Jet Aviation Basel in Switzerland is outfitting its first Airbus A319 Corporate Jetliner and recently finished its exterior paint. The facility also is completing a larger A320 as a business aircraft, with a 13-seat VIP area in the forward section and 35 seats in the back. In February, the company completed its second Boeing Business Jet.
HPSD, a United Arab Emirates-based management company, has purchased a minority interest in Britten-Norman and will create a new joint venture with the British aircraft manufacturer. The two companies are forming Britten-Norman Middle East to help market Britten-Norman products and support services throughout the region. In 1999, the manufacturer delivered two new aircraft and expects to deliver six aircraft this year. In addition to new aircraft sales, the company provides maintenance for existing aircraft and contract component manufacturing.
Operators of light jets and turboprops can enhance situational awareness in the cockpit with Avidyne's new FlightMax 850. The FlightMax 850 interfaces with several Collins and Bendix radar systems, as well as Honeywell's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS), BFGoodrich's WX-500 Stormscope and Skywatch TAS and TCAS I to provide a new class of airplanes with the benefits of glass cockpits. Price: $17,995; $5,995 for optional EGPWS interface Avidyne 55 Old Bedford Rd. Lincoln, Mass. 01773
One-hundred employees in the FAA's financial services division and controllers at private ATC towers in Melbourne, Fla., and Capital City, Pa., voted for representation by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). NATCA now represents approximately 15,000 FAA air traffic controllers, 600 other FAA staffers and employees of 22 contract towers.
SkyWest Airlines has added Robert G. Sarver, 38, to its board of directors. Sarver is chairman and CEO of California Bank and Trust, and founder of the National Bank of Arizona. SkyWest's net profits jumped 60 percent to $13.6 million in its third quarter.
Van Nuys, Calif.-based Peterson Aviation added a Gulfstream III and a Raytheon Hawker 800XP to it managed fleet. The company also added an owned Westwind II.
Battle Creek, Mich.-based Duncan Aviation has received an STC for installation of the Honeywell Aero-I MCS 3000i satcom system on Cessna Citation X aircraft. Duncan completed the first installation with a fuselage-mounted antenna in January.
Flying through icing conditions is no time to learn about the warning signs and dangers of icing. NASA's new 37-minute video, ``Icing for Regional&Corporate Pilots,'' is designed to help pilots of high performance aircraft understand the warning signs and dangers of icing along with suggested responses to ice-related upsets. Sporty's founder, Hal Shevers, calls it a ``must for all serious pilots.'' Price: $5.00 Sporty's Pilot Shop Clermont County Airport Batavia, Ohio 45103 Phone: (800) LIFTOFF;
A detailed analysis of approach and landing accidents and serious incidents occurring during 1984-1997 determined that CFIT, landing overruns, loss of control, runway excursion and nonstabilized approaches accounted for 76 percent of all occurrences. Indeed, the nonstabilized approach was probability the initiating event in most runway incidents.
Niagara Falls International Airport (IAG) is the fourth airport to take advantage of the FAA's airport privatization program, which allows general aviation facilities to be leased or sold outright. Operators of the upstate New York facility hope that privatizing IAG will help increase traffic. Spain's CINTRAS will operate the airport and hopes to attract a scheduled carrier and more charter activity to help increase annual enplanements from the current 50,000 to 250,000.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Jim Proulx, in Washington, D.C.
Several new contenders have joined the battle to become the lead Internet site for aviation parts trading, an industry that could be worth as much as $150 billion by 2005. These new entrants include aviationX. com, skyfish.com, TradeAir.com and established parts distributor AAR, which unveiled its aerospan.com partnership with SITA, a European airline telecommunications consortium.
Western Airways, a Houston-based charter operator, is consolidating its operations at Sugar Land Municipal Airport (SGR). The move will see more than 20 aircraft relocated to SGR from other Houston-area airports and the construction of a 27,000-square-foot hangar and office complex on the east side of the field. Phillip W. Savko, SGR's aviation director, said Western Airways' $1.2 million project is ``consistent with other large operations on the airfield, and follows the airport's business plan adopted last year.''
Aeroshell is now selling its entire line of aviation lubricants on the Internet. Although the company says it is focusing on private pilots who work on their own aircraft, products available on the Web site also include turbine engine oil and hydraulic fluid. Visitors to www.aeroshell.com also can find the locations of Aeroshell distributors and ask questions about engine performance and maintenance.
Jet Support Services, Inc.'s (JSSI) Tip-to-Tail hourly cost maintenance program is now available for Learjet 35 and 36 series aircraft as well as Dassault Falcon 20-731s. Chicago-based JSSI covers virtually all aircraft maintenance requirements, with the exception of exterior paint and cosmetic interior items. Texaco recently signed with JSSI, enrolling two Gulfstream IVSPs in the program, the company says.
Jacksonville's Cecil Field has been chosen for the FAA's Military Airport Program (MAP), which provides funds for the conversion of military airfields to civilian or joint-use facilities. Cecil Field, which has a 12,500-foot runway as well as three others, was decommissioned as a naval air station in September 1999 and now is being operated by the city of Jacksonville's Aviation Division. The city is promoting the facility as an ``effective base of operations for corporate and general aviation aircraft.'' The FAA now has 12 airports in the MAP.
USAirways Express is expected to introduce Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) to about 100 aircraft by mid-summer. The regional network will be installing Orbital Sciences' CNS-12 digital communications system, which recently was approved after trials by ARINC. Orbital says the new system offers regional and corporate aircraft the same precise tracking of aircraft component usage, takeoff and landing times, and crew duty time that ACARS offered major airlines. CNS-12 lists for $25,000 to $40,000 per aircraft.
Italian manufacturer Piaggio has delivered the first P.180 pusher turboprop to be equipped with an aluminum alloy vertical fin and canard to an unnamed, Palm Springs, Calif.-based buyer. All prior P.180s used carbon fiber for these portions of the airframe; Piaggio says the change not only allows reduced production costs, but an increase in maximum operating speed from 0.67 to 0.7 Mach.
The runway at Jackson Hole Airport (JAC) in Jackson Hole, Wyo., is closing temporarily for construction. Taxiway A will operate as the airport's temporary runway from April 17 to May 27 during daylight hours only. The airport will be closed during the evening and its ILS system will be unavailable at all times during the closure. Non-precision approaches will be limited to Category A and B circling minimums only.
The FAA plans to award Cessna Aircraft a contract to develop ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) as an alternative to 100LL aviation fuel. The Cessna program would augment the FAA's long-term unleaded avgas development program, which aims to have a ``new specification'' for high-octane unleaded aviation gasoline by 2003.
Providence is being in the right place at the right time. Walt Coleman, who is retiring this month as president of the Regional Airline Association, has been fortunate to helm the organization at a time when the introduction of new avionics, airframes and engines have propelled regional aviation to the forefront of commercial aerospace.
