A Transport Canada task force is proposing almost six dozen ways to make on-demand travel safer. Air charter got Transport Canada's special attention when 1990-95 accident data showed that the majority of commercial aircraft accidents involved air taxi operators.
The trade feud that already had made it to the World Trade Organization and was thought to have cooled. It erupted anew in May when a Toronto newspaper reported that Bombardier of Canada had rejected an overture from Brazil's Embraer to sell a stake in the company to settle the trade issue.
With new daylight-readable liquid-crystal displays (LCDs or "flat panels") finding their way into business aircraft cockpits, are the days of cathode-ray tube (CRT) electronic flight instrumentation systems (EFISes) numbered? Jim Lauer, president of IFR Avionics (and current AEA chairman), doesn't think so.
Concerns raised by the Federal Trade Commission have prompted the suspension of an agreement under which Bell would purchase the part of Boeing that was formerly McDonnell Douglas Helicopter. The FTC requested that Boeing look for a better deal and Boeing says it will "market its light helicopter lines to other potential buyers." Terms of Bell's agreement were never disclosed. Bell is trying to acquire the MD500 and MD600 single-turbine lines, and Boeing intends to exit the light-helicopter business year-end.
After a rocky start in the latter part of 1996, U.S. Customs says its General Aviation Telephone Entry (GATE) program is operating smoothly and will be expanded to more airports. GATE allows pre-approved pilots and passengers flying from Canada to the United States to give U.S. Customs advance arrival notice by calling a toll-free number and obtaining a "telephone entry number" (November 1996, page 34). With that number, the pilot may fly directly to an approved U.S. airport of entry. Air taxi operators with crew only are now eligible to participate in the program.
Infra-Red Technologies' Model 100 Ice Cat aircraft deicing system uses flame-less infrared heat emitters to melt frost, ice and snow. To produce heat without flames or noxious chemicals, a gaseous fuel (natural gas, propane or butane) is burned inside a platinum-impregnated ceramic panel. Infrared rays transmit the heat to the aircraft surface. Ice Cat fits into a truck bed or other mobile unit, or can be permanently mounted. The FAA's Kansas City FSDO has approved the Ice Cat. Base price: $175,000 for a custom-designed system. Infra-Red Technologies, 1201 Burlington, N.
John McNamara was appointed president and CEO of this provider of general aviation flight-training devices and flight simulators. He succeeds Chip Adkins, the company's founder.
Tired of cruising along at 460 to 490 knots on those 12- to 14-hour international business trips? At the 22nd Dassault Falcon Jet Maintenance and Operations Symposium held in Nice, France in May, Serge Dassault, chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, along with Bruno Revellin-Falcoz, executive vice president for research, engineering and cooperation, unveiled a scale model of a supersonic business jet that could cut travel times by one-third to one-half, compared to ultra-long-range, sub-sonic business aircraft.
Edited by Gordon A. GilbertEdward G. Tripp in Ames, Iowa VisionAire Dedicates Vantage Assembly Facility Deliveries of the single-engine business jet are scheduled to begin late in 1999
VisionAire Corp. held a ceremony on May 26 to dedicate its recently built Vantage business jet production facility and flight test center at Ames Municipal Airport in Ames, Iowa. To emphasize the support and investment of the state and local community, Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad, Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco and Martin Jischke, Iowa State University president, shared the spotlight with VisionAire founder, chairman and CEO James O. Rice, Jr. Aviation notables attending included aircraft marketing legend James B.
Edited by Gordon A. GilbertPerry Bradley in Montreal
Corporate operators will have a much easier time clearing Canadian customs under a new pre-clearance program called CANPASS-Corporate Aircraft. The program was announced by Revenue Canada officials at the recent annual Canadian Business Aircraft Association convention.
The city of Jacksonville plans to convert 6,000 acres of Cecil Field, a 17,000-acre naval air base, into a general aviation airport once the U.S. Navy leaves in March 2000. Herb McCarthy, director of the Cecil Field Development Office, says the city also is considering a plethora of other redevelopment possibilities for the air station that includes three 8,000-foot runways and one 12,500-foot runway. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, along with non-aviation-related companies, are discussing moving onto the closing base.
The Southern California Safety Institute in Torrance is bringing its Human Factors in Aviation Safety course to Albuquerque on August 31 to September 4. Topics to be covered include human error-mistakes, slips and accidents; flight discipline issues; loss of situational awareness; ergonomics; aviation physiology and introduction to Cockpit Resource Management. Students take home a textbook, lecture outlines and a certificate of completion. The tuition is $1,380. For further information or to register, phone (310) 540-2612; fax (310) 540-0532.
Researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands believe they have developed a cost-effective alternative to WAAS and EGNOS. They've dubbed it Eurofix, which is a hybrid differential GPS/Loran-C navigation system that they claim offers better than five meter position-fixing accuracy 95 percent of the time up to 540 nm from a datalink transmitter. Three-meter position fixing accuracy is available at 320 to 430 miles from any transmitter in the coverage area.
Pilots' lack of action, inappropriate action and lack of positional awareness have been found to be the primary causal factors in 76 of the approach and landing accidents involving business jets during 1980-1996. The majority of the accidents occurred at night. These conclusions are the result of the Flight Safety Foundation's Operations and Training Working Group's recent study of 287 fatal approach and landing accidents (ALAs) worldwide involving airline and business jets.
Edited by Gordon A. GilbertHugh Whittington in Ontario, Canada
Nav Canada released its long-awaited user charge proposal for small- to medium-size propeller-driven, piston and turbine aircraft. Comments are due July 31 and the charges are scheduled to go into effect November 1.
The NTSB is suing a law firm for violating a 1996 federal law barring attorneys from soliciting business from aviation accident victims or their families within 30 days after an accident
A bill to goad the FAA to require TCAS II on large cargo aircraft fizzled in committee, but Representative William Lipinski (D-Ill.), the bill's sponsor, is working to get the bill incorporated into the FAA reauthorization bill. A spokesperson for the congressman said any TCAS provision, like the original bill, would seek a staggered phase-in for the equipment-first for new cargo aircraft with MTOWs of more than 33,000 pounds and eventually on all large-cargo aircraft.
The 1,000th Hawker business jet, a Model 800XP, is on the assembly line at Raytheon Aircraft. It is scheduled to be delivered to Gainey Corp. of Grand Rapids, Mich. later this year. The original Hawker program was launched as the de Havilland 125 Jet Dragon in 1960. The prototype 125 made its first flight in August 1962 and customer deliveries started in September 1964. Shortly after the aircraft's introduction, de Havilland became part of Hawker Siddeley Aviation, which led to the 125 subsequently becoming known as the Hawker HS 125 series.
Tokyo's Haneda Airport, about 20 minutes driving time from downtown, has opened to general aviation. Houston-based handling agent Air Routing International says that Japan is allowing four GA operations into Haneda each day, but non-Japan-registered private flights must first land at an international airport in Japan and clear customs before proceeding to Haneda.
Sales of business turbines moved somewhat erratically over the most recent twelve month period (June 1997 to May 1998), according to Wichita, Kan.-based Aviation Data Services, Inc. Used jets in the United States were up, both in the current 12-month period (averaging 97 units per month versus the prior 12 months figure of 89) as well as when compared to last month's average (94 units).
Signature Flight Support's West Palm Beach facility recently was approved by AlliedSignal as a TFE731 line service center and designated by Bell Helicopter as a service center for Model 206 and 407 rotorcraft
Business aircraft will pay a landing fee as well as a parking fee when Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport opens-scheduled for this month. The landing charge will be HK$2,600 (about US$335) for aircraft up to 20 metric tons MTOW (44,800 pounds) and HK$74 (about US$9.55) per additional ton. The parking charges will be assessed in six-hour increments and divided into three categories, ranging from HK$50 (about US$6.45) per parking unit for aircraft with wingspans under 49 feet, up to HK$350 (about US$45.15) per parking unit for aircraft with wingspans up to about 120 feet.
