First rate ground services...second to none flight schools. You’ve heard of flying first class. Why not consider landing first class? Kissimmee Gateway Airport (ISM) is the most convenient to Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center and closest to Orlando/Kissimmee attractions. With full-service FBOs offering a complete range of amenities, Warbird adventure flights, and all-weather approaches – can help get you where you need to go, faster and easier, while the others are still taxiing.
FIRSTFLIGHT, INC. won a concession agreement to operate the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York City. Located at Pier 6 on the East River in lower Manhattan, the heliport attracts both corporate and air tour helicopter traffic along with scheduled traffic to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. FirstFlight will assume operational control of the facility this Saturday (Nov. 1).
The warning lights on a radio tower that was struck by an EMS helicopter earlier this month were functioning up until the helicopter struck one of the tower’s guy wires, officials said last week. All four persons aboard an Air Angels Bell 222 were killed late on the night of Oct. 15 when the aircraft struck the wire (BA, Oct. 20/181). After examining the tape from a surveillance camera at a railroad station nearly two miles from the crash site, NTSB investigator John Brannen said the lights on the tower were blinking up until the helicopter hit the guy wire.
GENERAL DYNAMICS Chairman Nicholas Chabraja took exception to a comment by a financial analyst during GD’s third-quarter earnings call last week. The analyst suggested, because of worldwide financial problems and plunging stock markets, that international business jet sales would drop because “BRIC trade is over,” referring to what have been strong business jet markets in emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China.
WILLIAM B. (WOODY) HARFORD was named senior vice president, chief revenue officer, for CitationShares, a subsidiary of Cessna Aircraft Co. and Textron, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich, Conn. Harford will be responsible for both the sales and marketing departments. He previously spent 18 years at British Airways, where he most recently was senior vice president commercial, Americas, and led a multifunctional group of sales and marketing professionals charged with building business with corporate customers.
National Business Aviation Association members this month officially affirmed the election of two members to the association’s board of directors, Richard Shine and Charles Reagan.
EMBRAER EMB-135ER, -135KE, -135KL, -135LR, EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1079; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-116-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to revise the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” to incorporate new maintenance inspections of the aircraft’s fuel tank system. This proposal, which resulted from an MCAI originated by the aviation authority of Brazil, is designed to prevent ignition sources inside the fuel tanks.
DUNCAN AVIATION signed a collaborative agreement with Prestige Technique, the maintenance division of Prestige Jet Group, under which the two companies will join forces to provide a range of airframe and engine maintenance services in the Middle East. The agreement marks Duncan Aviation’s first business venture in the Middle East market, the company said. Duncan Aviation will provide completions, avionics installations and airframe and engine maintenance. Prestige Jet was formed in early 2007 to provide charter service in the Middle East region.
Responsible for performance of Mechanical Engineering Department, Interior Installation Business Units and Flightline. Fundamental role is to insure all department activity properly supports the timely delivery of the aircraft. Must have 15 years experience in aircraft production industry with a minimum of 5 years at the senior management level. Fax resume to 501-210-0469 or email to [email protected]
HARTZELL PROPELLER, INC. said its propellers have been used on the winning aircraft in the Sport Class at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nev. for 10 straight years following a victory last month by the Nemesis NXT airplane. Flown by Jon Sharp, the aircraft used a specially designed three-blade propeller system. The aircraft reached a speed of 409 miles per hour during qualifying flights and 392 mph during the race itself.
INDUSTRY GROUPS not only will be starting fresh with a new Administration and a number of new faces on Capitol Hill next year, but also will be working with a different Federal Aviation Administration. Two longtime agency officials – Nick Sabatini, the associate administrator for aviation safety, and Ruth Leverenz, the acting deputy administrator – announced their decisions last week to retire from the agency at the end of the year.
General aviation groups are appealing to Transportation Security Administration officials to hold a series of public hearings and extend the comment period on a sweeping proposal that would impose potentially game-changing new security requirements on private operators for the first time (BA, Oct. 13/167). The Office of Management and Budget in early October cleared the proposal, but it has not yet been published in the Federal Register.
CORPORATE ANGEL NETWORK arranged for the flight of its 30,000th cancer patient on a corporate jet this month. Liberty Mutual, a CAN supporter since 1991, flew Jennifer Aja-Thresher, 54, a lung cancer patient from Atlanta, to Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center so she can participate in a clinical trial. CAN, headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., has been arranging free transportation on corporate aircraft for 26 years for cancer patients traveling to and from treatment centers.
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION served notice Friday that it plans to appeal a National Transportation Safety Board law judge’s order that overturned FAA’s earlier emergency revocation of the operating certificate of Air Trek, Inc. The case began in May when FAA officials issued an emergency order indefinitely suspending Air Trek’s Part 135 operating certificate. Air Trek retained legal counsel to contest the suspension order, but FAA subsequently issued an emergency order of revocation of Air Trek’s certificate.
BOMBARDIER CL-600, CL-601, CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, CL-604, CL-605 and CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 & 440) airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-1096; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-158-AD; Amendment 39-15693; AD 2008-21-09] – This new AD supersedes an existing directive (AD 2008-08-06) that requires revising the Airplane Flight Manual to include new cold-weather operations limitations and procedures.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, the Transportation Department and Transportation Security Administration officials will hold a public hearing Nov. 8 to discuss Chicago Midway International Airport’s application to participate in the Airport Privatization Pilot Program (BA, Oct. 13/168). FAA will accept comments on the application during the hearing as well as written comments through Dec. 22. The hearing will be held 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Marriott Chicago Midway Hotel in Bedford Park, Ill. Individuals who want to participate should sign in before 9:30 a.m.
The Swedish government is trying to add VIP transport airlift capacity to its fleet quickly in advance of taking on the rolling European Union presidency next year.
October 27-30 – Flight Safety Foundation 61st International Air Safety Seminar, Sheraton Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii. For more information call (703) 739-6700, www.flightsafety.org 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
JETDIRECT AVIATION established an aircraft acquisition and brokerage team under the direction of Mike Moore, senior vice president of business development and aircraft brokerage. He will oversee an experienced team of sales veterans who collectively have been involved in more than $1 billion in aircraft sales transactions. Team members include: Matthew Betty, Central U.S., based in Dallas; Michael Brazil, Northeast, based in New York; Eugene Clow, Northwest, based in Seattle; and Gordon Wishart, covering both the Southwest and Southeast U.S. from his base in Tucson.
The Federal Aviation Administration published an updated policy regarding civil supersonic airplane noise type certification standards and operating rules last week, a move that the agency said “is intended to provide guidance on noise limits to manufacturers that are considering designs for supersonic aircraft.”
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT this month broke ground on a $14 million project to expand the Hawker Beechcraft Services maintenance and service facility at the Indianapolis, Ind. International Airport. The expansion will include a new 6,500-square-foot terminal and 40,000-square-foot service hangar with 20,000 square feet of back shops and administrative offices. The new terminal will be equipped with customer amenities such as computer, Wi-Fi access, printers, phones and conference rooms that have a view of the shop floor.
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
JOSHUA LORENZ was named a regional sales director for Flight Options. Lorenz, who previously was a sales representative for another fractional aircraft provider, will be responsible for sales in the South Central U.S. and will be based in Dallas, Texas. Lorenz is a graduate of DePauw University and holds a commercial pilots license. He previously was involved in the brokerage, acquisition and resale of business jets.
PHIL BOYER, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for the past 18 years, will be honored today (Oct. 27) by the Aero Club of Washington with the Donald D. Engen Aero Club Trophy for Aviation Excellence. The Engen Trophy is named after the former Navy admiral, NTSB member, FAA administrator and director of the National Air and Space Museum. It is presented to an individual, team or organization for a lifetime of achievement in aviation, or for a single event or series of events, which reaffirm the Wright Brothers’ standard of excellence in aviation.
“I DON’T SEE IT BEING OVER,” Chabraja responded. “I don’t have Russians rushing up to cancel [Gulfstream business jet orders]. You’ve made up your minds that everybody in that group is broke. I don’t think it’s true. I mean, they’re pulling back their horns, but I think they’re honoring their commitments, at least to us. We’ve delivered planes to these people and they write checks, they make their payments like everybody else,” Chabraja said, adding that he is more worried about the U.S. economy than those of emerging nations.
