Forecast International predicts that production of the Eclipse 500 “will end soon” as Eclipse Aviation will be unable to secure the additional financing it needs to survive in the current challenging and unpredictable economic conditions. The Newtown, Conn. market intelligence and analysis provider said Tuesday that Eclipse Aviation “will not attract new investment necessary to allow it to continue making the aircraft beyond the first quarter of 2009.”
November 2-5 – Air Traffic Control Association 53rd Annual Conference and Exposition, Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C. For more information call (703) 299-2430, www.atca.org November 6-8 – Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, AOPA Expo 2008, San Jose, Calif. Contact Lori Wolking at 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Md. 21701 or call (301) 695-2052 November 11-12 – VLS/Business Aviation Management Forum, Crowne Plaza, West Palm Beach, Fla., www.aviationweek.com/conferences
AIR TRACTOR, INC. AT-200, AT-300, AT-400, AT-500, AT-600 and AT-800 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1120; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-064-AD] – This proposed rule, which would supersede an existing directive (AD 2008-11-17), would require operators to modify the overturn skid plates, per the instructions of Snow Engineering Company Service Letter 97 (revised Sept. 19, 2008).
THE BRISTOW HELICOPTERS subsidiary of Bristow Group, Inc., entered into an agreement to acquire the remaining 51 percent of Norsk Helikopter AS, increasing its stake to 100 percent. The shares not currently held by Bristow will be purchased from the Ugland family of Norway in a transaction in which the Ugland family will acquire Bristow’s 49 percent interest in Lufttransport AS, a subsidiary of Norsk. The planned transaction, announced Oct. 27, was expected to close within a few days.
China’s two aircraft-making conglomerates, Avic 1 and 2, have been merged back together as a prelude to further reorganization, including a dedicated helicopter subsidiary; the combined organization, foreshadowed earlier this year, is called Avic, or China Aviation Industry Corp., as it was before it was split into Avic 1 and 2 in 1999.
Engine maker Pratt & Whitney Canada plans to establish “a world-class aerospace center” at Montreal’s Mirabel International Airport where the company will perform final assembly of the new PW800 family of engines. The manufacturer said a total of nearly $600 million will be invested at the Mirabel Aerospace Center and P&WC’s other facilities in Quebec over the next five years, an investment expected to generate some 565 jobs.
WILL LOVETT , the former president of AIG Aviation, North America, joined Allianz Aviation Managers (AAM), the aviation division of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, which provides insurance and risk management consultancy across several business sectors. He will be based in Atlanta, Ga. The company said Lovett’s hiring continues its expansion in the aviation sector, which included the establishment of AAM in the U.S. in 2006, and more recently other aviation teams in Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Austria.
BRAZILIAN MANUFACTURER Embraer renewed its contract with French officials to continue providing technical and logistical support for the French fleet of 41 twin-engine Xingu aircraft. The four-year contract extension covers engineering and on-site technical support as well as logistics for the Xingu fleet. The aircraft began flying in France in 1983. There are 32 Xingus at the Avord Base used for training transport pilots for the French, Belgian and Dutch air forces, while the other nine serve with the French navy and are used for transporting key personnel.
The National Business Aviation Association and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association last week sent a joint letter to the Transportation Security Administration formally requesting an extension of the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) proposal that would impose a host of sweeping security requirements on Part 91 operators for the first time. The associations had indicated earlier they would seek the comment extension and public hearings (BA, Oct. 27/191), but waited until the proposal was published in the Federal Register on Thursday. The proposal set a Dec.
MILLION AIR PROVO completed a new 15,000-square-foot hangar at the company’s Provo, Utah fixed-based operation. The new hangar will be used for general aviation aircraft and is large enough to accommodate a Gulfstream G550 business jet.
AIR METHODS won a contract valued at more than $15 million from General Dynamics Land Systems to provide more than 300 patient loading systems for U.S. Army Stryker medical evacuation vehicles. Production has started and is anticipated to be completed by the third quarter of 2010. Air Methods’ Products Division specializes in the design and manufacture of aeromedical and aerospace technology.
Maguire Aviation is in the process of developing hangar and offices for single and multiple tenant occupancy. Please contact Mike McDaniel or Tim Wray for more information at 800-451-7270. Click here to view the pdf
THE AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION and National Business Aviation Association signed a joint letter to the Transportation Security Administration seeking more time for comments on the agency’s controversial new security proposal that would include aircraft of more than 12,500 pounds (BA, Oct. 27/191). The letter follows earlier calls for public hearings on the notice of proposed rulemaking. GA groups are steamed because after months of working with TSA to help the agency fashion a workable proposal, the agency appears to have ignored most industry suggestions.
MEDAIRE, INC. will supply specialty medical kits for new Cessna Citation business jets under an agreement with the aircraft manufacturer. Effective Dec. 1, the medical kits will be available as standard equipment or as an option, depending on aircraft model. Kit installations will begin on the XLS+ model, with other Citation models being added in 2009. Having the kits onboard will permit aircraft operators to “intervene in a potentially life-threatening emergency, such as a heart attack or allergic shock,” said Joan Sullivan Garrett, MedAire’s founder and chairman.
Tuesday’s general elections not only will usher in a new head of the Executive Branch of government, but also seem likely to reshape the face of aviation on Capitol Hill as a number of key incumbent lawmakers are engaged in fierce battles to hang onto their seats. Democratic congressional candidates are widely believed to have the edge in most of the tight races, and numerous Republican members in both the Senate and House are expected to lose their seats.
The National Transportation Safety Board last week focused on emergency air medical service providers in compiling its annual “Federal Most Wanted List” of safety improvements for 2009. NTSB created the Most Wanted list in 1990 to emphasize issues that the agency believes need to be addressed. Emergency medical services (EMS) flight operations were added to the list for the first time, a move that was anticipated following a rash of EMS accidents that have occurred over the past several months.
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 and 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0643; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-094-AD; Amendment 39-15698; AD 2008-22-03] – This AD, which supersedes an existing directive (AD 2008-06-02), requires operators to revise the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” to incorporate new limitations for fuel tank systems.
BOMBARDIER CL-600-2C10 (Regional Jet Series 700, 701 and 702) and CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1115; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-134-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to separate the high-power wiring from the fuel system wiring at the center fuel tank front spar area. Operators also would have to modify the routing and support of electrical wires in that area, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 670BA-24-012, Rev. B (dated July 25, 2007).
THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK of the U.S. backed the sale of 12 Cessna Grand Caravans to Costa Rica’s Servicios Aereos Nacionales, S.A. (SANSA). The Ex-Im Bank said the approximately $20 million loan guarantee “will help support trade between U.S. and Central American companies, as well as enhance regional economic growth.” SANSA will use the aircraft on routes throughout Central America. The operation is owned by the El Salvador carrier Grupo TACA.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE EC 155B and EC155B1 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2008-0947; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-46-AD] – This proposed rule, which would supersede an existing directive (AD 2004-12-06), would require operators to reduce the service life of the main-rotor blades from 20,000 to 10,000 hours.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an incident last month in which the pilot of an MD 900 helicopter encountered a violent yaw while in cruise flight. A preliminary report said the Oct. 20 event involved an aircraft, N902NM, operated by Air Care. The helicopter was being flown by an airline transport rated pilot near Amherst, Texas in visual meteorological conditions while operating under Part 91 of the FARs. The flight had departed from Lubbock, Texas and was bound for Clovis, N.M. at approximately 1600 local time.
A PARAMEDIC working for the Arizona Department of Public Safety was killed Oct. 13 when he was struck by a helicopter rotor blade while helping to rescue two stranded hikers. The paramedic and a pilot were in a Bell 407 that spotted two missing hikers on Doe Mountain near Sedona, Ariz. The pilot landed the aircraft on a large boulder near the hikers. The paramedic exited the helicopter and walked in front of the aircraft to reach the hikers. He successfully guided one hiker back to the 407 and secured him inside.
SCOTT MELHOS E moved to the engine service sales team at Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, Mich., where he will focus on selling Duncan Aviation services for Pratt & Whitney, GE CF34 and Honeywell products. He has worked in the engine shop at Duncan’s Battle Creek facility since 1999, much of that time as the lead technician on Pratt & Whitney engines.
DER delegation in Avionics Systems and Equipment. At least 8 years experience in direct contact with FAA Aircraft Certification Offices working specific FAA projects. At least 15 years experience with increasing responsibility in engineering tasks related to avionics systems and equipment. Thorough working knowledge of DAS/ODA procedures. For a complete job description and to apply online, go to www.falconjet.com
