Universal Avionics Systems expects to complete construction of its new manufacturing plant in Tucson later this year. The addition more than doubles the size of the firm's current facility
Thwarted by more ramp construction delays, the opening of Executive JetPort at New Jersey's Trenton Airport has now been pushed to the end of this month. Originally, the FBO was to start providing line service and fueling in April (May, page 18 and June, page 20).
BMW Rolls-Royce is in a long-term program to reduce the weight of the BR710A2-120 turbofans that power the Bombardier Global Express by as much as 400 pounds. The engine manufacturer says some of the weight-reduction changes are expected to be retrofittable.
The International Business Aviation Council will re-establish a full-time office in Montreal. A new director is expected to be named by year-end. IBAC, formed in 1981 to represent business aviation associations from around the world, operated full-time in Montreal for many years, but funding and personnel issues forced the Montreal office to close and its activities to be minimized. The NBAA is one of nine IBAC member associations.
Northwest and Airlink partner Mesaba have agreed to double the regional's British Aerospace Avro RJ85 fleet, from 18 to 36 through August 2000. The announcement came shortly after Northwest's ALPA unit-threatening strike action over lack of a new contract-had asked that its pilots be allowed to fly any new regional jets.
New York City is circulating for comment a draft of its first ever rotorcraft master plan, which calls for maintaining New York's three heliports. The draft makes no allowance for growth of the air tour business, and says the city should consider offering financial incentives to operators that fly newer, quieter helicopters.
In the face of an all-out frontal assault by the general aviation community, the FAA's much-maligned plan for handing out on-the-spot tickets to airmen for alleged FAR violations has been "officially" put on hold. A July 21 meeting was scheduled to allow various parties to argue their sides. Afterward, the FAA apparently will determine if the plan will be adopted or rejected (see Washington, page 110).
Steve Egert was promoted to the newly created headquarters position of parts and instruments sales manager. Meanwhile, Dave Garvey joined the FBO's Moline facility as parts manager.
AAR Aircraft Services in Oklahoma City has opened a 60,000-square-foot painting and maintenance hangar able to service aircraft as large as a Boeing 757
The used aircraft market has been a seller's market for the past few years, and the outlook is that this will continue for a few more, barring an economic catastrophe. Brokers, dealers and financiers broadly agree that too many potential buyers are pursuing too few aircraft.
Eight major airports in the United States have designated frequencies to expedite timely emergency communications between ground rescue personnel and flightcrews, according to the NTSB, which would like to see frequencies at all FAR Part 139 airports (see item above). The airports are: Covington/Cincinnati (CVG), Honolulu (HNL), Seattle (SEA), Nashville (BNA), Los Angeles (LAX), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Philadelphia (PHL) and Boston (BOS).
Samsung Semiconductor closed its Los Angeles-based flight department on July 1, after just two years. The operation's sole aircraft, a Falcon 900EX, has been sold. The company retains its flight department in Seoul, South Korea.
-- AccuWeather (www.personal.accuweather.com)-Subscription-based site now offers Doppler radar and satellite images, airmets, notams, pireps, forecast and DIFIX charts, TAFs, winds aloft graphics, severe weather advisories and other products. -- Aviation Fabricators (www.aviationfabricators.com)-Details on the company's more than 80 aircraft interior STC modifications.
By April 1999, just nine months before the deadline under which all transport aircraft having MTOWs of 75,000 pounds or greater must meet FAR Part 36 Stage 3 noise levels, Raisbeck Commercial Air Group hopes to complete its ongoing Stage 3 STC program that eventually will apply to all Boeing 727-100s and 727-200s.
The mission of the Operations Planning Guide is to provide managers with a tool kit to assist them in analyzing their operation and in formulating strategies and plans for 1999. Central to that effort is B/CA's first-ever Operating Cost Guide.
Edited by Gordon A. GilbertHugh Whittington in Canada
Canada's Transportation Safety Board is focusing on the wheel brake and other hydraulic systems of a Fairchild SA226 Metroliner that crashed at Montreal's Mirabel International Airport on June 18, killing all 11 persons aboard. Propair Flight 420 was a charter with two pilots and nine passengers. The passengers were all executives with Canadian General Electric.
A changing of the guard at Aerospatiale has seen Patrick Gavin, former boss at commuter aircraft manufacturer ATR, take the reins at Eurocopter, while Jean-Francois Bigay is moving from Eurocopter to Aerospatiale, where he will be senior vice president-aeronautical sector. Replacing Gavin is Antoine Bouvier, who previously headed the ATR Business Unit.
Dallas-headquartered Aviall has become only the 101st out of approximately 2,500 aircraft parts distributors to earn "approved quality system" certification under FAA AC 00-56
W. Barry Smith, a veteran aircraft marketing executive, has joined VisionAire as vice president of sales. The St. Louis-based company is developing the Vantage, a composite-constructed, single-engine business jet, scheduled for certification in late 1999. Smith has been a sales executive for Cessna and Canadair.
