THE SUCCESS of Dassault's Falcon business jet line seems likely to result in dramatic changes to the company's civil/military sales mix. While defense products accounted for 43 percent of consolidated Dassault sales in 2007, only 14 percent of new orders received last year were for defense products. The remaining 86 percent of $6.26 billion in new orders received last year were for business jets.
AIR METHODS CORP., Denver, Colo., named a Frontier Airlines executive to be the new chief operating officer for the emergency air medical transportation and medical services provider. Paul Tate, who has been serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Frontier since October 2001, will take over next month as COO at Air Methods. He has served on Air Methods' board of directors since August 2003, but will resign his board seat when he begins his new duties. Previously the COO role was combined with the chief executive position at Air Methods.
Dassault Chairman Charles Edelstenne said the French manufacturer logged orders for 212 business jets last year, the third consecutive year of record sales. "The results are a tremendous statement to the benefits of business aviation which are only now being understood in some areas of the world," he said in announcing the company's financial results for 2007.
VENEZUELAN AUTHORITIES said all 46 persons aboard an ATR-42-300 were killed Thursday when the aircraft crashed into the face of a mountain shortly after takeoff from the city of Merida. The aircraft wreckage was spotted at an altitude of about 13,500 feet, but searchers were having difficulty reaching the site because of the difficult terrain. The area is known as the Los Conejos plateau, which is located inside Sierra La Culata National Park. The airplane, with 43 passengers and a crew of three, was on a flight to Caracas.
THE NORTH AMERICAN ice protection subsidiary of CAV Aerospace Ltd., formerly called Aerospace Systems and Technologies Inc. (AS&T), was renamed CAV Aerospace, Inc. The Salina, Kan.-based unit manufactures TKS ice protection systems for a number of business and personal aircraft manufacturers as well as for retrofit. The parent company said the new name elevates the ice protection business unit within the corporation and reflects its growing role in the global aerospace manufacturing market. In addition to the Salina, Kan. business, CAV Aerospace Ltd.
COMPOSITES ENGINEERING INC. (CEi) recently completed a flight demonstration of a new unmanned aircraft, the BQM-167X, which sustained supersonic flight at the U.S. Navy Pt. Mugu Test Range. The Jan. 31 flight was part of a contract the U.S. Navy awarded to CEi in September of 2006 for a high performance aerial target system capable of very high subsonic low altitude performance. CEi designed and built the aircraft at its Sacramento, Calif. facility.
Promoted to operations manager for Executive Beechcraft's three Kansas City locations. Toth has been with Executive Beechcraft since 1996, most recently as customer relations manager. In his new role, he will manage line service, customer service and guest relations. He is a licensed A&P mechanic.
In the face of a softening economy, the turbine-powered civil helicopter market grew at least 25 percent in 2007 and is predicted to grow by up to 50 percent through 2012, according to the Honeywell 10th annual Turbine- Powered Civil Helicopter Purchase Outlook. Based on surveys of more than 1,000 flight departments worldwide, the outlook forecasts deliveries of 4,450 new civil helicopters from 2008 to 2012.
Model SF340A and 340B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-0212; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-237-AD; Amendment 39-15368; AD 2008-03-17] - Requires operators to install Modification 3163, which involves re-routing existing wires to the Fuel Quantity Indication System (FQIS), installing new wires with shields to the FQIS, and conducting operational and functional tests of the system. This AD is designed to prevent fuel tank explosions. The FAA estimates that this AD will affect 218 aircraft on the U.S. Registry and cost U.S.
BBA Aviation, which already owns the world's largest network of fixed-base operations, will get a little bigger after officials agreed to buy fuel and line operations at seven U.S. airports from Hawker Beechcraft Corp. (HBC) for $128.5 million. The sale, subject to customary conditions, as well as regulatory and certain third-party approvals, is expected to close in May, HBC said. BBA owns Signature Flight Support, which currently operates 85 FBOs worldwide, including 49 in the U.S.
Model F.28 Mark 0070 and Mark 0100 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0117; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-273-AD] - This proposed AD would mandate inspection of the piccolo tubes and the wing leading edge for damage and replacement or repair of the Peri-seals, following the instructions of Fokker Service Bulletin SBF100-30-028, Rev. 1 (dated Apr. 17, 2007).
RAYTHEON, SAIC WILL BID FOR FAA TRAINING SYSTEM CONTRACT - Raytheon announced it is pursuing an ATC training system contract with FAA valued at more than $100 million. Raytheon Technical Services will team with Science Applications International Corp. in a bid for FAA's ATC Optimum Training Solution (ATCOTS). The multi-year, performance-based contract is expected to be awarded in June. The final request for proposals will occur this month.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT appointed Avion Logistics Limited in Hong Kong as an authorized parts distributor for the company's Rapid Aircraft Parts Inventory and Distribution (RAPID) business. Avion Logistics will distribute parts for the entire Hawker Beechcraft aircraft line throughout Asia. Avion Logistics recently formed as a joint venture between Avion Pacific Limited and SEACOR Holdings. Avion Pacific Limited also is an authorized sales representative for Hawker Beechcraft aircraft in China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Named general manager of Cessna Aircraft's Wichita Citation Service Center. Jurich previously was general manager of Cessna's Toledo Citation Service Center. He has 28 years of aviation experience, beginning as a Cessna maintenance technician in Wichita.
CHANGI AIRPORT INSTALLS RUNWAY FOREIGN OBJECT DISPLAY SYSTEM - The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) will spend US$8.4 million to install a new system to detect foreign objects on the two runways at Singapore Changi Airport.
Russ Meyer, III will have wide-ranging responsibilities in his new role as director of new product development for Hawker Beechcraft Corp., the company said last week in officially announcing his appointment (BA, Feb. 18/70).
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION scheduled its 2008 Air Charter Summit June 9 - 11 at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles conference center and hotel in Chantilly, Va. The 2008 event is expected to cover a range of regulatory, legislative and other issues facing the industry, including legal issues confronting charter operations, compliance with the most frequently violated regulations, Transportation Security Administration initiatives, and safety management systems. To register, visit the NATA Web site at www.nata.aero/events.
Model SF340A and 340B airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-0298; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-238-AD; Amendment 39-15369; AD 2008-03-18] - Requires operators to install Modification 2762 and conduct related investigative and corrective actions in accordance with Saab Service Bulletin 340-57-031, Rev. 02 (dated Sept. 28, 2005). This AD is designed to prevent fuel tank explosions. The FAA estimates that this AD will affect 168 airplanes on the U.S. Registry and cost U.S. operators a total of $338,856, or $2,017 per aircraft. This AD becomes effective March 17.
THE NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION, which has been issuing critical statements for months about FAA's failure to hire enough new controllers to replace those eligible for retirement, issued a statement Friday claiming that a supervisor in the Oakland, Calif. Air Route Traffic Control Center turned down the volume of a loudspeaker in the center while controllers were attempting to monitor a distress call from a small aircraft whose pilot had declared an emergency. The plane later crashed near Nevada City, Calif. northeast of Sacramento.
REED ELSEVIER GROUP said Thursday it plans to sell its Reed Business Information unit, which publishes scores of magazines including FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL. At the same time, Reed Elsevier said it is purchasing ChoicePoint, Inc., a major provider of personal data for the risk management market, for more than $4 billion.
CARMANAH TECHNOLOGIES won an order to supply solar-powered portable airfield lights for privately-owned airfields in the United Arab Emirates. The contract, from the UAE authorized aviation distributor GESOLAR, is valued at $600,000. The order will allow the UAE to enhance visibility at remote airfields with the solar-powered LED lights. The order includes Carmanah's A704-5 runway edge lights, approach lights and threshold lights, as well as A601 taxiway lights.
Joined Avidyne Corporation as inside sales representative. Ring will be responsible for aftermarket sales support in the Northeast and Southeast U.S. He previously served as a line service technician at Swissport Fueling in Worcester, Mass. and at Signature Flight Support and Executive Flyers Aviation in Bedford, Mass. Most recently, he was an Acura automobile sales and leasing specialist.
Joined Airports Council International-North America as general counsel. Previously associate general counsel of US Airways, Kemp will serve as ACI-NA's senior in-house counsel and oversee the association's airport-related litigation and legal policy. While with US Airways, she was involved with a number of aviation issues, including capacity constraints at slot controlled airports, the US Airways/British Airways Alliance, the United/US Airways joint marketing relationship and the regulation of computer reservation systems.
Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2008-0167; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-029-AD; Amendment 39-15374; AD 2008-04-02] - Requires operators to inspect all barrel nuts to determine if they have a certain marking and inspection of the affected bolts to determine if the bolts are pre-loaded correctly. Replace all hardware if the pre-load is incorrect. For airplanes on which the pre-load is correct, conduct repetitive visual inspections for cracking of the barrel nuts and cradles and replace all hardware on all cracked barrel nuts.
