SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT CORP. delivered two Model 300CB helicopters to Georgia Aviation&Technical College in Eastman, Ga. The college will use the 300CBs for flight training in the helicopter flight technology program, preparing students to become commercial helicopter pilots. Georgia Aviation&Technical College opened in 1996 as a satellite campus to the Heart of Georgia Technical Institute and will convert to a stand-alone campus July 1.
TRW launched a new business, TRWAeroservices Company, which will provide a new repair and overhaul e-business solution for "all aircraft parts regardless of the original manufacturer." TRW said the service was successfully beta-tested with several customers and is ready for commercial use. The service will communicate with repair facilities worldwide to arrange advance exchange units, request and approve quotations, place on-line repair orders, arrange and track shipping and track the product through the repair cycle.
AGUSTA AEROSPACE CORP. selected BFGoodrich to supply collision avoidance, navigation and standby instrumentation systems for the A-109E "Power" helicopter. Agusta supplies the A-109 to the U.S. Coast Guard.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER used a Veridian Flight Research Group Learjet simulator for its initial round of test flights of the 728JET fly-by-wire flight control system. Fairchild Dornier loaded 728Jet aerodynamic characteristics and flight control parameters into the Learjet for the series of 10 test flights that were flown at Veridian's Buffalo, N.Y. facility.
House Transportation&Infrastructure Committee leaders last week introduced their own version of legislation to tackle aviation congestion problems, but limited their bill only to antitrust exemptions that would allow carriers to discuss scheduling practices during peak hours under certain conditions.
Buoyed by the success of running a geared-fan Advanced Technology Fan Integrator demonstrator engine for the first time on March 17, Pratt&Whitney Canada President Gilles Ouimet hopes to win backing for a formal launch of the geared PW800 regional- and business-jet engine in about a year. "We need to have a [launch] customer that, obviously, has the credibility and that we know will come through with an aircraft that will succeed in the marketplace" to go ahead with the program, Ouimet told BA affiliate AviationNow.Com.
Model Hawker 800XP series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-176-AD) - proposes to require an inspection to confirm the installation of rivets at Fuselage Stations 251.975, 262.35, 272.725, and 283.10, and installation of new rivets, if necessary. This action is necessary to detect and correct fatigue cracking of the fuselage skin, and consequent loss of cabin pressurization. FAA estimates that the AD will cover 87 airplanes on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $10,440, or $120 per airplane.
iSHOT IMAGING developed a new, portable MoleCam camera system to inspect underground storage tanks. The system provides high-resolution color video of the inside of tanks, displaying rust, cracking, corrosion, deposits and physical damage. The video camera has a 72:1 variable zoom capability and a 250-watt lamp that can illuminate targets up to 100 feet away. Based in Flanders, N.J., iShot Imaging makes and distributes remote vision, ultrasonic, eddy current and x-ray fluorescence test and inspection equipment.
JOANNE FOTHERGILL was promoted to supervisor of the Western charter sales offices for The Air Group. Fothergill joined The Air Group in 1999 as air charter travel manager. She also has held charter sales and management positions with Elite Aviation, Chapman Freeborn and Spirit Aviation.
TEXAS JET broke ground on a new 12,000-square-foot hangar at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. "The hangar is accommodating the growing demand for space at Meacham Airport," said Reed Pigman, Texas Jet president. Texas Jet operates 13 hangars covering more than 225,000 square feet and provides two-thirds of the fuel at Meacham. Pigman bought Texas Jet when it was an aircraft sales company called Piper Southwest in 1978.
OPERATORS at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y. are becoming increasingly concerned about the county's efforts to force tenants to agree to language in new lease agreements that would compel tenants to abide by the requirements of HPN's voluntary curfew or risk losing their leases.
THOMAS CULLIGAN was appointed Raytheon executive vice president of business development and president of Raytheon International. Formerly vice president and general manager of Honeywell's Defense&Space market segment, Culligan will be responsible for Raytheon's government relations activities.
BRS, Inc., South St. Paul, Minn., began development tests last month for a new emergency parachute system for Cessna 172 aircraft. The company, which manufactures the emergency aircraft parachutes for the Cirrus SR 20 and SR 22 aircraft, said it expects to complete the test program for the 172 in October and begin production of the BRS-172 system in December. The factory-direct price for the first 50 units is $13,495.
The pilot of a Socata TBM 700 was killed shortly after takeoff from Denver's Centennial Airport (APA) when he apparently lost control of the aircraft in instrument meteorological conditions and crashed. The National Transportation Safety Board said the aircraft, N300WC, was owned and operated by Technical Leasing, Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio. The instrument rated pilot had filed an instrument flight plan under Part 91 and took off from APA at 0718 local time March 26.
Docket No.: FAA-2000-8372 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 61.109(a)(2)(i) and 61.129(a)(3)(iv) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit a pilot applying for a private or commercial pilot certificate in a single-engine airplane in the U.S. to conduct his/her night cross-country training flight using a multi-engine airplane.
The crew of a Gulfstream III flying from the West Coast to the Aspen-Pitkin County Colo. Airport (ASE) Thursday night was attempting to beat a post-sunset curfew deadline at the mountain-ringed airport when it slammed into the ground less than a mile from the runway, killing all 15 passengers and three crew members.
Docket No.: 28557 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 43.9(a)(4), 43.11(a)(3), and 145.57(a) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit CGTC and other people holding return-to-service authority under the relevant respective inspection procedures manuals to continue to use electronic signatures in lieu of physical signatures to satisfy the signature requirements of FAA Form 8130-3, Airworthiness Approval Tag. Grant, Dec. 29, 2000, Exemption No. 6513C
Docket No.: FAA-2000-8286 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 21.325(b)(3) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Raytheon to obtain airworthiness approval tags for its Hawker Model parts in accordance with Secs. 21.21 and 21.203, and export those Class II and Class III parts located at certain facilities outside of the U.S. The amendment requested would allow Raytheon to staff its Chester Distribution Center with Designated Airworthiness Representatives (DAR) rather than Designated Manufacturing Inspection Representatives (DMIR).
Aerospace Industries Association President John Douglass, in a letter to President Bush, expressed industry concerns over a recommendation by the Heritage Foundation to terminate NASA-sponsored aeronautical research and development. "Recent public statements from the Administration indicate that the proposed budget contains further cuts in the aeronautics program," Douglass wrote. Continuing pressure to "cut, and in some cases eliminate," NASA aeronautics programs rests on "faulty premises," Douglass said in the letter.
Docket No.: 29450 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 135.143(c)(2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Business Air to operate certain aircraft under Part 135 without a TSO-C112 (Mode S) transponder installed in the aircraft. Grant, Dec. 22, 2000, Exemption No. 6876A
ACM AVIATION, San Jose, Calif., named Gary Tongate chief pilot and Bill Moltenbrey chief financial officer. Tongate, formerly with TAG Aviation, will be responsible for ACM's flight department, which employs more than 70 pilots full-time and has a fleet of more than 40 executive jets. Moltenbrey most recently served with Signature Flight Support.
THE 12TH ANNUAL International Women In Aviation Conference last month in Reno, Nev., set a number of records including an attendance of more than 3,300 - 10 percent more than last year - 184 exhibit space and 42 educational sessions. The conference also provided a forum for the awards of nearly $902,000 in scholarships to 106 individuals - a 95 percent increase from the previous conference.
The long-awaited, composite fuselage Premier I business jet finally crossed the FAA type certification finish line last month, five and one-half years after Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC) officials announced the program at the 1995 NBAA convention and said it would be certificated in the fall of 1998 (BA, Oct. 2, 1995/141).
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT extended the expiration date of its tender offer for the securities of Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG) until April 4, as the companies attempt to resolve differences over the terms of the agreement (BA, March 26/148).
Docket No.: 30178 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.857(e)(4) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit supplemental type certification of the Sabreliner Model 40 and 60 series airplanes, modified for the carriage of cargo. Grant, Dec. 21, 2000, Exemption No. 7410
