HAWKER BEECHCRAFT CORPORATION BH.125 Series 600A and HS.125 Series 700A airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1240; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-098-AD] – For aircraft modified in accordance with STC SA2271SW, this proposed AD would require inspecting the wiring diagrams of the cockpit blowers of the cockpit ventilation and avionics cooling system and comparing them with the current airplane configuration, reworking the wiring if necessary, per the instructions of Hawker Beechcraft Mandatory Service Bulletin 24-3850 (dated January 2008).
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a series of clarifications, which the FBO community had been anticipating, to the agency’s Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) final rule released in December 2006 and pushed back the compliance deadline for newer facilities until Nov. 20, 2009. EPA said the changes are designed to streamline and tailor the requirements to industry sectors. “With these changes, EPA expects to encourage greater compliance with SPCC regulations,” the agency said. The deadline extension applies to facilities built after Aug.
Embraer inched toward receiving the much-anticipated certification of its Phenom 100 Very Light Jet with the formal issuance of special conditions late last month. The Brazilian manufacturer, meanwhile, broke ground Thursday on its first U.S. aircraft assembly plant and design center dedicated to the executive jet business.
CHRISTOPHE CHOLLET was named director of sales for Canada’s Field Aviation, which has major facilities in Calgary, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario. Chollet will be based in Toronto and will report to David Jensen, vice president of business development. Chollet has 15 years of experience in the aviation industry. Most recently he was with Huchinson Aerospace where he was sales and marketing director. Before that he was at Bombardier Aerospace where he was involved in engineering and design integration of the Global Express business jet.
THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION launched an outreach campaign last week designed to “underscore the value of the aerospace and defense industry to our nation’s economic health.” AIA said the initiative, aimed at the incoming Obama Administration and Congress, will “encourage leaders to consider the industry as an economic driver that will help our nation overcome our current financial challenges. The aerospace and defense industry supports more than 2 million middle class jobs with over 30,000 suppliers from all 50 states,” AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey said.
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Business jet deliveries are expected to peak this year or next, before falling into a four-year decline, according to Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis for the Teal Group Corp., who addressed the initial meeting of The Wichita Aero Club last week.
MAULE AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY, INC . M-4, M-5, M-6, M-7 and M-8-235 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0892; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-049-AD; Amendment 39-15742; AD 2008-24-02] – Paint the top of the rear elevator-control horn, the elevator-control cable end attached to the top of the rear control horn, the bottom of the forward elevator-control horn, and the elevator-control cable end attached to the bottom of the forward control horn, per the instructions of Maule’s Mandatory Service Bulletin No. 30 (dated March 4, 2008).
EVEN MORE STRIKING was a 19.3 percent (year-over-year) decline in October business jet flight operations, the 12th straight month of negative growth. J.P. Morgan said the flight operations decline in October was larger than in September 2001 when U.S. airspace was shut down. “Flight operations are down 9.6 percent year to date, and the drop has been double digit each of the last five months,” the report said.
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is contributing $6 million to the National Air and Space Museum over the next two years, money that will be used to help pay for construction of Phase II of the Udvar-Hazy Center facility adjacent to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.
A NEW HELIPORT in Los Angeles, Calif. designed to serve both trauma patients and corporate clients was dedicated Thursday. The Robert F. Maguire Heliport is situated at 240 West Venice atop the 15-story Grand Avenue Garage, which is owned by Maguire Investments. The new heliport will accommodate emergency medical services helicopters and corporate operators, including rotorcraft flown by Maguire Aviation.
EADS SOCATA broke ground late last month on a new industrial center for its Moroccan subsidiary Socaero at Casablanca-Mohammed V International Airport. The 54,000-square-foot facility will house subassembly work for Socata along with the company’s aerostructures customers, including elements for the Airbus A320 and A340, Eurocopter AS 350/355, Dassault Falcon 7X and Socata TBM 850 business aircraft. Socaero, which currently employs 90 workers, launched operations last year in the Aeropôle zone near Casablanca airport.
FOUR OF THE SIX PEOPLE aboard a Beech Baron were killed late last month when the aircraft crashed in Brazil Nov. 28 near the Anapolis JK Airport (SWNS) in Anapolis, Goias, Brazil. The aircraft, N400SA, was carrying a pilot and five passengers. The pilot and three of the passengers were killed and the other two were seriously injured. The National Transportation Safety Board said Brazilian officials reported that the airplane “made a low pass over the airport and was observed to enter an aileron roll. The airplane then collided with the ground and exploded.”
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA Model 206L, L-1 and L-3 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2008-1242; Directorate Identifier 96-SW-13-AD] – This proposed AD would revise an existing directive (AD 96-18-05) by changing the tailboom inspection schedule from 50 to 100 hours time in service for certain aircraft with tailbooms modified in accordance with Bell Helicopter Textron Alert Service Bulletin No. 206L-87-47, Revision C (dated Oct. 23, 1989).
Airports will need between $13 billion and $16 billion in the next five years to fund capital projects, but the credit crisis and a looming gap in Airport Improvement Program grant funding could leave airports scrambling.
Bombardier management reported an almost threefold increase in its fiscal third-quarter net profit, but warned of pending cancellations of both business jet and commercial orders and a reduction in aircraft sales.
Cirrus Design expects to formally begin the process of applying for FAA type certification of its Cirrus Vision single-engine personal jet program in two weeks, CEO Alan Klapmeier told reporters last week.
VULCANAIR S.P.A . Model P68 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1020 Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-053-AD; Amendment 39-15751; AD 2008-24-11] – Establish safe fatigue limits for the wing structure, the wing-to-fuselage attachments and the stabilator, depending on whether or not the wing structure has been reinforced and how many flight hours had been accumulated by the aircraft before the reinforcement was done.
EXECUJET CHARTER SERVICE, INC., headquartered at the Tampa, Fla. International Airport, added a Hawker 700A to its charter certificate, boosting the company’s fleet to seven aircraft including several other Hawkers, a Falcon 50, a Westwind 1124 and a King Air 200.
FIRSTFLIGHT was named an authorized Garmin dealer. The Elmira/Corning, N.Y.-based aviation services company said the recognition is “a major step in providing a complete line of aviation equipment and services to its clients.” FirstFlight will offer the Garmin 400/5000 series GPS/NAV/COM, GMX multifunctional displays, G600/1000 glass cockpit retrofits, GWX-68 radar and the full line of Garmin portable aviation GPS systems.
Bombardier management reported an almost threefold increase in its fiscal third-quarter net profit, but warned of pending cancellations of both business jet and commercial orders and a reduction in aircraft sales.
WINGS AVIATION SERVICES in St. Paul, Minn. formed a new alliance with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Minneapolis campus, one of approximately 130 nonresidential sites the school operates. Under the alliance, flight school students at Wings will have the opportunity to pursue undergraduate and advanced degrees through Embry-Riddle’s aeronautical sciences program, and students enrolled in Embry-Riddle programs will be able to obtain flight training through Wings Aviation’s fleet of aircraft.
