Ed Stimpson, vice president of GAMA and chairman of General Aviation Team 2000, is one of six recipients of the National Aeronautic Elder Statesman of Aviation Award. The presentation was made at a luncheon hosted by the Aero Club of Washington. The award goes to Americans who have made significant contributions to aerospace.
NASA is now posting selected incident reports on its Aviation Safety Reporting System Web site: http://olias.arc.nasa.gov/asrs. Reports are grouped according to frequently requested search topics and offer 50 recent ASRS database reports on each topic. Each report group will be updated quarterly. New topics will be added, and outdated topics will be removed. Among the report groups are: jet upsets, wake turbulence, CRM-related incidents, runway incursions, land and hold-short procedures, icing and CFIT.
EMERGING AIRCRAFT TARGET DATES The following are target dates for emerging 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 Target Date AASI Jetcruzer 500 Turboprop Certification 3rd Quarter 1998
Installation of Tracor Flight System hush kits on GE-powered Learjet 20s is now available from Flight International, Inc. The Newport News, Va.-company says the kits decrease sideline noise of CJ610-powered Learjets to 95 dB, allowing these aircraft to meet FAR Part 36, Stage 3. The STCed kit, consisting of a daisy-type sound suppressor in place of the reversers, carries an installed price of $115,000 per shipset.
The registration process for the approximately 4,800 aircraft based in Wisconsin has been transferred from the Bureau of Aeronautics to the Division of Motor Vehicles. The (608) 266-1861 telephone number for aircraft registration remains unchanged, but the mailing address will change. Problems and questions should be addressed to the state's DOT. Phone: (608) 267-9592. The DOT said the process was modified as a cost-savings measure.
If someone comes up with a formula for bottling common sense, I want the franchise for the Washington, D.C. area because that's such a rare commodity in these parts.
The former Ashtech, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. was recently merged with Magellan Systems Corp. of San Dimas, Calif. The new organization will operate under the Magellan name out of Sunnyvale. Magellan was a pioneer in the introduction of hand-held GPS units in 1989.
On a bright, clear afternoon, a DC-10 flightcrew operating as AAL Flight 191 out of Chicago O'Hare had a perfectly functioning left engine fall from the wing just after liftoff. The flightcrew assumed that the mandated V2 climb speed to obstacle-clearance altitude would protect the passengers, the crew and the aircraft from catastrophe. They were wrong.
Privately held Fairchild Aerospace posted a net income of $70.2 million on sales of $507.3 million for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997. That is a net profit margin of 13.8 percent. The company was formed in 1996 with the acquisition by San Antonio-based Fairchild of German manufacturer Dornier Luftfahrt from Daimler-Benz Aerospace. Fairchild Dornier, Dornier Luftfahrt and Fairchild Aircraft all are units of Fairchild Aerospace.
At Johnson County Executive Airport in Olathe, Kan., Kansas City Aviation Center has added a 3,600-square foot painting booth. The addition of the paint booth complements the recent expansion of the company's other aircraft refurbishing and completions capabilities, according to Terry Mire, a marketing representative for the firm. The booth can accommodate one medium-size business jet.
In observance of B/CA's 40th anniversary, each month throughout 1998 we will present unedited excerpts from the top feature stories published 40 years ago to the month. We hope you find them interesting, amusing and thought provoking. -- Cover Story: A business flying terminal, modern and plush as any airline terminal in the country, has just been opened by Southwest Airmotive at Dallas Love Field. The new terminal will be open around the clock to business aviation's pilots and executives.
-- ASOS/AWOS Stations (www.faa.gov/aua/ipt_prod/terminal/asos/asos.htm)-Current weather information as reported by the more than 200 federal and non-federal AWOS and ASOS stations around the country are available at this site. Additional weather data for each of those locations also are provided.
A New Zealand court convicted an aircraft salesman and parts trader of manslaughter in the case of two pilots who were killed when their Robinson R-22 crashed in October 1995. The jury found James Gedson guilty of selling the helicopter after equipping it with illegally fabricated tail-rotor blades that had previously been severely damaged on another R-22. Robinson says New Zealand police believe this is the world's first homicide prosecution for knowingly supplying bogus parts.
Connecticut DOT is reviewing a dozen responses to its request for proposals to provide FBO and corporate hangar management at Oxford Airport. Bidders include Miller Aviation, Hangar Corp. of America, Joseph Del Balzo Associates, Airport Corp. of America, R. Dixon Speas Associates and Million Air Bridgeport, as well as Keystone Aviation, the current FBO at Oxford.
In less than a 30-day period, helicopters operated by Air Methods Corp. were in two fatal accidents. On December 14, 1997 at Littleton, Colo., a Bell 407 crashed after striking power lines on takeoff. Killed in the crash were the pilot, two flight nurses and a patient. On January 11, a Bell 222 on an EMS mission crashed in the mountains near Salt Lake City. The pilot, two medical crewmembers and the patient died in the accident.
Allison Engine Co. in Indianapolis manufactures the AE3007 turbofans that power the Citation X business jet and the Embraer RJ145 regional jet. In an Intelligence item in the January issue describing the schedule for additional AE3007 overhaul facilities, we incorrectly stated the manufacturer as Phoenix-based AlliedSignal (January, page 20).
Duncan Aviation of Lincoln, Neb. plans to retain the name and the key people of Kal-Aero, as it welcomes the Battle Creek, Mich. company to its fold. An agreement under which Duncan will acquire Kal-Aero was expected to be finalized in January. Both firms specialize in airframe, engine and avionics maintenance, line service, interior refurbishing, completions and painting.
General Aviation Traffic Advisory Systems will be the subject of a new TSO. Systems intended to be addressed by Technical Standard Order C147 will be similar to TCAS I, but with changes in power output and display requirements to make them less expensive. One product the FAA sees as a primary candidate to meet the new TSO is BFGoodrich's Skywatch (July 1977, page 26). Comments on the proposed TSO are due by February 20.
United States Cargo Service closed its 15-year-old FBO, Rickenbacker Aviation Services, at Rickenbacker Airport in Columbus, Ohio, following a dispute with the airport authority over FBO expansion plans. "Our plans continually fell on deaf ears," said Ralph Richter, president of Richenbacker Aviation Services. The existing facility is now operated by CMH Aviation as Rickenbacker Flight Services.
Aircraft engineers would have us believe that aerodynamics is a mature science. If that were true, then pro- and anti-winglet advocates might not be so strongly opposed. NASA's Richard T. Whitcomb invented these nearly vertical wingtip extensions in the early 1970s as a means by which wing lift-to-drag performance could be increased.
As the FAA continues to move toward a GPS-based navigation system, concerns about vulnerability of the satellite signals are mounting. The U.S. Air Force Research Lab at Eglin AFB, Fla. plans to buy eight jammers from a Russian firm that exhibited units at the Moscow Air Show in 1997. The Air Force will assess how the jammers work and examine countermeasures. Several GA trade groups are on record supporting continued funding of Loran to provide a backup to GPS.
Airshow, Inc., recently flight-demonstrated its direct-broadcast television system in December aboard a customer Gulfstream III business aircraft. The Airshow-TV package is a partnership between Tustin, Calif.-based Airshow, antenna builder Datron/Transco, Racal Avionics, Ltd., and a direct-broadcast satelite operator (December 1997, page 97). Airshow-TV currently provides in-flight television reception over the Continental United States, with Latin America, Europe, and Asia forthcoming.
Dakota Aero Manufacturers of Bismark, N.D. hopes to receive an STC by midyear to sell Twin Commanders reengined with the 600-hp Orenda V-8. However, FAA certification of the avgas-fueled, water-cooled engine itself has slipped more than three years, with the latest target set for this month or March (November 1997, page 22). See page 40 for more details on the Dakota Commanders.
