Many corporate aircraft passengers probably would be surprised to know that in the past 15 years, according to the NTSB, there have been more than 250 turbulence-related incidents on major airlines, resulting in three deaths, 70 serious injuries and at least 850 minor injuries. The Safety Board released these statistics after commending American Airlines and United Airlines for being the first U.S. carriers to require all passengers to keep their seat belts on when seated during flight.
Owners of Dassault Falcon Jets and Gulfstream Aerospace aircraft will get their opportunity to sound off at airframe and systems manufacturers at their annual maintenance and operations meetings. Dassault is holding its gathering from May 18-20 in Nice, France. The Gulfstream M&O gathering is set for June 2-4 at Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah.
FAA plans to extend for another two years its four-year prohibition on U.S. flight operations within certain portions of Afghanistan airspace. The agency says that fighting between government and opposition forces continues to be a threat to civil aviation. Some of the opposition forces still possess a wide range of surface-to-air missiles, says the FAA.
Photograph: "You're flying better than first class--and yet you don't feel like you are a charity case," Marvin Garnett said. "You feel like the company wants you as a passenger." Among their circle of friends, Marvin and Ronny Garnett have the Corporate Angel Network and nine corporations and their flight departments.
Look for a new avionics category in the 1999 Purchase Planning Handbook: Multifunction Displays (MFDs). Leading the charge toward FAA IFR flat-panel MFD certification is Avidyne, with its Multifunction Flight Computer (MFC). This box takes full advantage of consumer electronics hardware and software technology. It uses a beefed-up version of Microsoft Windows NT that should allow the firm to speed development. TSO C113 EFIS approval is slated for this year, with TSO C63 weather radar interface and TSO C110 lightning-sensor display approvals scheduled for 1999.
Photograph: Ryan's 9900B TCAD If the next 12 months are anything like the previous year, avionics installed in business aircraft will be getting a workout. Most operators report that they're flying more than they have in a long time, and expect the trend to continue. Underscoring this, completion centers say they have plenty of work as operators add new aircraft or retrofit their existing fleets. Over the last year, the leading avionics makers have been busy enhancing their products and introducing new versions.
Joint Aviation Authorities has granted Atlantic Aero JAR Part 145 Repair Station status. The authorization permits the Greensboro, N.C. company to make repairs on aircraft and their components registered in any of the 23 JAA signatory nations in Europe.
Bombardier says it is on track to Transport Canada certification of its Global Express in June, followed by FAA and JAA certification "soon thereafter." Recently, one of four test aircraft completed the longest Global Express flight to date-a Wichita round-robin that covered 6,500 nm in 14+29 hours following a max weight takeoff and an average cruise speed of 0.80 Mach. Meanwhile, Bombardier received the International Council of Aeronautical Sciences Von Karman Award for international cooperation in aeronautics for the Global Express.
-- C-Map Aviation (www.c-map.com/aviation)-Products and services information for this provider of electronic charting systems is now available on line. Items include pricing, dealer locations, press releases and data about compatible products from other manufacturers. -- Jet Support Services, Inc. (www.askjssi.com)-JSSI is an independent power-by-the-hour program provider.
Photograph: AlliedSignal's SilverCrown Plus New products popped up at the Aircraft Electronics Association annual meeting in April in Orlando like golden poppies in California after El Nino. Here are some highlights. -- AlliedSignal Electronics/ Avionics Systems announced that its seven-pound, $29,000, low-earth-orbit, Iridium satcom system will be certificated by December. Notably, the Iridium airborne equipment will weigh one-third to one-half of the current $400,000-class of Aero-H satcom systems.
EMERGING AIRCRAFT TARGET DATES The following are target dates for emerging turbine aircraft. These dates, supplied by the airframe manufacturers, are subject to change-and frequently do-as a result of design revisions, funding, testing delays or extensions, and/or the resolution of unforeseen problems. Each month, this table will endeavor to show the most-current schedule. Manufacturer Model Milestone AASI Jetcruzer 500 Turboprop Certification
-- Atlantic Aviation (Wilmington, Del.)-Blake C. Fish has replaced Joseph J. McShulkis as senior vice president of the line service division. McShulkis is retiring after 42 years with the company.
The complete proceedings of the Flight Safety Foundation's 10th annual European Aviation Safety Seminar are now available in print and compact disc format. More than 200 aviation professionals from 43 countries attended the meeting, held March 16-20 in Amsterdam. Some 24 presentations were made on such topics as preventing approach and landing accidents, FAA/JAA harmonization and CRM. Copies of the proceedings are available for sale from the FSF in Alexandria, Va. Phone: (703) 739-6700.
The small town of Clyde, Ohio is about to get an airport. Located nearly midway between Toledo and Cleveland, Sandusky County Airport is scheduled to open in October. The 5,000-by-100-foot paved runway will include side edge lights as well as a PAPI and REILS, and have a GPS approach. An FBO is being selected.
Designer of Learjet Dies of Leukemia-Reno Gazette (May 15, 1978) RENO, Nev. (UPI)-Industrialist William P. Lear, whose maverick genius created the car radio, the eight track stereo, the Lear Jet and 150 other patented inventions died in Reno yesterday morning after a long bout with Leukemia.
FAA granted Sino Swearingen an exemption from the FAR Part 23(d) requirement that multiengine airplanes must have propellers to qualify for Commuter Category certification. The exemption allows the company to increase the SJ30-2's maximum takeoff weight to 13,200 pounds from 12,500 pounds and retain single-pilot status, thereby greatly increasing its range/payload flexibility (April, page 35). If the Sino Swearingen exemption becomes a precedent, theoretically any new light jet with an MTOW of up to 19,000 pounds could be eligible for a Commuter Category exemption.
Contact the following companies for ground-side communications access for your satcom-equipped business aircraft: Aeronautical Radio, Inc. Stephen Means Senior Director Marketing 2551 Riva Rd. Annapolis, Md. 21401 (410) 266-4276 Fax: (410) 266-2329 American Mobile Satellite Corp. 10802 Parkridge Blvd. Reston, Va. 22091 (703) 758-6000 Fax: (703) 758-6111 Avicom Japan Ltd.
Corporate aircraft operators in Europe are facing increased constraints as the European Commission considers several slot-allocation options. "We are discussing what kind of new rules to propose," the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) was told at its recent annual meeting in Brussels by Frederick Sorensen, the EC's head of air transport policy. Ideas on the table include buying and selling of slots, "or, we can have airports lease slots so that demand and capacity would equalize. That means it will be more expensive to fly to those airports," he added.
Aircraft modifiers say an effort by the FAA to force them to either re-certificate modified products to the current standards rather than those existing at the time of the original type certificate or demonstrate that changes are neither significant nor substantial could dramatically increase costs for aircraft operators and ultimately stymie the modification business (May 1997, pages 114 and 118; July 1997, page 25; and October 1997, page 24).
In the Intelligence item on the NBAA's pledge for its members to cease operating FAR Part 36, Stage 1 aircraft in the near future, the Sabre 40A should not have been listed as a Stage 1 aircraft (March, page 22). The business jet meets Stage 2 noise levels . . . The Ayres Loadmaster is not using a Soloy gearbox (April, page 22).
As the average size of regional-airline aircraft continues to grow, so does the carriers' ability to haul additional cargo. More and more regional airlines are actively marketing their freight-carrying capabilities, often in conjunction with the cargo and small-package services of their senior partners, and it is paying off, according to carrier officials.
Election of Dr. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie as the new number-two man to Indonesian President Suharto casts a cloud over the future of national aircraft industry IPTN. As the former research and technology minister, Habibie was a virtual one-man show at IPTN, pushing his prized N-250/270 70-passenger turboprop and his proposed 100- to 130-seat N2130 regional jet projects.
