Boosted by the strength of the business jet market, U.S. aircraft manufacturers posted their sixth consecutive year of record billings in 2001, despite a drop in shipments, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association said last week. Total shipments of general and business aviation planes worldwide dropped 4.5 percent, from 3,140 in 2000 to 2,999 units in 2001. Shipments by U.S. manufacturers dropped 6.6 percent, from 2,819 units in 2000 to 2,634 units in 2001.
As promised late last year, Bombardier has launched a new version of its business jet service in Europe, doing away with selling fractional shares in aircraft in favor of selling block charter on Bombardier-built aircraft flown by a number of European charter operators.
SKIP MADSEN was named president of Executive Aircraft Corporation in Wichita, Kan. Madsen was most recently executive vice president and chief operating officer of Duncan Aviation where he had worked for 22 years.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-215-1A10 and CL-215-6B11 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-398-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires repetitive inspections to detect cracking on certain wing-to-fuselage frame angles; and repair, if necessary. This action would decrease the compliance time for the initial inspection to detect cracking on certain wing-to-fuselage frame angles and would decrease the interval between repetitive inspections.
MIKE FERGUSON was appointed northwest regional representative for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He will represent the interests of 39,000 pilots: Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. Ferguson formerly served as an administrator of the Montana Aeronautics Division and holds a commercial pilot certificate with instrument and multi-engine ratings.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week released a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) and two notices to airmen that clear Part 91 operations into the final three airports shut down since Sept. 11. The regulation outlines a series of strict procedures that operators must follow to fly into and out of College Park Airport (CGS), Potomac Airfield (VKX) and Washington Executive/Hyde Field (W32), all of which are in Maryland just outside of Washington, D.C.
FAA OFFICIALS testifying at the same meeting told commission members that FAA's Operational Evolution Plan is expected to cost FAA $11.5 billion through 2010, plus an equal or greater expense for the aviation community in new equipment. And, more disturbing, implementation of the plan is already behind budget. "We're short [on cash] now, and we will be short the next eight years," said Charles Keegan, FAA's program manager for the OEP. FAA shifted funds away from OEP in fiscal 2002 and will do so again in 2003, he said.
JET&PROPJET 2002, with listings of nearly 25,000 business turbine aircraft, was published this month by AvCom International of Wichita, Kan., an affiliate of AvData, Inc. The worldwide listings include 24,887 business turbine aircraft in operation with 13,371 flight departments in seven world areas and 141 countries. The 528-page book also includes listings for 1,463 military and government-operated business aircraft and information on another 2,727 aircraft that have been retired or written off.
NEARLY A YEAR LATE, FAA has finally completed its study of the air taxi industry and is expected to release the report, after it goes through final Department of Transportation review, within the next few weeks. In comprehensive aviation legislation enacted in April 2000, Congress mandated that FAA develop a report on the scope and nature of the on-demand industry, including size and type of aircraft fleet, hours flown, utilization rates, safety record by aircraft type, sales revenues and airports served.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION is concerned about a Federal Communications Commission ruling Thursday that clears the way for marketing and operation of certain types of new products incorporating ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, fearing the technology could interfere with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) signals. The FCC said the UWB devices have great potential in applications like radar imaging of objects buried in the ground or behind walls and short-range, high-speed data transmissions.
REFLECTING continued strong demand for business aircraft, TAG Aviation said it added nine management and charter aircraft to its fleet during January, "a strong indicator that the business aviation recovery may be under way sooner than expected," the company said. The new aircraft include three Challengers, an Astra, two Citations and a Falcon 900EX. "While it is too early to associate January's activities with an economic recovery, the trend we have seen this past month is a very encouraging one," said Jake Cartwright, CEO of TAG Aviation USA.
PILATUS BN-2, BN-2A, BN-2B, and BN-2T series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-38-AD; Amendment 39-12638; AD 2002-02-10) - requires repetitively inspecting the inboard brackets of the elevator outboard hinge for loose rivets, structural damage, or cracks and replacing any suspect bracket. This AD also requires replacement of the hinge bracket at a certain time period if no discrepancies are found. This replacement includes modifying this area and installing modified brackets. This replacement allows increasing the time period between inspections.
EUROCOPTER FRANCE Model AS332L and AS332L1 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-46-AD) - proposes adding a supplement to the limitations section of the applicable Rotorcraft Flight Manual for helicopters with "SEFA" skis installed. This proposal is prompted by the need to limit the taxi and Vne speed of those helicopters with skis. The actions specified by this proposed AD are intended to prevent structural failure of a ski and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. FAA estimates that this proposed AD would affect three helicopters on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $30.
Witness reports of frost or ice on the wing of a Challenger 604, which could have disrupted the air flow over the wing and reduced lift, are being treated by British accident investigators as a key focus of their probe of the Jan. 4 fatal accident (BA, Jan. 7/15).
IN THE SHORT TERM, the new aircraft sales market remains challenging. The Enron scandal and a major restructuring at Ford Motor Co. have dumped half a dozen Gulfstream Vs on the market. That's not a big concern, Gulfstream President and COO Bill Boisture told BA last week, but it bears noting in today's cautious market. The Gulfstream sales organization has been finding new customers and applications for its upper-end business jets, he said, while Fortune 100/Fortune 500 companies, traditionally among Gulfstream's best customers, remain on the sidelines.
JOHN MAGAW, the head of the new Transportation Security Administration, told reporters at a briefing Thursday "there may be a place" for so-called "trusted traveler" cards encrypted with biometric data on the holder. While he believes "there is no question the technology is there" to make such cards a reality, he said the time-saving benefits of such a device may be muted because of the need for security screening of everyone's checked and carry-on baggage.
Britain's Heathrow Airport began using eye recognition software this month to speed up arrivals. Up to 2,000 frequent flyers are involved in the five-month trial using EyeTicket's iris recognition technology in Terminal 3 and 4. Passengers look into a video camera and their identities are verified within seconds.
SINCE THE WINTER OLYMPICS BEGAN in Salt Lake City, there have been seven airspace violations, and several incidents in which pilots were escorted or forced to land, Steve Brown, FAA's associate administrator for air traffic services, said Friday. On one of those occasions, Brown said the pilot mistook a reservation for inspection as permission to reposition his aircraft. Brown said FAA is asking all pilots who intend to operate in that area "to please review current procedures and contact Flight Service for clarification or further information, if necessary."
ECLIPSE AVIATION President Vern Raburn told the U.S. Commission on the Future of the Aerospace Industry last week that the Eclipse 500 entry-level jet is on schedule to make its first flight in less than five months, adding that the first 36 months of production are sold out.
SEVERAL GENERAL AVIATION GROUPS last week visited with Sen. Herb Kohl's (D-Wis.) staff to discuss general aviation and air charter after Kohl called general aviation a "ticking time bomb" during a hearing on aviation security (BA, Feb. 11/69). Kohl is concerned that general aviation is not held to the same standard of security as scheduled air carriers are and plans to pressure FAA and reiterate his concerns as often as he can until he is satisfied that appropriate security programs are in place, a Kohl aide said.
The Transportation Security Administration will work quickly through a transitional period of 30-40 days to acquire new airport security technology and hire new federal employees who will take over airport security responsibilities. Administration officials said at a 90-day milestone briefing since security legislation was enacted that they're close to hiring an initial group of 81 federal security representatives to be placed in high priority airports across the country.
EUROCOPTER Model SE 3130, SE 313B, SA 315B, SE 3160, SA 316B, SA 316C, SA 3180, SA 318B, SA 318C, and SA 319B helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-38-AD; Amendment 39-12625; AD 2002-01-30) - requires inspecting the magnetic plug for magnetic particles at specified intervals in addition to the MGB inspections currently required. This AD also requires, within 50 hours time-in-service, dye- penetrant inspecting the MGB bevel gear for a crack, and if a crack is found, replacing the cracked bevel gear with an airworthy bevel gear before further flight.
The Department of Justice Friday temporarily provided a blanket advance consent for non-U.S. pilots to resume recurrent flight training in the U.S. for aircraft that weigh more than 12,500 pounds. The advance consent is a provisional action until DOJ establishes a set of procedures for flight training applicants to undergo a background review.
Steve Bassett, president of the United States Air Tour Association (USATA) for the past five years, has accepted an offer to join the management team of Air Vegas Airlines, which provides aerial tours of the Grand Canyon.
FAA OUTLINES SPECIAL CONDITIONS FOR ECLIPSE CERTIFICATION - Federal Aviation Administration proposed a series of "special conditions" Eclipse Aviation must meet to win government approval for its new-technology, $837,500 twin-jet, the Eclipse 500. Eclipse cut metal for the jet in September and expects to fly the aircraft in July. Eclipse in the fall of 2000 filed its application for certification of the Eclipse 500 under Part 23 of the Federal Aviation Regulations and hopes to complete the process by early 2004.
