Naples Airport Authority will implement its Stage 2 aircraft ban at Naples, Fla. Municipal Airport today, but officials plan to meet with FAA officials Thursday "to respond to any remaining questions" the agency has about the airport authority's action. The authority expressed disappointment that FAA continued to question its compliance with required documentation for a Stage 2 ban, and Executive Director Theodore Soliday said, "We believe we have met both the spirit and the letter of the law."
Petitioner: Bombardier Aerospace, Inc. Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.1435(b)(1) Description of Relief Sought: To relieve Bombardier Aerospace from the requirements of 14 CFR 25.1435(b)(1) for static testing of a complete hydraulic system to 1.5 times the design operating pressure for the CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet CRJ-900) airplane.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION promoted Shelly Snyder Simi to vice president of communications and Walter Desrosier to director of maintenance and engineering. Simi joined GAMA in 1989 and has served as director of communications since 1995. Desrosier has served as manager of maintenance and engineering for the association since September 1997 and, before that, was a presidential fellow at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Petitioner: AirNet Express Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR Sec. 135.85 Description of Relief Sought: To permit AirNet to carry cockpit crewmembers who are employed by other certificated air carriers on its all-cargo Learjet aircraft.
AIR BP was the successful bidder in the Bolivian Government's recent public tender to privatize that country's aviation fuel business. In addition to taking over the refueling facilities at Bolivia's 15 airports - including both the La Paz and Santa Cruz de le Sierra international airports which handle about 50 million gallons per year - AIR BP said it now has the marketing rights in Bolivia for the next 22 years.
AVIATION PARTNERS won patent approval last month for its blended winglet system on the Gulfstream II aircraft, a modification priced at $520,000 that can be installed in 10-14 days. Aviation Partners said the winglets provide GII-SP operators with seven percent more range, faster time-to-climb, higher initial cruise altitudes, improved fuel reserve margins and better handling characteristics.
Cessna Aircraft, which won type certification of its new Citation CJ2 entry-level business jet in June, closed out the year with shipments of the first six to customers. The CJ2, a variant of the original CitationJet, was among four new aircraft that Cessna announced during the 1998 National Business Aviation Association annual meeting and convention.
BALLISTIC RECOVERY SYSTEMS, INC. signed a contract with Millennium Aerospace to pursue certification for and market an aircraft emergency parachute system for the Cessna 172. Millennium Aerospace previously signed a similar agreement for the system on Cessna 150 models. BRS expects a 12- to 18-month certification and development program for the BRS-172 parachute system, saying it hopes to "leverage its work with the similar but smaller Cessna 150 and heavier, faster Cirrus Design SR20 and SR22 models." Millennium Aerospace unit Aerospace Marketing Inc.
BP Amoco plans to take over the Exxon-branded ester-based synthetic jet turbine lubricating oil business Thursday following last month's regulatory clearance of the acquisition. The acquisition covers Exxon's interest in blending and packaging facilities at the Tosco refinery in Linden, N.J., including research equipment, raw material, finished product inventories and intellectual properties. ExxonMobil agreed to sell the business as part of an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission for the two oil giants to merge.
ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES reported a net profit of $60.9 million for the first nine months of 2000, a 27 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. Revenues for the first three quarters were up 7.6 percent to $1.56 billion. The company said it signed new contracts valued at $1.92 billion during the first nine months of 2000, a five percent decrease from the $2.02 billion signed during the comparable period a year earlier.
UNISON INDUSTRIES was chosen by Nordam Group's Nacelle/Thrust Reverser Systems Division to supply engine nacelle electrical harnesses for the Dassault 2000EX business jet. Under the agreement, which begins in 2001 and extends through 2003, Unison's Fort Worth, Texas facility will manage design, material procurement, production planning and certification of the harnesses. Actual production of the wiring harnesses will be done in Unison's new Saltillo, Mexico facility.
JOHN HILES was named avionics program manager for BIZJET International in Tulsa, Okla. Hiles, who has 26 years of industry experience, previously was an avionics supervisor at BIZJET.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL's QuickTurn division added Cheyenne pilot training to its list of product offerings with the installation of a new Cheyenne flight training device in its Grapevine, Texas training center. The FTD, Level 5 certified, includes a King KCI 310 flight command indicator, a King KPI 553A and KPI 552 pictorial navigation indicator, a King KFC 300 automatic flight control system and a KLN 90B global positioning system. Initial Cheyenne training is five days with recurrent training lasting two or three days.
United Technologies unit Hamilton Standard expects to close this month on the acquisition of Claverham Group, Ltd., a United Kingdom-based supplier to the European aerospace defense industry. Hamilton Standard said the acquisition will enhance its ability to offer "an entire line of actuation products for flight control systems." Claverham builds secondary mechanical actuation systems, which are used to move flaps and other control surfaces. The British firm has about 400 employees.
INFLIGHT AUDIO VIDEO SYSTEMS is offering aircraft-specific videotapes or compact discs for audio and video passenger information and entertainment. The company, based in Dana Point, Calif., can produce tapes or CDs that incorporate a flight department's corporate logo and/or a picture of their aircraft and provide safety briefings specific to aircraft type and model. For more information, contact the company at (949) 481-5704 or check the web site at www.inflightavs.com.
With a changing political environment in Washington, the National Air Transportation Association sees a ripe opportunity to stress the importance of strengthening the nation's system of general aviation and reliever airports both on a local and federal level. NATA last month unveiled a list of "America's 100 Most Needed Airports" it believes are crucial to a national aviation system, but which face uncertain futures.
Petitioner: Compoende Aeronautica Ltda Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 145.47(b) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Compoende to use the calibration standards of the Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Normalizacao e Qualidade Industrial in lieu of the calibration standards of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to test its inspection and test equipment. Grant, Nov. 30, 2000, Exemption No. 6550C
A NORTHROP GRUMMAN team won an Air Force contract to develop software that will better diagnose problems and predict failures in systems aboard older aircraft, including F-16s, F-15s and C-130s. The Predictive Failures&Advanced Diagnostics (PFAD) for Legacy Aircraft contract is an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity award valued at up to $9.4 million over five years.
Department of Transportation is changing its procedures for drug and alcohol testing in a rule that the agency said will provide more protection for employees and make the requirements easier to administer. The rule, which will be published in the Jan. 19 Federal Register and take effect Aug. 1, "makes an important and technically complex safety program easier for everyone to understand and use, while reducing both compliance costs and paperwork," said Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.
AL JACKSON, director of legislative affairs for The Boeing Company, is moving to a Washington, D.C. consulting firm next month. Jackson was named a vice president at Bergner Bockorny, Inc., a lobbying firm whose clients include Boeing and Northwest Airlines, where he will specialize in aerospace and aviation matters.
THE AVIATION COMMUNITY is anxious to see Edward W. Stimpson continue in his role as ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, but the protocol of transition politics has raised concerns. Stimpson, the former long-time president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, is technically a State Department employee. As such he is required to submit a resignation letter to President-elect George W. Bush, but aviation industry officials say Stimpson's departure would leave the U.S.
A female passenger aboard a Hewlett-Packard corporate shuttle flight Thursday afternoon en route from Sacramento to San Jose, Calif. apparently opened the door of the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter in flight and jumped or fell to her death. FAA said the aircraft, N252SA, had departed Sacramento but the crew then returned to the airport and made a precautionary landing because of a "door unlocked light indication." The door was checked on the ground and no problems were found. The aircraft took off again for San Jose.
The U.S. Navy, which had been on the verge of authorizing full-rate production of the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft, abruptly delayed that decision Tuesday and grounded its tiltrotor fleet following the Dec. 11 crash of a Marine Corp. MV-22 Osprey that killed all four Marines aboard.
THE NEW BUSH ADMINISTRATION will have only limited opportunities to make near-term federal budget changes, according to John W. Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. During AIA's annual yearend luncheon and forecast session Wednesday, Douglass said the George W. Bush team will have "only 30 days from the time he takes office" to influence the fiscal 2002 budget request to Congress, which is due on Capitol Hill in February.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), and CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, and CL-604) series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-368-AD; Amendment 39-12008; AD 2000-24-01) - requires installation of protection shields in the wheel bay of the main landing gear. This action is necessary to prevent water, ice or slush accumulation on the aileron quadrants and/or control cable pulleys in the wheel bay of the MLG during ground roll.
