BOMBARDIER delivered a Learjet 60 business jet to ExecuJet Middle East for its charter operation in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "This represents the first new business jet delivered to Dubai with the express purpose of being made available for commercial charter flights," said Shawn Vick, senior vice president of international sales for Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft. The Department of Civil Aviation is planning a dedicated business jet center at Dubai International Airport, Bombardier said.
The Regional Airline Association and several industry suppliers launched a public relations effort "to promote local air service for the 21st century" at the RAA Annual Fall Meeting last week. The newly established Regional Air Service Initiative (RASI) "will provide regulators, organized labor, media and the flying public accurate information about the importance of regional jet service today and its contribution to the national air transportation system," said Debbie McElroy, RAA president.
GARY A. MCCRACKEN was named chief inspector at Professional Aircraft Accessories. He has more than 10 years' maintenance experience. McCracken was most recently director of quality assurance at Banner Aerospace Aircraft Service.
Eclipse Aviation Corp. moved its final slate of employees left at Walled Lake, Mich., home of company co-founder Williams International, to Albuquerque, N.M., where the start-up aircraft manufacturer has based its operations. The Eclipse engineering team relocated from Walled Lake, joining sales, supply management, finance, information technology, marketing and administration staffing already housed at the company's temporary headquarters and manufacturing facility at Sunport International Airport.
ROLLS-ROYCE's AE 3007C1 engine was FAA certified for the Cessna Citation X. The AE 3007C1 is derived from the AE3007C turbofan with an additional five percent take-off thrust, from 6,442 pounds of thrust to 6,764 pounds. "Increasing engine thrust will significantly reduce the distance needed for takeoff, opening up many additional airports to Citation X operators," said Roger Whyte, Cessna senior vice president sales and marketing.
ATLANTIC AVIATION FLIGHT SERVICES DIVISION shored up its management team in Teterboro, N.J., naming Doug Shaw president. Shaw previously was Atlantic's corporate senior vice president in Newark, Del. The Flight Services Division also named Randall Wood, former director of flight standards for Atlantic, director of operations. Joining Shaw and Wood in Teterboro are Bob Driscoll, director of maintenance; Dennis Williams, division controller Dan Dunn, senior chief pilot, and Larry Dean, vice president of sales and marketing.
AEROSTAR Models PA-60-601 (Aerostar 601), PA-60-601P (Aerostar 601P), PA-60-602P (Aerostar 602P), and PA-60-700P (Aerostar 700P) airplanes (Docket No. 99-CE-86-AD) - proposes to require replacement of Roto-Master and Rajay scavenge pumps with Aerostar scavenge pumps. The proposed action is the result of failures of the existing Roto-Master and Rajay scavenge pump found during regular maintenance inspections.
Docket No.: FAA-2001-9519 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 91.159 Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit the USAF to conduct hurricane reconnaissance flights without maintaining the appropriate cruising altitudes as prescribed by that section of 14 CFR that governs operations for flights conducted under visual flight rules. Grant, 09/21/2001, Exemption No. 131I
ROLLS-ROYCE signed an agreement with the China Aviation Industry Corporation to develop a new regional jet application for the Rolls-Royce BR710 engine. The companies are exploring the potential use of the BR710 on the new ARJ21 regional jet. The ARJ series, a family of 70- to 90-seat aircraft is still in the early development stages. The Rolls-Royce engine has already been selected to power the Bombardier Global 5000 business jet and is flying on the Gulfstream V and V-SP.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week lifted the week-long temporary flight restrictions that grounded aircraft at hundreds of airports near nuclear plants and returned to working with national security officials to ease other flight prohibitions that have curbed general aviation operations since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. FAA last week issued a blanket waiver to allow aircraft registered in the U.S., Mexico, the Bahamas or Canada to cross borders using either instrument flight rules or visual flight rules.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON Model OH-13E, OH-13H, and OH-13S helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-17-AD) - proposes superseding an existing AD for Model OH-13E, OH-13H, and OH-13S helicopters. The AD currently requires either recurring liquid penetrant or eddy current inspections of the main rotor blade grip threads for a crack. If a crack is detected, that AD requires, before further flight, replacing the cracked grip with an airworthy grip. That AD also establishes a retirement life of 1,200 hours time-in-service (TIS) for each grip.
Grant, 10/02/2001, Exemption No. 2989K Docket No.: FAA-2001-9782 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 91.313(d) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit CEMM to carry passengers in its Bell 47G-4A and 47G-3B-1 helicopters and its Piper PA23 Aztec 250 airplane, certificated in the restricted category, while performing aerial-site survey flights. Grant, 10/02/2001, Exemption No. 6701B
HONEYWELL LTS101 series turboshaft engines and LTP101 series turboprop engines (Docket No. 2000-NE-14-AD) - proposes to require a one-time visual inspection for surface finish and a one-time fluorescent penetrant inspection for cracks of certain impellers installed on LTS101 series turboshaft and LTP101 series turboprop engines. This proposal is prompted by a report of a machining discrepancy that may have occurred during manufacture of the affected impellers.
FOKKER Model F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-128-AD) - proposes to require repetitive operational tests for discrepancies of the heating system of pitot tube #1, and replacement of the pitot tube, if necessary. This proposal also could require eventual modification of the alternating current sensing circuit for pitot tube #1, which would terminate the repetitive operational test requirement.
INNOTECH AVIATION in Montreal earned a Design Approval Organization designation from Transport Canada. The designation allows Innotech to design and certify its own supplemental type certificates for avionics installations, structural repairs, modifications, and interior/cabin installations. The approval covers work performed on both Part 23 and 25 aircraft as well as Part 17 and 19 helicopters.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION's board of directors elected a new slate of officers, including George Saling, vice president of aviation and travel services for Philip Morris Management Corp., as chairman. Saling joined Philip Morris in 1991 after holding management positions with FlightSafety International, GTE Service Corp. and Tenneco Inc. The board named Donald Baldwin, director of corporate aviation for The Coca-Cola Company, as vice chairman. Baldwin joined Coca-Cola in 2001 after retiring from a 25-year career with Texaco.
GE CAPITAL SIMUFLITE added Beechjet 400/400A pilot training at its Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport headquarters. Initial and recurrent pilot training programs as well as technical training programs are available. SimuFlite's new Beechjet 400A full flight simulator received Level D FAA qualification last month. NLX Corp. of Sterling, Va. built the simulator, one of five Level D devices that it will supply to SimuFlite. SimuFlite is installing a Raytheon King Air 350 and has a Cessna Citation CJ and two other simulators on order.
KENT CRAVER was elected president of the World Airline Entertainment Association for the 2001-2002 term. The international organization represents about 100 passenger airlines and 300 airline-supplier companies in issues related to airline inflight entertainment and communications. Craver will preside over WAEA's board of directors.
GULFSTREAM Model G-V series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-305-AD; Amendment 39-12477; AD 2001-21-06) - requires an initial inspection of the electrical connections for the fire extinguisher bottles; an inspection after any subsequent maintenance affecting the fire extinguisher bottles; corrective action, if necessary; and reporting of the results of the inspection to FAA.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION last week urged its members to comment on the proposed rule governing fractional providers, saying it "will have benefits for all aviation businesses." The deadline for submitting comments on the proposal is Friday. FAA delayed the deadline by a month at the request of NATA and the National Business Aviation Association, which have been immersed in airspace issues. NATA praised the collaborative approach FAA used to draft the bill as well as some of the major provisions.
WOOD GROUP TURBOPOWER opened a regional turbine facility at the North Bay Aerospace Center northwest of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. The Transport Canada-approved facility will maintain Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engines used on corporate, commercial and military aircraft. The facility initially will specialize in -20 to -67 models. Wood Group also operates a regional turbine service center in Santa Monica, Calif., to provide maintenance for customers on the West Coast and in the Asia Pacific region.
AMERICAN UTILICRAFT CORPORATION received a patent (#6311-106) from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the Automatic Flat Rate System (AFRS), its new aircraft power management system. The AFRS "is designed to economically manage the power from turbine-powered aircraft engines and automatically sense and adjust the required engine power for takeoff and cross country flight depending on aircraft weight and atmospheric and runway conditions," the company said.
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD and the Food and Drug Administration will host a meeting Wednesday and Thursday (Nov. 14-15) at NTSB headquarters on the impact of prescription and over-the-counter medications on the performance and ability of vehicle operators. NTSB said that since 1987 it has investigated more than 150 accidents in all modes of transportation involving vehicle operators whose performance may have been impaired by prescription or over-the-counter medications. One of the accidents involved a Beech 35 crash in 1999 that killed three people.
Southern California's Hawthorne Municipal Airport was saved from closure by city referendum last week. City residents voted 70 percent against a ballot initiative that asked if the city should "pursue reuse of the property currently operated by the city as an airport to generate additional revenues, to improve education, police and other community services, to diversify the economic base, and to create jobs for the residents of the city?" Local developers had spent more than $200,000 in a campaign to force the issue of closure to a vote.
Grant, 09/21/2001, Exemption No. 6689C Docket No.: FAA-2001-9982 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR Sec. 25.785(b) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Cessna to equip Cessna Model 608 Sovereign airplanes that were manufactured before Jan. 1, 2004, with multiple-occupancy side-facing seats that are not designed to include the general occupant protection requirements of Sec. 25.785(b). Partial Grant, 09/07/2001, Exemption No. 7625
