Joins AirCell as senior vice president, wireless services. Weigman will oversee service design, marketing programs and customer care for the company's new broadband service. He formerly was chief marketing officer for Sprint and president of the company's Consumer Long Distance Division.
THE NORDAM GROUP broke ground for a new maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Singapore. The project will more than triple Nordam's space in Singapore from 60,000 to 185,000 square feet. The new facility will enable Nordam to continue to expand its business and pursue new manufacturing capabilities, company executives said. Nordam, which first opened a Singapore base 13 years ago, has grown its business from thrust reverser repair and overhaul to include nacelles, airframe components and flight control surfaces.
(L)O-360, (L)IO-360, AEIO-360, O-540, IO-540, AEIO-540, (L)TIO-540, IO-580, and IO-720 Series Reciprocating Engines [Docket No. FAA-2006-24785; Directorate Identifier 2006-NE-20-AD; Amendment 39-14778; AD 2006-20-09] - Requires replacing certain crankshafts. This AD results from reports of 23 confirmed failures of similar crankshafts in Lycoming Engines 360 and 540 series reciprocating engines. FAA is issuing this AD to prevent failure of the crankshaft, which will result in total engine power loss, inflight engine failure, and possible loss of the airplanes.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), long a crossroads for corporate aviation operators, is seeking bids from companies interested in running the fixed-base operation at the airport.
Eclipse Aviation, the Albuquerque, N.M. startup company that inspired a new generation of Very Light Jets with its Eclipse 500 aircraft, won FAA type certification approval Sept. 30. The TC was presented to Eclipse officials during a weekend customer celebration at company headquarters.
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION OF CANADA elected CAE Executive Vice President Don Campbell chairman for the 2006-2007 term. Campbell succeeds Rolls-Royce Canada President Pierre Racine.
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES reported Friday that the crew of a SkyWest Airlines regional jet narrowly avoided a collision on the ground at Los Angeles International Airport Sept. 30 when a Gulfstream business jet pulled onto the runway while the RJ was accelerating for takeoff. The Skywest aircraft had reached a speed of more than 115 miles per hour when the foreign-registered Gulfstream pulled onto the runway. The Skywest crew aborted their takeoff and managed to stop their aircraft less than 100 feet from the Gulfstream, according to the report.
Model BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25851; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-133-AD] - Proposes to require determining the part number of the lift spoiler actuators/jacks. For affected lift spoiler jacks, this proposed AD would require determining the date of manufacture of the lift spoiler jacks, repetitively inspecting the eye-end assembly of the lift spoiler jacks to detect discrepancies of the assembly or associated parts, and performing corrective actions if necessary.
Steven R. Chealander, a former Air Force officer and currently a flight operations executive with American Airlines, will be nominated for a seat on the National Transportation Safety Board, the White House announced. Chealander is manager of flight operations efficiency at American Airlines headquarters in Dallas. He previously served as manager of flight safety-internal evaluation compliance for the carrier.
Model B300 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22103; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-42-AD; Amendment 39-14766; AD 2006-19-09] -- Requires modification of the cabin passenger seats by installing a modification kit on each passenger seat, removing the existing technical standard order (TSO) label, and re-identifying each modified passenger seat assembly with a new part number. This AD results from the seats not meeting the ultimate load requirements of 14 CFR Part 23 during structural testing of the seat with design changes.
Bombardier struck a deal with Italian carrier My Way Airlines for 19 CRJ-900s, nabbing one of the largest orders for the aircraft this year. Data from aircraft tracker Airclaims show that prior to the My Way deal, Bombardier captured orders for 52 -900s, including eight planes from an unannounced commercial customer. SkyWest has ordered 17 planes, and Air Nostrum struck a deal for 15 aircraft. Other customers include Air One, Arik Air, Atlasjet International Airways and Macedonian Airlines.
Mooney Aerospace Group named Dennis E. Ferguson chief executive officer of Mooney Airplane Company in Kerrville, Texas, announcing his selection following the resignation Tuesday of Gretchen L. Jahn after two years in that job.
Q AVIATION retained Deutsche Bank Securities to "explore various strategic options" to permit its principal shareholder, Q Investments, "to monetize all or part of its investment in the company." Based in Fort Worth, Texas with offices in Europe and Southeast Asia, Q Aviation owns a portfolio of 53 Boeing and Airbus aircraft appraised at $1.2 billion. The company said it expects "to start the bidding process shortly and anticipates a year end closing for the transaction."
THE NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSOCIATION selected Norman Mineta, the former secretary of transportation, as the winner of the 2006 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. The trophy is awarded annually by NAA "to a living American for significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States." The award will be presented to Mineta Dec. 15 at a banquet hosted by the Aero Club of Washington.
PRISM BUSINESS MEDIA acquired SpeedNews, Inc., which specializes in publishing aviation newsletters. SpeedNews founder Gilbert Speed will remain with the enterprise, according to John French, CEO of Prism Business Media, whose holdings include some 70 magazines, 150 newsletters and 17 industry trade shows.
Members of the federally authorized Grand Canyon Working Group (GCWG), an aviation rulemaking committee established to find ways to reduce the noise footprint of air tour flights over Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP), met for two days last week in Phoenix but were unable to achieve a consensus on the issue of diverting high-altitude traffic away from the park.
BOMBARDIER is establishing a spare parts depot in Japan to support business and regional aircraft customers. Scheduled to open in 2007, the facility will be located near Narita International Airport near Tokyo.
Model EMB-135BJ, -135ER, -135KE, -135KL, and -135LR airplanes; and Model EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25892; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-120-AD] - Proposes to require inspecting to determine the part number of the left- and right-hand windshield temperature controllers.
AIRSHARES ELITE, the Bedford, Mass.-based fractional ownership program that sells shares in Cirrus single-engine aircraft, added its 50th aircraft, an SR22-G2/GTS. The aircraft will be based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. AirShares Elite says it has amassed the largest fleet of Cirrus aircraft and has become the largest fractional program involving light general aviation aircraft. The program has aircraft based throughout the Eastern U.S.
YINGLING AVIATION was selected as an authorized avionics sales and service center by Rockwell Collins Business and Regional Aviation Electronics. Yingling, based at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., is a full-service fixed-base operation. "Rockwell Collins products are among the industry's most innovative and capable, enhancing the efficiency, dependability and versatility on the flight deck and in the cabin of a broad range of business aircraft applications," said Yingling President Lynn Nichols.
NetJets Europe signed an order with Dassault Aviation to acquire 24 of the French manufacturer's new 7X business jets, a transaction valued at $1.1 billion that NetJets says is "the largest business-jet order in European history." The agreement calls for the new Falcon trijets, which carry a B/CA-equipped price of $39.2 million apiece, to be delivered over six years beginning in the first quarter of 2008 and extending through 2014.
PINNACLE AVIATION CHARTER of Scottsdale, Ariz. added an Embraer Legacy business jet, which will be based in Las Vegas, to its charter fleet. The company also operates four Citation Excels, a Citation III, a Gulfstream III and a Falcon 2000.
Model GA8 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-24955; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-31-AD; Amendment 39-14768; AD 2006-19-11] - Requires relocating the seat stop of the pilot and second occupant seat. The action results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority of Australia to identify and correct an unsafe condition on an aviation product. This AD will affect about 22 airplanes on the U.S. Registry. The cost of this AD for U.S. operators is an estimated $7,920, or $360 per aircraft ($180 per seat assembly).
