THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS AVIATION CONVENTION&EXPOSITION, scheduled April 18-20 at the Palexpo Convention Center in Geneva, Switzerland, will focus on regulatory and safety issues during its opening session with representatives from the European Commission, European Aviation Safety Agency, Joint Aviation Authorities, Eurocontrol and the Federal Aviation Administration. The session will discuss airspace and airport access, business aviation's contribution to economic growth and other regulatory issues.
CITATIONSHARES, headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., is expanding to Orlando, Fla., and has begun recruiting pilots there. The fractional ownership provider employs 45 pilots and plans to hire 65 more this year (BA, March 5/110). "The decision to base pilots in the Orlando area was made to provide better service to our customers and increase the efficiency of our operations," said CitationShares Chief Operating Officer Bill Shultz.
National Transportation Safety Board urged the Federal Aviation Administration to require detailed repetitive main landing gear inspections on certain older Cessna single-engine aircraft in a recommendation likely to cover thousands of aircraft. NTSB cited the Sept. 14, 1999 crash of a Cessna 185, N85LC, operated by Tamarack Air Ltd. on a charter flight in Alaska. As the aircraft was landing on a remote dirt airstrip near Delta Junction, Alaska, the left main landing gear (MLG) collapsed, dug into the ground, and the plane nosed over.
DANIEL MACLELLAN was named sales director for FlightSafety Boeing Training International. MacLellan spent six years as a regional marketing manager for FlightSafety International, working with corporate operators. In his new position at FlightSafety Boeing, he will be responsible for flight training sales for North and South America, China and the Pacific.
FLIGHT OPTIONS retained Fleet Capital to provide financing for its fractional ownership program. "We are delighted to have this financing avenue as an additional benefit for our clients," said Rich Heckman, Flight Options vice president of sales and marketing. "Fleet Capital Leasing is clearly an innovator in the aircraft financing industry." Flight Options launched its fractional ownership program in October 1998 with used aircraft and announced its 600th customer in December.
GENERAL ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT ENGINES selected Unison Industries to supply electrical components for the GE CF34-10 engine, including the ignition system (ignition exciter, ignition leads and ignitor plugs) and engine wiring harness. Unison said the five-year agreement is valued in excess of $4 million. The CF34-10 will power the 90-seat Embraer ERJ-190 and Fairchild Dornier 928 regional jets. Unison will design and manufacture the ignition system at its Jacksonville, Fla. facility.
Model P-180 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-67-AD; Amendment 39-12140; AD 2001-05-04) - requires inspection of the flap actuators for incorrect maneuvering and evidence of grease and oxidation around the gear box. The AD requires immediate replacement of faulty flap actuators with improved actuators or repair of the existing actuators. The AD also requires repetitive inspection until the installed actuators are of improved design. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Italy.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION is holding REACHBAC information sessions for its members in the Houston and Minneapolis areas next week. The association will hold separate sessions April 2 at Hobby and Intercontinental airports in Houston and at the Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport April 4. For more information, contact NBAA at (202) 783-9000 or e-mail at [email protected].
UNITED STATES AIR TOUR ASSOCIATION, which has led an effort to keep FAA from making piecemeal changes in air tour routes at the Grand Canyon, said the agency's decision to begin implementing those changes April 19 is an "unconscionable act of callous disregard for the safety of Grand Canyon air tour passengers and the economic viability of southern Nevada air tour companies." USATA said it expects FAA to publish the route changes in today's (March 26) Federal Register, despite a recent letter to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey from Nevada's two senators opposing the action (
GALAXY AEROSPACE appointed Jeffrey Ehlers vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Ehlers, who has two decades of financial experience, most recently was vice president of project management for NTS Virginia Development Company and has served as president of National Mine Service and Eagle-Gypsum products, both holdings of Marmon Group.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT officials still anticipate winning type certification for the Premier I business jet yet this month or in April, a spokesman told BA Friday, the same time frame officials outlined last year when explaining another slip in the schedule (BA, Nov. 27/243). Announced at the 1995 NBAA convention, the composite fuselage Premier originally was expected to achieve certification by the fall of 1998. That schedule proved far too optimistic, however, as officials had to make numerous changes to the aircraft to satisfy FAA concerns, resulting in extensive delays.
FLIR SYSTEMS, Portland, Ore., won a contract from the Naval Surface Warfare Center to upgrade the U.S. Marine Corps fleet of UH-1N helicopters with FLIR's new BRITEStar airborne imaging system. The contract is valued at more than $126 million over five years.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Norman Mineta offered some hope that air traffic delays and congestion will be less of a hassle this summer than the past two.Recounting the massive delays in the airspace system in the summers of 1999 and 2000, Mineta said, "I would like to stand up here today and tell you that there won't be a reprise of that situation in the spring and summer of 2001, but I can't. But I can tell you, I don't think it will be as bad" this year.
COALITION OF AIRLINE PILOTS ASSOCIATIONS urged the Federal Aviation Administration to develop a new flight and duty time proposal within 60 days and better enforce current flight and duty time regulations. "Until pilot flight and duty time regulations are adequately updated, American air safety remains compromised," said CAPA Chairman Bob Miller.
AIRBUS AND BOEING will participate in Global Aviation Bar Code Forums "to share their progress and vision for permanent bar code identification (PBCI)" of aircraft parts and components, Boeing said. PBCI "is the beginning of true traceability of parts in the industry," said Kenneth Porad, program manager of the bar code program at Boeing. The bar code forums will be held in conjunction with Frontline Solutions Expo events set for Amsterdam, The Netherlands in October and Chicago in November.
Model PC-7 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-46-AD; Amendment 39-12138; AD 2001-05-02) - supersedes AD 98-08-22, which currently requires inspecting the elevator and rudder attachment brackets for cracks and corrosion on certain Pilatus Model PC-7 airplanes and replacing any cracked or corrosion-damaged parts. Since the issuance of AD 98-08-22, Pilatus has redesigned the brackets. Installation of these brackets should inhibit corrosion, which resulted in cracks or corrosion damage.
AIRCRAFT BELTS INC. won FAA technical standard order approval for the shoulder harness on its MediBelt stretcher restraint system. The MediBelt system was designed in 1998 to address problems with contaminated stretcher restraint webbing. With MediBelt, a medical provider can replace a soiled restraint in less than a minute, helping protect against bacteria and other contaminants.
CATHAL (IRISH) FLYNN was appointed to the board of directors of Certified Airline Passenger Services (CAPS). Flynn formerly was the associate administrator for civil aviation security for the Federal Aviation Administration. Before joining FAA in 1993, he had a 30-year career with the U.S. Navy, retiring as a rear admiral. He also has served as a senior analyst specializing in the areas of military special operations, aviation security systems and international technology transfer.
BOUNDARY LAYER RESEARCH, INC. (BLR) won supplemental type certificate approval for a strake kit on Bell Model 205, 205A-1 and 205B helicopters. The kit, based on technology developed by NASA's Langley Research Center and licensed to BLR for commercial use, can be installed in the field in one day by two technicians. The BLR strake device works by manipulating boundary layer airflow produced by the helicopter main rotor to improve aircraft hover stability, climb and cruise characteristics. Installed weight is 5.5 pounds.
Mesa Airlines signed a letter of intent with Bombardier for up to 80 regional jets. Under terms of the agreement, Mesa would purchase 20 70-seat CRJ700s and 20 86-seat CRJ900s, plus take options on 40 additional aircraft. The firm order portion of the deal is valued at approximately $1.2 billion (U.S.). Deliveries of the firm orders would begin in the first quarter of 2002 for the 70-seat aircraft and the first quarter of 2003 for the larger CRJ900s. Bombardier said it expects signing of a definitive agreement shortly.
A HELICOPTER PILOT in Hawaii experienced a tough check ride last week. FAA said the pilot of an Agusta A109A was performing an FAA checkride when the rotorcraft made a hard landing on the runway, bounced and rolled over on its right side. No injuries were reported.
Model PW305 and PW305A turbofan engines (Docket No. 2000-NE-24-AD; Amendment 39-12129; AD 2001-04-10) - requires removing Stage 4 low-pressure turbine (LPT) disks from service before exceeding new, lower cyclic life limits. This amendment is prompted by the results of a spin pit test analysis which indicate that the Stage 4 LPT disk does not have full published life. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent LPT disk failure resulting from premature cracking of the LPT disks, which could result in an uncontained engine failure and damage to the airplane.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes confirmed last week it is working on a new family of aircraft that would fly 15 to 20 percent faster than conventional airliners and even faster than such high-performance business jets as the Cessna Citation X.
GENERAL DYNAMICS named Kenneth C. Dahlberg executive vice president of the company's Information Systems and Technology group. Dahlberg had been executive vice president for business development of Raytheon and president of Raytheon International, Inc. He joined Raytheon in 1997 following the merger of that company and Hughes Aircraft Co., where he had been corporate vice president of Hughes Electronics Corp.
RAYTHEON COMPANY named Timothy C. Oliver, 32, vice president of investor relations. He joins Raytheon from Honeywell International, Inc., where he was director of finance for the Aviation Aftermarket Enterprise. Oliver will report to Franklyn A. Caine, Raytheon's chief financial officer.
