Formerly known as the AS 365 N4, the new EC-155 is a derivative of the Dauphin medium twin and boasts 40 percent more cabin volume than its predecessor. The aircraft program was launched on the strength of an order for six firm and six options from Norway's Helicopter Services Group, and flight testing is under way with certification expected at the end of this year. The German border patrol has 13 155s on order. The name change reflects the new image of Eurocopter, which has reorganized itself by fully integrating its French and German units.
FAA type certification of the 600-hp Orenda V-8 piston engine is scheduled ``shortly,'' according to officials with the Canadian firm. The avgas-powered piston engine received Transport Canada certification in March, nearly three years later than originally planned. Type certifications will permit Orenda to proceed with obtaining an STC for installing the engines on King Air C90Bs. Those installations will be performed by Stevens Aviation of Greenville, S.C. (September 1996, page 26). Meanwhile, Dakota Aero Manufacturing in Bismarck, N.D.
Future business jet engines will have to be tougher against rain and hail, as a result of recent amendments to FAR Part 33 airworthiness standards. The amendments aim to beef up the requirements to prevent engine failures and power losses from extreme quantities of rain or hail. The amendments, which also "generally harmonize" these standards with the rain and hail ingestion standards of the JAA, apply to engine Type Certificates and amended Type Certificates applied for after April 30.
Tracor Flight Systems and Ottendorf Aviation delivered the first shipset of hush kits for 20-series Learjets in early April. Tracor installed the first kit on a Learjet 25B at its Mojave, Calif. facility. The partners received an STC for the double cookie-cutter shaped, modified exhaust nozzle fabricated from Inconel in October 1997, but only recently started shipping approved kits. The kit, which reduces noise levels below FAR Part 36, Stage 3, is priced at $110,000.
Aircraft owners and operators now can apply the annual cost of maintenance performed at all 14 Raytheon Aircraft Services FBOs to obtain fuel price discounts. These new discounts are offered through the company's MaxPower program, introduced in late 1995 to provide discounts based solely on the amount of fuel purchased annually (December 1995, page 22). MaxPower provides discounts of up to 40 cents per gallon to avgas customers and up to 55 cents per gallon for jet-fuel customers, based on the quantity of fuel and, now, maintenance, they purchase annually.
Innotech's stymied plans to build FBOs at Moscow's Sheremetievo and Vnukovo airports are on again. Stephen Plummer, president of Innotech's parent company I.M.P. Group, told B/CA that the political climate has improved greatly since 1994 when Innotech's attempts to establish FBOs in Moscow hit bureaucratic snags (December 1994, page 26). Plummer scheduled a trip to Moscow in April to meet with airport officials.
Illustration: Diagram: Cabin Length The performance numbers, specifications and calculations shown in the 1998 Purchase Planning Handbook have changed substantially. The Basic Operating Weights are more repre-sentative of actual production turboprop and turbofan aircraft because we've insisted upon manufacturers supplying us with the actual weights of aircraft delivered to commercial customers.
A partnership agreement that Valley Oil of Salem, Ore. has forged with Griffith Oil of Huntingdon, Pa. enables Valley to supply fuel to FBOs in the northeastern United States. In exchange, Griffith gets to offer Valley's dealer-support programs to those facilities. These programs include tank upgrade assistance, credit-card programs and line-service training. As a result of Valley expanding its marketing territory, pilots probably will see "a growing number of branded dealers," said Michael Delk, president of Valley Oil.
Irkutsk Aviation Industrial Enterprises in Irkutsk, Russia is looking for a U.S. partner to jointly manufacture a utility amphibious jet. In an item in the U.S. Commerce Department's Business Information Service newsletter, the Russian company describes its BE-200 as a ``multipurpose aircraft'' powered by two D-436T turbofans rated at 16,500 pounds of thrust each.
-- "Plane Talk in Montreal," is the theme for the Canadian Business Aircraft Association's annual convention slated for Montreal, Quebec on June 8-10. The aircraft static display will be set up at the Skyservice FBO at Dorval International Airport. Skyservice also will showcase the exhibits from manufacturers of aircraft, engines and avionics, along with service businesses. Technical and operations forums are planned at Skyservice and Innotech Aviation, also located on Dorval. The locus for social events will be the Bonaventure Hilton in downtown Montreal.
Fairchild Dornier was very close to a launch of the 44-passenger 428JET at B/CA press time. Fairchild Aerospace President Jim Robinson suggested it could come within a few weeks. "There is one-percent wiggle room, but I cannot see any way today that we would not do it. It is a no-brainer. It is something our customers want and it is an airplane we want. There is no reason to wait," he said.
In a new publication, the Helicopter Association International answers the 25 most-frequently asked questions by operators on how to begin planning for a heliport. The document is excerpted from the HAI's soon to be released Heliport/Vertiport Development Guide. Copies of the publication are available at $3 each for HAI members and $5 for nonmembers. Contact Bill Sanderson at the HAI at (703) 683-4646.
Two new civilian frequencies will be added to future global positioning system satellites, giving civil users system accuracy and capability similar to that which military users now enjoy. Dual signals allow receivers to automatically correct for ionospheric error, which can degrade accuracy by tens of meters. But the new capability won't be available until at least 2005, when new GPS satellites begin to be launched. One signal will be located in the current L2 frequency (now reserved for military use only), but the other will be a new, undetermined frequency.
-- Fairchild Dornier (San Antonio)-The company has restructured into two strategic core areas: (1) aircraft components and services headed by Michael L. Meshay, who also serves as president of Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH and (2) a new regional and business aircraft unit led by Earl Robinson, formerly the senior vice president of product development. Both report to James A. Robinson, president of Fairchild Aerospace Corp.
IDC Aerospace, LLC is the name of the Milwaukee-based repair station resulting from a joint venture between Intertechnique, a Paris-based manufacturer of aircraft system components, and DRS, Inc., a repair facility also in Milwaukee.
Airframe Suppliers Directory SUPPLIERADDRESS Advanced Aerodynamics &Structures, Inc. (AASI) 3501 Lakewood Blvd., Long Beach Calif. 90808 Aero International (Regional) 1 allee Pierre Nadot, F-31712, Blagnac Cedex, France Aerospatiale 37, blvd. de Montmorency, F-75781, Paris Cedex 16, France U.S. Subsidiary for Socata/TBM North Perry Airport, Pembroke Pines, Fla. 33023
The irrepressible Jonathan Ornstein returns to the high desert of Farmington, N.M. on May 1 as CEO of Mesa Air Group. Ornstein left the airline in 1994 to become president of Continental Express and attempted to acquire Mesa on two occasions since. He replaces founder Larry Risley, who he said was his biggest booster for the top executive post.
Upon returning from a trip on which he accompanied President Clinton to Africa, DOT Secretary Rodney E. Slater announced a program to assist African countries to enhance aviation safety. The program (for which the DOT will provide advice, not funding) has three goals: increase the number of airports that meet ICAO standards; improve security at eight to 12 airports within three years; and improve regional air navigation services. As reported, ICAO also has plans to improve aviation safety in Africa (January, page 18).
No operator wants to be the one that everyone is looking to for answers after an aircraft accident. But those girded with an action plan will be better prepared for the unthinkable. The Flight Safety Foundation and The VanAllen Group are partnering to present a Disaster Response Planning Workshop for Business Aviation in Atlanta on June 18-19.
FAA has been quizzing FAR Part 135 firms about operational control issues related to managed aircraft, a trend some regard as an ominous indication of the direction the agency is taking with its review of fractional ownership. FSDOs reportedly have been questioning the coexistence of Parts 135 and 91 with respect to managed aircraft, apparently suggesting that managed aircraft should be flown under Part 135 even when the aircraft owner is aboard. The question of operational control also is at the heart of the now year-old FAA review of fractional ownership.
Accurate record-keeping seems to go hand-in-hand with aviation. In business aviation, keeping track of time and costs is almost a given-especially when the flight department is under the scrutiny of company officers who are less-than-enthusiastic supporters of operating a large, airborne capital investment.
