J. MICHAEL MORGAN was named manager of PPG Industries' aircraft products plant in Huntsville, Ala. Morgan joined PPG in 1978 at the Meadville, Pa. flat glass manufacturing plant and has since held positions of increasing responsibility.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce, as part of ongoing restructuring efforts "to meet market demands," is targeting a number of operational shifts that will result in the loss of as many as 1,300 jobs. "The reduction in jobs in 2001 will continue at a rate no greater than in the last year or so," said Chief Executive John Rose. "But in the reorganization program as a whole, there will be different impacts in different locations and it is inevitable that some activities will decline and others will rise."
BBA Group plc, the British conglomerate that keeps expanding its role in the aviation business, has agreed to acquire Ranger Aerospace Corp., the parent company of ASIG (Aircraft Service International Group, Inc.), for $152 million, the companies announced last week.
EUGENE PENNING was appointed TFE731 sales manager for Dallas Airmotive. Penning formerly was lead technician at the company's TFE731 facility in Minneapolis, Minn.
BUSINESS AVIATION leaders from the U.S. and the international community this month encouraged operators in Asia to form an Asian Business Aviation Association. Officials from the National Business Aviation Association, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, International Business Aviation Council and several vendors met with representatives from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand and Indonesia on incorporating ABAA. Mark Turner of Metrojet Hong Kong is among the leaders in the Asian community working toward incorporation.
ATLANTIC AVIATION'S Flight Services Division added a Challenger 601, Gulfstream IV and Westwind I to its charter certificate, increasing its fleet of turbine aircraft to 25. The Challenger 601 is based in Teterboro, N.J., the Westwind I in Wilmington, Del. and the Gulfstream IV in of St. Louis, Mo.
The House Republican Conference last week refused to repeal its current six-year limit for committee and subcommittee chairmen, which has the practical effect of ensuring that House Transportation Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) will step down from that role in January. By a lopsided vote of 27-141, the Republican Conference, comprising all Republican House members, rejected an amendment that would have repealed the limit of three consecutive terms for committee and subcommittee chairmen.
N.S. (MIKE) WATERMAN, JR., 57, founder of Dallas-based SimuFlite Training International, Inc., and the Waterman Group., died Nov. 8 after a brief illness. A Yale graduate who later joined the Air National Guard, Waterman was involved in the plastics business in Florida before joining International Aviation Industries in White Plains, N.Y.
Used retail jet and turboprop deliveries inside and outside North America for October 2000 (see related graphs on Pages 241 and 242 of the hard copy of this issue.) Used Retail Deliveries Oct. 1997 Oct. 1998 Oct. 1999 Oct. 2000 L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 64 44 18 41 25 11 71 29 11 69 47 33 America
CONKLIN&DE DECKER will hold a financial accounting cost and tax seminar for business aviation Nov. 30-Dec.1 in Houston, Texas. The seminar will cover the Federal Aviation Regulations, federal excise taxes, depreciation, like-kind aircraft exchange, state taxes, cost and financial analysis and planning. In addition, Conklin&de Decker will hold a separate workshop at the end of the seminar to concentrate more specifically on state taxes, including sales and use taxes, aircraft registration fees, personal property taxes and planning.
ROCKWELL COLLINS ADC-85, ADC-85A, ADC-850C, and ADC-850F air data computers (Docket No. 2000-CE-14-AD) - proposes to require replacement of any air data computer (ADC) with one that has a reprogrammed and tested central processing unit (CPU) circuit card and circuit card assemblies. The proposed AD is the result of a flight test that showed that these ADC's could display an unwarranted ADC flag in response to the airplane's "Normal/Alternate Air" static source selection capability.
The Air Transport Association, which represents the nation's largest scheduled air carriers, plans to sponsor a conference next year that will provide a "forum to discuss the latest scientific findings" concerning pilot fatigue, approaches to managing "this complex safety issue," and recent advances in alertness management. ATA said it hopes to hold the conference by early June, but a firm date has not been set.
SAAB AIRCRAFT LEASING AB sold a 30-seat Saab 340A to Corporate Express Airlines of Calgary, Canada. Corporate Express, which currently operates four 19-seat Jetstream 31s, will take delivery of the newest addition to its fleet later this month. The airline provides corporate shuttle service between Calgary and Fort McMurray.
SEN. SLADE GORTON (R-Wash.) Friday had expanded his lead over Democrat contender Maria Cantwell by about 11,500 votes with a conclusion to the race expected over the weekend. Cantwell still had a chance to capture the Senate seat - with tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted as of Friday - but Gorton's lead appears to have weakened that chance.
THE NAPLES VOTE came despite FAA's warning that it has "identified aspects of the proposed access regulations that appear to be, or have the potential to be, inconsistent with the obligation to provide reasonable access to the airport" as required under airport grant assurances (BA, Nov. 6/209). An FAA spokeswoman last week said the airport authority provided an "extensive response" to its letters and the agency was sifting through new legal and technical issues raised in that response.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's massive rulemaking imposing new ergonomics standards on U.S. businesses is an improvement over the original proposal but still is "intrusive and costly" to manage, the National Air Transportation Association said last week. OSHA published the controversial ergonomics standard Tuesday, consuming more than 600 pages of Federal Register type.
BELL Model HH-1K, TH-1F, TH-1L, UH-1A, UH-1B, UH-1E, UH-1F, UH-1H, UH-1L, and UH-1P; and Southwest Florida Aviation SW204, SW204HP, SW205, and SW205A-1 helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-01-AD; Amendment 39-11966; AD 2000-15-21 R1) - revises an existing airworthiness directive that requires removing and replacing certain main rotor mast assemblies. This amendment corrects a part number that was published incorrectly in the existing AD. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent fatigue failure of the mast and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
ERIC FIORE, 43, a test pilot on board the Bombardier Challenger business jet that crashed while attempting to take off from Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport Oct. 10, succumbed to his injuries Nov. 15. Fiore had been hospitalized with severe burns since the accident, which killed the other two crew members (BA, Oct. 16/180). Fiore was a former Air Force pilot. A military funeral was planned, along with a memorial service in Wichita.
RAYTHEON Beech Model 1900D airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-10-AD) - proposes to require rewiring the KLN-90B GPS to eliminate the possibility of inconsistent NAV "FLAG" displays. The proposed AD is the result of an instance in which the copilot's NAV "FLAG" display was based on the pilot's NAV source validity. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to assure that the copilot's NAV "FLAG" displays are based on the copilot's selected NAV source.
SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT officially inaugurated its upgraded $12.4 million fixed-base operation at Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) Thursday evening, not quite two weeks after employees moved into the new facilities. The project included a new 10,000 square-foot executive terminal, two new 20,000 square-foot hangars and a fuel farm for the mid-field cargo complex.
MIDDLE RIVER AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS'S unit based in U-Tapao, Thailand, MRSA Asia Ltd., won certification as an FAA limited airframe repair station. MRSA Asia, a subsidiary of General Electric, provides thrust reverser repair and overhaul in its 48,000-square-foot facility.
Model F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-122-AD) - proposes to require revising the airworthiness limitations section of the instructions for continued airworthiness to incorporate life limits for certain items and inspections to detect fatigue cracking in certain structures. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
DAN CLARK was named technical services sales manager for Elliott Aviation's facility in Minneapolis, Minn. Clark formerly was the marketing and airworthiness manager for a Minneapolis aircraft interior company.
CFE738-1-1B turbofan engines (Docket No. 2000-NE-40-AD; Amendment 39-11942; AD 2000-21-10) - requires replacing certain support assemblies. This amendment is prompted by a report of the loss of seal retention that resulted in contact between the seal face and the Stage 2 high-pressure turbine (HPT) rotor disk, and subsequent wear of the Stage 2 HPT rotor disk. That condition resulted in separation of the Stage 2 HPT wheel rim, and an uncontained failure of the Stage 2 HPT rotor wheel.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE named Tony Singleton general manager of the company's Brunswick, Ga. plant where he will oversee some 200 employees involved in aircraft completions and maintenance service. Singleton, who has been interim general manager for the past year, "has earned this opportunity based on his overall performance...and especially because of his performance over the past 12 months," said Larry Flynn, senior vice president. Singleton has been with Gulfstream for 16 years.
