RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT sold a Beech King Air 350 to China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Corporation for airport systems calibration in China. The aircraft, slated for delivery in spring 2001, will be operated by the Flight Inspection Center of Air Traffic Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Aerodata Group will install the airport calibration equipment and Aerodata Flugmesstechnik GmbH of Braunschweig, Germany will be responsible for aircraft integration and certification. Sierra Data Systems, LC is delivering the flight inspection systems.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Tuesday refused to halt flights between Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass. and LaGuardia Airport in New York. A group of Hanscom Field-area activists named Save Our Heritage filed the motion to block the five roundtrip flights that Shuttle America began operating Nov. 1 to LaGuardia while it appeals the merits of those flights.
Docket No.: FAA-2000-8070 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.853 Description of Relief Sought: To permit the exemption of software media holders from the flammability test data requirements on Boeing Model 737, 747, 757, 767, and 777 airplanes.
State aviation officials joined a number of other industry groups who fear that FAA's proposal to raise safety standards at smaller airports will impose unreasonable financial burdens on them. FAA in June proposed that all airports receiving scheduled service by aircraft with 10 or more seats meet Part 139 standards (BA, June 26/297). That proposal drew warnings from both the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the National Air Transportation Association that the proposal is too costly for smaller airports (BA, Nov. 20/237).
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman James Hall, using last week's hearing into the Sunjet/Payne Stewart accident as a platform, several times during the four-hour public session called for increased federal oversight of business jets and their operators.
BRIAN WILSON was promoted to avionics manager at Jet Aviation West Palm Beach. Wilson joined Jet Aviation in May 1999 as an avionics supervisor for technical repairs and troubleshooting. He also has served with Raytheon Aircraft Services, Bombardier Aerospace and Midcoast Aviation.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION will hold a meeting Dec. 11 to discuss "public concerns" about reporting requirements of its new final rule on Service Difficulty Reports. The meeting will be in the Third Floor Auditorium at FAA headquarters beginning at 9 a.m. Arrangements for oral statements must be made by Dec. 6.
NEWWORLDAIR HOLDINGS INC., the parent company of Chicago-based business jet carrier Indigo, added three members to its executive board - Rion Needs, a business unit leader at American Express, which owns 11 percent of Indigo; Robert Rogulic founder and chairman of Midwest Freightways; and John Muehlstein, managing partner of the Chicago law firm of Pedersen&Houpt, which specializes in private equity and venture capital.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT has increased security at its fixed-base operation at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y. in the wake of an incident that damaged an Executive Jet Gulfstream IV-SP business jet, N495QS, on Nov. 17. Sources said that when the EJA crew turned on electrical power to the aircraft, fuel began leaking from the engines. The fuel spill was contained relatively quickly, according to an EJA spokeswoman, but the nose gear collapsed while the fuel problem was being addressed.
Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Company made a successful first flight of its first conforming prototype SJ30-2 business jet Thursday morning in San Antonio, Texas, a 45-minute excursion from San Antonio International Airport where the company is based. The flight, commanded by veteran test pilot Carroll Beeler with the assistance of flight engineer Mitch Soth, marks the beginning of the SJ30-2's FAA certification flight test program. Sino-Swearingen expects the flight test effort to last for about one year and include 1,400 flight hours on three airframes.
KELLIE RITTENHOUSE joined the charter sales staff of Automotive Air Charter. Rittenhouse has more than 15 years of aviation experience, most recently as lead crew scheduler for DaimlerChrysler Aviation. She also has served as office manager-flight operations for Volkswagen Aviation, charter sales manager for Apex Flight Services and chief flight coordinator and customer service representative for Clark Aviation.
Docket No.: 30161 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR Secs. 121.344a(f) and 135.152(k) Description of Relief Sought: To permit Chalk to operate its Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard (G-73T) airplane under Parts 121 and 135 without the required digital flight data recorder (DFDR) until the FAA can amend Secs. 121.344a(f) and 131.152(k) to permanently exempt the G-73T airplane from the requirements of Secs. 121.344a(f) and 135.152(k).
MOST TRADE ASSOCIATIONS have been withholding official comment about the outcome of the presidential election until the court battles are resolved, but the United States Air Tour Association couldn't resist.USATA, which has been fighting a pitched battle with the Clinton-Gore Administration to prevent the imposition of onerous new restrictions on air tour flights, issued a statement Tuesday calling the Florida certification and "de facto election" of George W.
Models 99, 99A, 99A (FACH), A99A, B99, and C99 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-27-AD) - proposes to require inspections of all main landing gear (MLG) hydraulic actuators to determine the end cap part number that is installed and replacement of any actuator that has a Part Number 4A125C32 end cap. The proposed AD is the result of the potential for fatigue cracks to develop on the MLG hydraulic actuator end caps. The actions specified by this proposed AD are intended to eliminate existing and prevent future fatigue cracks in the MLG hydraulic actuator end caps.
Docket No.: 29934 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 136.152(a) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit RLC to operate a mixed fleet of Bell 212 and 412 helicopters without those helicopters being equipped with an approved digital flight data recorder. Grant, Aug. 18, 2000, Exemption No. 7320
Docket No.: 30111 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 135.143(c)(2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Ketchum to operate certain aircraft under Part 135 without a TSO-C112 (Mode S) transponder installed in the aircraft. Grant, Aug. 2, 2000, Exemption No. 7300
QANTAS AIRLINES acquired two 50-seat Q300 turboprop airliners from Bombardier Aerospace in September and October, a deal valued at $29 million (U.S.). The aircraft are being operated by Eastern Australia Airlines, a regional subsidiary of Qantas.
National Air Transportation Association is concerned that proposed FAA guidance on approving product alterations is so vague that it could require operators seeking maintenance and minor alterations on their aircraft to obtain much more extensive modifications than they expected. The potential imposition of the requirements, NATA fears, already is deterring aircraft owners from installing new equipment in their aircraft.
Docket No.: 29309 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 133.19(a)(3) and 133.51 Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Hi-Lift to conduct external-load operations in the United States using Canadian-registered rotorcraft. Grant, Aug. 18, 2000, Exemption No.6814A
THE PLANNED SALE of Superior Air Parts to Aviall collapsed last week, and Superior officials told BA they've taken the company off the market and plan to continue operating as an independent manufacturer and distributor of aftermarket piston aircraft parts. See article below
Docket No.: CE160 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 23.3 Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Ayres Corporation to certificate the Model LM200 "Loadmaster" as a 19,000-pound maximum gross weight commuter category airplane with a novel and unique twin-engine, single-propeller propulsion system and limit seating to a maximum of nine passengers. Grant, Aug. 7, 2000, Exemption No. 7306
DOTTIE HALL was appointed vice president of marketing for Eclipse Aviation. Hall, who has served as acting vice president of marketing in a consulting capacity since January, will develop the company's business marketing strategy. Before joining Eclipse, she was president of a high-technology marketing consulting firm and also has held marketing management positions with Microsoft, Symantec and Slate Corp.
The Jackson Hole, Wyo. Airport Board, facing a formal Part 16 complaint, this month lifted a moratorium on scenic flights it had imposed on a new helicopter operator in a move that is one of the first tests of legislation governing air tours over national parks. The operator, Vortex Aviation Services, filed the complaint after the board in June prohibited it from making scenic flights out of Jackson Hole Airport, which is unique in that it lies completely within a national park. Vortex, which is based in San Diego, Calif.
KAMAN CORP. entered into a new $225 million unsecured revolving credit agreement with eight banks. The credit line will be used to finance working capital needs. The agreement consists of a five-year, $150 million revolving credit commitment and a 364-day, $75 million commitment that may be renewed annually. Fleet National Bank and The Bank of Nova Scotia led the syndication as co-lead arrangers.
