RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT won German certification for its Premier I light business jet last month, clearing the way for deliveries of 26 of the aircraft into that country. The first delivery to a German customer is scheduled for January.
The Federal Aviation Administration warned the town of Islip, N.Y. against enforcing a $50,000 charge for aircraft that land at MacArthur Airport (ISP) after 11 p.m. The Islip Town Council unanimously adopted the landing fee Sept. 10 after hearing testimony from nearly a dozen aviation industry opponents of it. National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne, who testified that evening, was among several industry leaders angered by the action and likened the process to a "kangaroo court."
BOEING is forming a new division to propose safety improvements to prevent hijacking attacks. Boeing Safety and Security Services will help airlines implement aircraft security recommendations by the Department of Transportation safety task force. Building on existing Boeing technology, the company will work on fortifying cockpit doors and adding video surveillance to aircraft.
Aerospace enginemaker Rolls-Royce is cutting 5,000 jobs as a result of a sharp drop in industry demand in the aftermath of terrorist attacks. The manufacturer will lay off 3,800 workers in the U.K. and 1,200 overseas, mostly in the aerospace businesses, by the end of the first quarter in 2002. Also being cut are about 1,000 contract jobs.
W. Stephen Dennis, a 35-year veteran of the aviation industry with extensive experience in fixed-base operations, has joined a British firm to oversee its expansion plans. Dennis was named chairman of Metro Business Aviation Ltd., which has operations at Heathrow, Luton and Stansted airports in the London area, plus the Battersea heliport on the Thames River.
Aviation services company Triumph Group acquired EMCO Fluid Systems of Valencia, Calif. Under Triumph ownership, the company will be renamed EFS Aerospace and will become part of the Triumph Control Systems group. Triumph expects that EFS will produce $30 million in revenue during its first full year under new ownership. EFS manufactures fluid control systems and components for the aviation and aerospace industries. The company designs, produces, assembles and tests hydraulic and pneumatic valves and actuators.
General Dynamics earned $230 million on sales of $3 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 11 percent over the third quarter of 2000 when earnings totaled $204 million on sales of $2.5 billion. For the first nine months of 2001, GD had net earnings of $669 million on sales of $8.7 billion. That compares with net earnings of $592 million on sales of $7.7 billion during the same period a year ago.
THE PRESTON GROUP, a subsidiary of Boeing, sold two additional Total Airspace&Airport Modeler (TAAM) units to NAV CANADA. The Canadian civil air navigation service provider will use the additional licenses to "supplement existing TAAM capability in simulation modeling Canadian airspace and airports," said Boeing. TAAM is a simulation tool that "analyzes operations, redesigns airspace and optimizes the use of existing facilities," the company said.
Momentum is growing on Capitol Hill to craft a financial aid package to help the general aviation industry, which has been hammered by airspace restrictions that have continued since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. While those restrictions continue to ease - the Federal Aviation Administration last week lifted its ban on visual flight rules operations in 15 more cities - more than 60,000 pilots with aircraft parked at well over 100 airports remain grounded.
The new congressionally mandated aerospace commission, whose formation was delayed by several months, is finally gearing up to begin its work, and is doing so in an environment that has changed dramatically since legislation creating the panel was passed last year.
STEVE MEANS was appointed vice president, marketing and sales at ARINC. He was most recently ARINC staff vice president, marketing. Means joined ARINC in 1990 from Presidential Airways where he was vice president, customer service and system operations.
FOKKER Model F.28 Mark 0100 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-21-AD; Amendment 39-12453; AD 2001-20-05) - supersedes an existing AD that currently requires replacement of the anti-skid control boxes with improved units. This amendment requires modification or replacement of the anti-skid control boxes with new, improved units, which render the skid control boxes even less susceptible to electromagnetic interference during power-up and power-down transients. This action is prompted by continuing mandatory airworthiness information from a foreign airworthiness authority.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA Model 222, 222B, 222U, and 230 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-49-AD; Amendment 39-12470; AD 2001-19-52) - publishes an amendment adopting AD 2001-19-52. This AD requires removing certain serial-numbered main rotor pendulum weight supports from service and replacing with airworthy main rotor pendulum weight supports. This AD is prompted by the failure of a main rotor pendulum weight support resulting in shedding of the weights and an increased level of main rotor vibration.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION approved a 30-day extension of the comment period on its proposal to establish a new Subpart K of Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. The new rule would establish a regulatory framework governing the operations of fractional aircraft providers (BA, Oct. 8/163). The extension was requested by the National Air Transportation Association, the National Business Aviation Association and the National Transportation Safety Board.
RAYTHEON Model Beech 400A series airplanes (Docket No. 99-NM-157-AD; Amendment 39-12455; AD 2001-20-07) - requires replacement of certain bus bars connecting the battery and external power receptacle to the airframe ground with a new, improved bus bar. This amendment is prompted by reports of electrical arcing at the battery and external power receptacle of the airframe ground in the aft fuselage due to a deficiency in the bus bar and washer design.
PILATUS AIRCRAFT LTD. Model PC-7 airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-30-AD) - proposes to require an inspection of the landing-gear emergency-extension cable for damage and replace if necessary; verification of the correct installation of the bowden-cable conduit clamp and correction, if necessary; and modification of the temperature-control lever mechanism. This proposed AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the airworthiness authority for Switzerland.
Eclipse Aviation Corp. announced a change in the makeup of its board of directors last week, with Sam Williams stepping down and Brian Barents replacing him.
BAE SYSTEMS LIMITED Model BAe 146 series airplanes and Avro 146-RJ series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-199-AD) - proposes to require replacement of the standby generator with a new, improved standby generator. This action is prompted by mandatory continuing airworthiness information from a foreign airworthiness authority. This action is necessary to prevent loss of the standby generator, which in the event of an emergency involving the principal generator, could result in the loss of electrical power to the airplane.
Gulfstream received FAA certification to install the Enhanced Vision System on its Gulfstream V long-range business jet aircraft. EVS enables pilots to see through fog and darkness using "an infrared real-world conformal image on Honeywell's Head-Up Display in the cockpit," the company said. The system was designed with FAA's Safer Skies initiative in mind to aid in "volatile situations" such as deteriorating weather and to help prevent controlled flights into terrain, runway incursions and mistakes during approaches and landings, said Gulfstream.
THE TOWN OF ISLIP, N.Y., reacting to FAA advice that it should not enforce a $50,000 nighttime landing fee at MacArthur Airport (ISP), said it was "puzzled" by FAA's citation of certain regulations and federal statutes to back its warning "since neither [FAA's] letter or the letter of Eastern region counsel states anywhere therein that either of you have examined the subject ordinance." The town asked the agency to "provide a clear, unequivocal determination of the FAA's position on this specific ordinance," adding that such a position "would clearly weigh heavily in any
UNITED'S new fractional venture, Avolar, continues to make waves among airline employees facing massive layoffs. Linda Farrow, president of the United Master Executive Council of the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, last week complained that United CEO Jim Goodwin is furloughing more than 20,000 employees even while receiving grants and liability protection from Congress.
ERIC RAMSDELL was named manager, safety and operations at the National Business Aviation Association. He will be responsible for representing the NBAA membership in airman certification, aircraft equipage and FAR Part 61 and 91 matters. As an airline-transport-rated pilot with several type ratings in business aircraft, Ramsdell has more than 20 years' aviation experience in both operations and regulations.
Nick Sabatini, 65, a 22-year veteran of FAA and a former police officer, was named associate administrator for regulation and certification by Administrator Jane Garvey. Sabatini was summoned to FAA's Washington, D.C. headquarters in May to replace Nick Lacey as director of the agency's Flight Standards Service (BA, May 7/215). In his new post, Sabatini is taking over for agency veteran Tom McSweeny, who is retiring from FAA at the end of the month.
AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION is losing its top Capitol Hill lobbyist next month. William Deere, senior vice president of legislative affairs for AOPA, was appointed director of House affairs for the Department of State, effective Nov. 5. Deere rejoined AOPA nearly five years ago after spending five years as a senior aide to former Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa). His first stint with AOPA ran from 1987 to 1991, when he was director of congressional affairs and manager for the AOPA Political Action Committee.
