught us off guard last summer. About an hour and a half into our demo flight between Wichita and San Diego, while cruising at FL 430, the MMO overspeed alarm started to chirp. Glancing at the airspeed display on the PFD removed all doubt. A red barber pole appeared above the indicated Mach caret, warning us that we had unintentionally exceeded the CJ2's 0.720 Mach redline.
SimuFlite says it plans to open a new training center in the Northeastern United States in 2001. While declining to name a specific location, SimuFlite President Jeff Roberts said, ``Just look at where airplanes are located'' to figure out the possibilities. The new facility will house six simulators, including a newly ordered Sikorsky S-76 simulator, marking SimuFlite's entry into rotary wing pilot and maintenance training.
The CJ2's standard avionics package includes a left-side, eight- by-10-inch PFD; left-center, eight-by-10-inch MFD with engine gauge display; and right-side, five-by-five-inch Smiths flat-panel EADI and EHSI, flanked by conventional air data instruments. Collins also supplies the RTA-800, 24-watt, solid-state weather radar, a single ALT-55B radio altimeter, a single solid-state AHC-3000 attitude-heading reference system, single ADC-3000 digital air data computer and FCS-3000 digital flight guidance system.
Illustration: Graph: Comparison Profile (Percent Relative to Average) Tradeoffs are a reality of aircraft design, although engineers attempt to optimize the blend of capabilities, performance and passenger comfort. In order to portray graphically the strengths and compromises of specific aircraft, B/CA compares the subject aircraft to the composite characteristics of other aircraft in its class, computing the percentage differences for the various parameters.
Fboweb.com says it is in the process of making airport runway diagrams available on the Internet. The Web site features information on airports and related services, navaids, FBOs, weather and flight plan filing. In addition, the Web site has a ``clipping'' application that allows flight-plan filing and downloading with a Palm VII device.
Several aviation luminaries have appeared again on Forbes magazine's annual list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. Financier Warren Buffett appears at number four with a net worth of $28 billion. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns both Executive Jet and FlightSafety International. The second wealthiest aviator is Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of International Lease Finance with $2.8 billion, placing him 87th on the list. Udvar-Hazy recently pledged $60 million to the National Air and Space Museum's Dulles Airport project.
The FAA has certified Avidyne's FlightMax 850/750/650/450 series of multifunction displays. The 850 is designed for light jets and turboprops, while the 750 is mainly for turbines and high-end pistons. Rockwell Collins says it will offer a situational awareness package including the FlightMax 850, Collins TCAS and optional TAWS interface.
Weather permitting, the primary runway at Jefferson County Airport (BJC) in Broomfield, Colo., will be closed to traffic from October 26 to November 5 for the second phase of a $1.1 million taxiway construction project. Jeffco's 7,000-foot secondary Runway 29L/11R will be used while 9,000-foot Runway 29R/11L is closed. When completed in late November, the new taxiway Echo will connect Runways 29L and 29R. Further information about the status of the closure is available by calling (303) 613-0539 or at the airport's Web site (http://jeffcoairport.co.jefferson.co.us).
The FAA has granted an STC for installation of the first Universal Avionics Systems Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS). Duncan Aviation received the TAWS STC for an installation on a Challenger 601 at its Battle Creek, Mich., facility.
While Ed Stimpson may not be accepting an award from the NBAA, B/CA Washington correspondent David Collogan will. Collogan is receiving the NBAA's Gold Wing Award for Journalism Excellence for his coverage of the fractional ownership issue in B/CA sister publication The Weekly of Business Aviation. Collogan is editor of the weekly newsletter, a publication of the Aviation Group family of newsletters.
While the champagne is flowing in Vero Beach, Raytheon Aircraft is still awaiting FAA certification of the Premier I. The manufacturer now says that certification is expected in the fourth quarter of this year. The Premier I took its first flight in November 1998 and began FAA flight tests in November 1999. Raytheon also has pushed back the timetable for Hawker Horizon first flight and certification. First flight of the Horizon is now expected in first quarter 2001 with certification anticipated in 2002.
