Linda L. Martin BERLIN AIR SHOW: EAST-WEST GATEWAY
This year's International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA '98), slated for May 18-24, will be held at the future Berlin Brandenburg International Airport, now known as the southern section of the Berlin-Schonefeld Airport.
Revised standards for determining the runway length required for takeoff and landings have been adopted. The FAA's V1 standards were amended to improve the method of accounting for pilot reaction time in the event of a rejected takeoff and to consider the effect of wet runways on takeoff performance, among other changes.
With the recent purchase of Hughes Aircraft, Raytheon Systems Co. also inherited the troubled Wide Area Augmentation System contract. Development of WAAS, vital for ensuring sole-means GPS navigation, is behind its original schedule and over budget. Meanwhile, Raytheon's FAA contract for the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) has hit some choppy air (November 1996, page 17).
The Clinton administration proposed significant increases in spending for the FAA in fiscal 1999, but the administration also wants to phase out aviation excise taxes, which currently fund more than 70 percent of the agency's annual budget, in favor of unspecified, new user fees. However, the user-fee plan has come under fire by general and business aviation trade groups as well as Congress (see Washington column on page 112).
Airframe OEM-sponsored maintenance and operations meetings are scheduled in San Antonio for the Bombardier Challenger from April 30-May 1 and for the Learjet from April 27 to May 1. Cessna's Citation M&O meeting is April 27-29 in Wichita. Other upcoming M&O gatherings are: Dassault Falcon Jet, May 18-20 in Nice, France; Gulfstream Aerospace, June 2-4 in Savannah; Raytheon Hawker, August 31-September 2 in Hilton Head, S.C.; and Sabreliner, May 13-15 in St. Louis.
Operators have a high level of confidence in their ability to detect icing conditions, but are less sure about those abilities at night, and with respect to tail-plane icing, according to a survey conducted by BFGoodrich.
Some late 60s- and early 70s-vintage panel- and remote-mount radios are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Their reliability is poor, parts are difficult to find and few shops have the expertise to keep the radios in good shape. The resale value of aircraft equipped with some brands of old radios suffers as a result. These aircraft are prime candidates for a radio retrofit. AlliedSignal's Silver Crown CNI radios are the most popular replacements for old panel-mounts, avionics shops told B/CA. A full stack can be installed for $50,000 to $60,000.
Airwork Corp. of Millville, N.J. says that by summer it will be expanding its Allison 250 capabilities to provide complete module and engine overhaul, repair and exchange support for the A250-C40 and -C47 series
Crossair President Moritz Suter has seen his airline double in size since 1995. Now he faces a new dilemma: How to compete in a liberalized Europe and continue to maintain his renowned high level of passenger service. The difficulty is that Switzerland is not a member of the European Union and is not likely to become one in the near future. So, when final deregulation of the air transport system took effect in April, Crossair's costs to serve EU airports rocketed.
Not only did the non-precision GPS approach to Runway 36 at Meigs Field become operational in February, but the city of Chicago selected Signature Flight Support to remain as the airport's permanent FBO. Of course, the term "permanent" probably will be transitory in status since the city plans to close the airport in February 2002. Signature had been serving the airport on an interim basis (December 1997, page 22).
Maintenance operations will be added to the list of facilities required to report release of certain toxic chemicals if the Environmental Protection Agency decides to adopt a petition from several environmental and wildlife protection groups. Currently, maintenance and other airport operations are exempt from this reporting requirement.
Justice Department and the FAA plan to file a motion asking for clarification from the U.S. district court judge who in March ordered the cancellation of the contract tower program. Agreeing with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the judge ruled the FAA erred in implementing the program without first conducting a cost-comparison study that was required to determine if the operation of Level 1 ATC towers is an inherently government function. Until the issue is settled, the FAA is suspending its plan to contract out an additional 22 towers.
Bombardier is nearing certification of an optional, active noise- and vibration-canceling system for Challenger 604 cabins. The system, developed by Ultra Electronics of Cambridge, England, reduces cabin noise from the engine fan by as much as 15 dBs and up to six dBs from the engine core, according to Bombardier. The installed price of the system is $165,000. It also is available for retrofit on model 601s as well as early 604s.
Hermetic Aircraft International and Madelec Aero (of France) have teamed to introduce a dedicated visual ice build-up detector for narrow-body turboprop aircraft. The Water Drop Model 741-AAA installs directly in the flightcrew's line of vision, is self-illuminating for nighttime use and has surface sensitivity so that the indicator is the first point of ice build-up on the aircraft. Price: $633. Hermetic Aircraft International, 100 Corporate Dr., Holtsville, N.Y. 11742. (516) 758-4242; fax: (516) 758-1428.
Japan's Excel Air Service, a sightseeing operator, in December will become the first operator of the new MH2000 helicopter, Japan's first indigenous helicopter (September 1997, page 60). Mitsubishi certificated the 9,900-pound, twin-turbine helicopter in July 1997. The company has not set a timetable for sales outside Japan.
On winter days that make most pilots think twice about flying, Dave Marcotte and his team of researchers rush eagerly to their fully-instrumented Convair 580. Marcotte is the project leader for icing research conducted during the winter of 1997/98 by Canada's National Research Council and the Atmospheric Environment Service. Also participating were Transport Canada, Boeing, the Canadian Department of National Defense and the Canadian Search and Rescue Secretariat.
The volatile United Express caper at Denver appeared headed towards resolution in early March. United had terminated Mesa Air Group's franchise effective April 22 and United Express Air Wisconsin bought Mountain Air Express (MAX) out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy to run some of the Mesa routes. United Express Great Lakes Aviation will take over Mesa's smaller markets.
FAA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making asking for industry comment on how the agency should proceed on a rule that would require the use of "child restraint systems." Currently, child safety seats are designed for automobile use, but some also are DOT-approved for voluntary use in aircraft. The rule, applicable only to commercial operators, has been in the works for several years (November 1994, page 24). Comments are due June 18. For more information, contact the FAA at (202) 267-3735.
On April 23, unless there is another delay, aircraft operating IFR in European airspace will be required to meet RNP-5 or BRNAV. RNP-5 requires aircraft to be equipped with area nav equipment capable of five-nm along-track and cross-track accuracy. Avionics installed in accordance with FAA ACs 90-45A, 20-130A, 20-138 or 25-25 are acceptable for BRNAV operations, according to Honeywell. If the AFM lists one of the above ACs or states that the aircraft is RNP-5 capable, no further documentation is required.
One of the major steps in manufacturing composite structures is ensuring their integrity following lay-up and curing. Just as Raytheon is embracing new technology in the way it will build the Premier I and the Horizon, the company is turning to new ways to inspect the final product at the factory.
Bombardier Aerospace executives were clearly disappointed at the 1997 Paris Air Show when American Eagle announced it would acquire 42 Embraer RJ-145 50-seaters as opposed to the Canadair CRJ-200. An accompanying order for 25 70-seat CRJ-700s did not dampen the disappointment. The carrier took options of 25 for each of the aircraft.
As expected, reduced lateral separation in the Central East Pacific route structure is scheduled to go into effect April 23. Specifically, lateral separation will be reduced from 100 nm to 50 nm at FL 310 through FL 390 in the NorPac and Hawaiian route system including transitional waypoints and on ATS Routes R463, R464, R465, R585, R576, R577 and R578. Aircraft that are not approved
JAA recently certificated the Flight Dynamics Head-up Guidance System for Category IIIa approaches in the Falcon 2000. The approval allows European-registered Falcon 2000s to make approaches down to 700 feet RVR and 50 feet DH, says Flight Dynamics. The firm also says a CAT IIIa program has started for the Falcon 900EX. Meanwhile, FAA certification of the HUD on the Falcon 2000 remains far behind schedule (October 1997, page 17).
