WOMEN AIR FORCE SERVICE PILOTS (WASP) from World War II will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony March 10 in the U.S. Capitol. The WASP comprised 1,102 civilian female pilots, who were the first women to fly military aircraft under the U.S. Army Air Forces. WASP ferried fighter, bomber, transport and training aircraft and performed other missions in the Continental U.S., paving the way for women military aviators.
THE 21ST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL WOMEN IN AVIATION CONFERENCE, held in late February in Orlando, Fla., drew nearly 3,000 attendees from 20 different countries and 125 exhibitors. The attendees represented nearly every area of the aviation community, including military, airline, corporate, maintenance, research, academia and engineering, among others. More than $675,000 in scholarships were awarded during the conference.
NAVAERO’s electronic flight bag (EFB) was approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency for installation in the Embraer 135BJ Legacy. EASA granted a supplemental type certificate to navAero partner ABS Jets through Aero Vodochody in Prague.
NetsJets proved to be “the major problem for Berkshire last year,” according to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett, who told shareholders in his annual letter Feb. 27 that the fractional ownership provider suffered a “staggering loss” of $711 million in 2009. While appearing optimistic about the future of NetJets, Buffett painted a bleak picture of the financial returns from NetJets over the past several years.
March 9-10 – 35th Annual FAA Aviation Forecast Conference, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C., http://www.faa.gov/news/conferences_events/aviation_forecast_2010/ March 11 – National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Regional Forum, Van Nuys, Calif., (202) 783-9000 or visit www.nbaa.org March 15-17 – National Air Transportation Association Spring Training Week at AIE, Las Vegas, Nev., (800) 808-6282 or visit www.nata.aero/springtraining
MCCAULEY 1A103/TCM series propellers [Docket No. FAA-2010-0093; Directorate Identifier 97-ANE-06-AD; Amendment 39-16198; AD 2010-04-05] – Conduct initial and repetitive visual and dye-penetrant inspections for cracks in the propeller hub. Replace propellers that have cracks that do not meet acceptable limits, and rework propellers with cracks that meet acceptable limits, per the instructions of McCauley Propeller Systems Alert Service Bulletin ASB221E (dated Jan. 28, 2010).
BOMBARDIER CL-600, -601, -601-3A, -601-3R and CL-604 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0169; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-102-AD] – This proposed rule would require operators with aircraft equipped with certain valves used in the nose landing gear and gear door selector to visually inspect, before further flight, for proper installation of the lock wire of the end cap, and replace the selector valve with a serviceable one, if needed.
GEOFFREY COY was named national sales director for air medical services specialist Omniflight Helicopter. Coy will be responsible for strengthening customer service efforts and expanding the company’s nationwide presence. Coy joins the company from the pharmaceutical industry, spending eight years in various sales roles with GlaxoSmithKline and, most recently, six years with Sepracor, where he served as regional sales director responsible for overseeing efforts of 10 district sales managers and 112 sales professionals.
KANSAS 4th Congressional District Republican candidate Mike Pompeo, who has the endorsement of the heads of all of the Wichita airframers, says he’s not worried about the current lead in the polls held by competitor Wink Hartman. According to a recent local poll, Hartman leads all contenders with 36 percent, and state Sen. Dick Kelsey is at 11 percent, while Pompeo and state Sen. Jean Schodorf are tied at 10 percent. “We’ve built an enormous grassroots campaign, we have 500 contributors, and we have raised the most money,” he stated.
ECLIPSE AEROSPACE in Albuquerque, N.M. has become the newest member of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Founded by investors Mason Holland and Mike Press, Eclipse Aerospace bought the assets from bankrupt Eclipse Aviation last summer. Eclipse Aerospace provides service for the fleet of more than 250 Eclipse 500 very light jets and offers pilot and maintenance training. The addition of Eclipse brings GAMA’s membership to 67.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture acknowledged to investors last week that the company is taking a conservative approach to research and development in the current economic environment. He estimated that the company’s R&D spending is about half of what it was a few years ago.
FORMER NETJETS Executive Benjamin Murray has joined XOJET as president. Murray will be charged with expanding the aviation services company’s market share and focusing on revenue and business development. He will work with XOJET CEO Blair LaCorte and Chairman David Siegel. Murray formerly was executive vice president of NetJets, Inc., responsible for business development, fractional sales, marketing and global fleet purchasing and planning. Before that, he was president and CEO of Executive Jet Management.
AIR CHARTER SAFETY will come under scrutiny during a House aviation subcommittee hearing scheduled for March 17. The focus of the hearing is expected to be on a report from the Department of Transportation Inspector General last summer titled “On-Demand Operators Have Less Stringent Safety Requirements and Oversight than Large Commercial Air Carriers.” The report drew criticism from the National Air Transportation Association, which said the IG conducted “an apples-to-oranges comparison” and presented an inaccurate picture of the Part 135 regulatory environment.
GKN AEROSPACE is opening a preproduction facility that will house developments in the Environmental Lightweight Fan (ELF) research program. GKN and Rolls-Royce are collaborating on the program to bring a new generation of composite engine fan-blade technologies to market using advanced, high-rate production processes. The 14.8 million-pound research facility is based on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. The initial stage of the ELF program will run through 2012. GKN said after that, it will focus on production and detailed optimization of the manufacturing process.
Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture says 2010 will be another challenging year for the company, following 2009’s record $712 million loss. But he also said that the firm is much better positioned to weather tough economic times than it was 12 months ago.
MICHELLE PETERSON was promoted to vice president of marketing for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Peterson, who had been vice president of products and services for the association, will head up a newly reorganized marketing department that is consolidated with products and services. She joined the association in October 2000 as a program specialist and has held positions of increasing responsibility. She has more than 20 years of experience in association, banking, retail and agency marketing.
MISSY DOMINGUEZ was promoted to warranty manager for Mooney Airplane Company. Dominquez joined Mooney in 1997 and held a number of key roles in the service parts department, most recently as service parts manager. She also has coordinated warranty claims for the company.
ALEX BURKETT joined the House aviation subcommittee as legal counsel. Burkett will advise on a range of aviation issues. He formerly was an associate at Dombroff Gilmore Jaques & French, a law firm specializing in aviation defense. He also served as a law clerk in Florida’s First District Court of Appeal for two years. In addition, Burkett has journalism experience with news outlets in Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. He has a private pilot’s license.
ALTHOUGH initial operational capability of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) critical surveillance services at Philadelphia slipped from February to this month, it is still on schedule for April at Juneau, Alaska. This will complete the four key sites in FAA’s initial deployment phase. Louisville, Ky., and the Gulf of Mexico are already operational.
Eurocopter will fly two new commercial models of helicopter this year, probably in the third quarter, according to CEO Lutz Bertling. “We will have two first flights in Europe, and we hope to bring the helicopters to Heli-Expo in 2011,” he said, but declined to provide further details.
Former Thayer Aerospace founder Mike Pompeo is hoping his familiarity with business aviation and personal endorsements from the top executives at four out of five Wichita original equipment manufacturers – Cessna’s Jack Pelton, Spirit AeroSystems’ Jeff Turner, Hawker Beechcraft’s Bill Boisture and David Coleal of Bombardier Learjet – will be enough for him to capture the 4th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), who is running for the Senate.
JIM MARKS was appointed vice president and general counsel for Dassault Falcon. Marks joined Dassault Falcon in March of 2008 as deputy general counsel, and before that, was a partner in the New York office of Holland & Knight LLP.
EMBRAER EMB-135, -145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0714; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-041-AD] – This proposal would require operators to replace certain landing gear electronic units with new landing gear electronic units, per the instructions of Embraer Service Bulletin 145-32-0120, Rev. 02 (dated Feb. 17, 2009) or 145LEG-32-0032, Rev. 02 (dated Feb.17, 2009), as applicable.
