TONY CARUSO was appointed account manger, commercial and corporate aviation sales, for EMS SATCOM, the Ottawa, Canada, designer of satellite-based terminals for aeronautical, land mobile, maritime and emergency management markets. Caruso will oversee sales involving EMS SATCOM dealers and commercial and corporate aircraft operators in Canada. Caruso has more than 18 years of aviation sales and marketing experience with companies including PerkinElmer, Avcorp, AlliedSignal and Lucas Aerospace.
SimCom has expanded its training programs for the Socata TBM 700 single-turboprop to provide training at both its Orlando, Fla. and Scottsdale, Ariz. centers. SimCom is offering simulator-based and in-aircraft instruction in Orlando and in-aircraft training in Scottsdale. SimCom also has developed an upgrade course designed for piston or low-time pilots upgrading to the TBM 700. The Socata factory-authorized training provider for the TBM 700, SimCom also offers six-day initial, three-day recurrent and two-day advanced refresher courses for the aircraft.
BRANSON, RUTAN AGREE TO FORM SPACESHIP COMPANY - Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, and Burt Rutan, president of Scaled Composites, have agreed to form a new company to fulfill their goal of starting a suborbital commercial spaceflight industry. Scaled Composites won the X Prize last fall, just after Branson said he plans to offer suborbital space flights beginning in 2007 using technology licensed from Scaled's financial backer, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
ANDREW KASOWSKI was named vice president, product development, for Cessna Aircraft Company. Kasowski will be responsible for program management and product engineering for new product development. Kasowski joined Cessna in 1973 and has held several positions of increasing responsibility. He most recently was director of structural integrity.
CESSNA Models 172R, 172S, 182T, T182T, 206H, and T206H airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20438; Directorate Identifier 2005-CE-03-AD; Amendment 39-14147; AD 2005-13-10] - requires inspecting any MC01-3A I.C. 9 or MC01-3A I.C. 10 main electrical power junction box circuit breakers for correct amperage (amp) (a correct 40-amp circuit breaker) and replacing any incorrect amp circuit breaker with the correct 40-amp circuit breaker.
ECLIPSE NAMES HONEYWELL VETERAN BILLSON CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER - Eclipse Aviation, nearing certification of its Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet and a sharp ramp-up in production, named Honeywell veteran Peg Billson as chief operating officer of the Albuquerque, N.M. company.
The Senate last month confirmed the nomination of Edmund "Kip" Hawley to be the next head of the Transportation Security Administration. The White House nominated Hawley to succeed David Stone, who left the post in early June. Hawley has been praised by general aviation leaders for his strong organizational skills and experience with transportation issues (BA, June 27/287). That experience included participation in a working group that helped organize TSA.
EMBRAER Model EMB-135 airplanes and Model EMB-145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-21598; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-121-AD; Amendment 39-14159; AD 2005-13-22] - supersedes an existing AD that requires repetitive inspections of the electrical connectors of the electric fuel pumps to detect discrepancies, application of anti-corrosion spray, replacement of all fuel pumps with improved fuel pumps, repetitive inspections after all six fuel pumps are replaced and applicable corrective actions.
Aircraft Components Company (ACC) signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA) to overhaul components of certain Japanese-made aircraft. MHIA's Aircraft Product Support Division named ACC the exclusive overhaul agency for many components on the MU-2 aircraft, covering struts, actuators, motors and other similar components.
Honeywell was selected to provide its Bendix/King KGP Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) as standard equipment on Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft. Based on technology in Honeywell's air transport EGPWS, the KGP 560 uses aircraft position information from a global positioning system and compares it with an internal terrain and obstacle database to provide a moving map display of nearby terrain and tall structures. It provides visual and audio alerts when aircraft approach too close to hazards.
RICHARD MCKINNEY was named accessories business development manager for Sabreliner Corporation's engine component repair operation in Independence, Kan. McKinney formerly worked at Sabreliner operations in Neosho, Mo. and Independence. He also is a long-time Teledyne employee.
ECLIPSE SAYS ITS FIRE SUPPRESSION AGENT WILL SUPPLANT HALON - Eclipse Aviation has four patents and has won FAA and Environmental Protection Agency approval for a new aircraft fire suppression system that the aircraft manufacturer claims will supplant Halon as the system of choice to combat aircraft engine fires.
FAA, SOCIAL SECURITY TEAM TO FIND PILOTS DRAWING DISABILITY - FAA should work with the Social Security Administration and other disability benefits providers to catch pilots who have lied about disqualifying medical conditions on their applications for airman medical certificates, the U.S. Transportation Department inspector general recommended this week. The recommendation stems from an 18-month investigation, dubbed "Operation Safe Pilot," that the DOT IG conducted in cooperation with the SSA inspector general and the U.S.
Flight Explorer established a Messaging Services Division in Peachtree City, Ga., to help grow its new Aircraft Data and Messaging (ADAM) product line. Harlin Hamlin, vice president of messaging services, will lead the new division. Flight Explorer's ADAM line provides a communication and tracking link between the ground, the pilot and the aircraft by combining satellite coverage for worldwide aircraft tracking with voice and data communications.
August 9-11 - Asian Business Aviation Convention and Exposition ABACE2005, Shanghai, China, (202) 783-9000. September 15 - NBAA Business Aviation Regional Forum, Denver, Colo., www.nbaa.org September 18-21 - Airports Council International-North America, 16th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Metro Toronto Convention Center, Toronto, Ontario (202) 293-8500, e-mail [email protected] September 19-23 - Aviation Conference and Exhibition (ACE), Connecticut Convention Center, New Haven, Conn., www.aerospace-na.com/ace2005.asp
Professional Aviation Maintenance Association joined the Society of Automotive Engineers as an affiliate. Through the affiliation, PAMA members will have access to benefits of SAE membership, and PAMA will be able to tap into SAE's administrative, publishing and distribution services. The affiliation also expands SAE's reach into the aircraft maintenance realm.
TAG Aviation USA reported more than a 35 percent increase in its management business as the company added 13 business jets to its managed fleet during the first half of the year. TAG added 19 aircraft to its fleet in 2004. TAG, which represents 130 aircraft at more than 55 locations, cited a number of factors for the increased business, including the healthy economy, airline crowding and delays and an increased awareness of the benefits of business aviation.
Executive Jet Management (EJM) added a Hawker 800XP based in Naples, Fla. and a King Air 300 based in Dupage Airport in Chicago to its charter certificate. EJM manages 101 aircraft at more than 60 locations throughout the country.
A funny thing happened to Eclipse Aviation on its way to developing the Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet - it discovered a new aircraft engine fire suppression system that officials say is environmentally friendly, more effective than Halon and potentially worth billions of dollars. See article below.
Flightworks, an Atlanta, Ga.-based aircraft charter and management provider, boosted its fleet to 24 aircraft with the addition of six business jets since the beginning of the year. The latest aircraft in the Flightworks fleet include a Gulfstream 450 based in Jacksonville, Fla.; two Gulfstream IIIs based in Washington, D.C.; a Falcon 2000 in Tulsa, Okla.; a Citation III in Atlanta; and a Citation II in Atlanta.
NEW PIPER PA-34 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2004-19960; Directorate Identifier 2004-CE-47-AD; Amendment 39-14153; AD 2005-13-16] - supersedes AD 93-24-14. This AD stems from many service difficulty reports related to the collapse of the nose landing gear (NLG). Consequently, this AD retains the actions required in AD 93-24-14, requires inspecting the NLG and components of the NLG using new procedures for rigging the nose gear installation, and requires replacing unserviceable parts.
Environmental Tectonics Corp. received an order valued at $4 million from an undisclosed Middle Eastern customer for a Gyrolab GL-1500 spatial disorientation trainer. The GL-1500 is configurable into 20 fixed-wing and eight helicopter training profiles and can be used to train pilots in high-risk flight maneuvers, including upset recovery, spins and stalls. The trainer uses three axes of motion and simulator technology to reproduce the common causes of spatial disorientation.
New Piper Aircraft delivered only 76 new airplanes in the second half of 2004 because operations were severely disrupted by hurricane damage to the company's manufacturing facility in Vero Beach, Fla. last summer. New Piper lost some 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space in last year's storms, but has now relocated manufacturing into 200,000 square feet of space in older buildings, much of which had previously been used for storage. New Piper President Chuck Suma said production is back up to 25 aircraft per month.
H.R.3, the Transportation Equity Act, has a number of provisions that do affect aviation. One such provision, designed to discourage fuel fraud by diesel fuel users, could end up short-changing the Aviation Trust Fund and create a bureaucratic tangle for business operators. See article below.
