National Air Traffic Controllers Association heightened its drive against FAA contract ATC towers with the publication of a new booklet. The 12-page booklet, sent to the aviation media, describes the alleged staffing shortages and safety problems of the contract tower program. The Washington, D.C.-based controllers' union has been campaigning particularly fiercely since two fatal accidents in 1997 within the airspace controlled by non-FAA towers (December 1997, page 26).
FlightSafety International has closed its short-lived joint venture with Petroleum Helicopters that offered primary flight training in Schweizer 300s and Bell 206 JetRangers in Lafayette, Louisiana (December 1996, page 26). FSI continues to train PHI pilots, and also continues to operate advanced helicopter training in West Palm Beach, Fla. and Fort Worth. Before closing, the operation was frequently on the move, starting in Vero Beach, Fla. and later moving to Dothan, Ala. and then Alliance Airport in Fort Worth.
Air Security International, an arm of Air Routing International, has identified what it calls the 10 "most dangerous, intriguing and complex locations" for business travel. The locations are: Algeria; Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Central Africa; Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Johannesburg, South Africa; Lima, Peru; Manila, Philippines; Medellin, Colombia; Papua New Guinea; and Southern Russia. For more details on each of these areas, contact Air Security International in Houston. Phone: (713) 430-7300.
Operators of more than 2,500 Piper Cheyennes will be required to amend their flight manuals to prohibit beta power settings in flight, if a proposed AD is adopted. Similar NPRMs published in 1997 cover nearly 4,500 other turboprops (August 1997, page 12). The FAA says that intentional or inadvertent engine operations in the beta range can lead to engine overspeed or loss of aircraft control. In recent years, nine incidents and five accidents have been related to beta operation in flight, according to the agency.
De Havilland is preparing the Dash 8-400 for its approximately one-year flight-test program, following its first flight expected in late January. Certification of the 70- to 78-passenger regional turboprop/corporate shuttle is scheduled for mid 1999.
A 60,000-square-foot aircraft painting facility is scheduled for completion in the fall at GE's Garrett Aviation on Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill. The new hangars will accommodate four to five aircraft up to DC-9 size, or up to eight smaller jets, compared to the present facility, which can house one large aircraft and one small aircraft simultaneously. The increased capacity means Garrett can paint an additional 20 to 22 aircraft.
Four TRACONs in the Washington, D.C. area will be consolidated into one center, and the FAA claims the move has the potential to produce "significant efficiency and safety benefits" for airspace users. The new Potomac TRACON will consolidate the functions of the existing TRACONs at Dulles, National, Baltimore-Washington and Andrews AFB. The timetable for constructing the new facility is pending the availability of funding.
Dassault Falcon Jet and Executive Jet Aviation in December 1997 sealed their long-expected deal that will see Falcon 2000s enter the NetJets fractional ownership program in early 1999. The EJA order is for 24 2000s, the first seven of which will be delivered in 1999 with at least five aircraft per year to follow. Four of the initial seven will be "core" aircraft that will not be sold to share owners.
Manufacture of the Saab 340 and Saab 2000 will cease by mid 1999. The decision, made by the board of Saab Aircraft parent Saab AB in mid December, was not unexpected. Company CEO, Bengt Halse, warned in late October that regional aircraft operations were unprofitable due to overcapacity in manufacturing. "As a result, Saab is considering to stop producing its two regional aircraft . . . by the turn of the century, and instead strive to participate as a partner and supplier for other aircraft manufacturers," a company statement declared at the time.
FAA officials at the agency's Small Airplane Directorate in Kansas City, Mo. were expected to make a decision soon on whether they will support Sino Swearingen's request to certificate the SJ30-2 under the commuter category of FAR Part 23. Even if such an action were okayed in Kansas City, both the Transport Airplane Directorate in Seattle and FAA headquarters would have to approve the issue.
Saab Aircraft AB of Sweden will emphasize service and parts support for the customers of 500 regional aircraft, now that the company has decided to discontinue production of its Models 340B and 2000 regional turboprops by mid 1999. Saab pulled the plug on production because of declining demand for the aircraft and years of financial losses.
Edited by GORDON A. GILBERTLinda L. Martin A HELICOPTER TREASURE
The Helicopter Association International's commemorative book, Helicopters: 1948-1998, is bound to be an aviation library must. The HAI tapped CBS News consultant Francis G. McGuire, an award-winning journalist who was formerly associated with Aviation Daily and the founder of Helicopter News, to chronicle the rise of the civil helicopter industry and its growth.
Hammonds Fuel Additives of Houston is providing free "Fuel Facts" cards for those who handle fuel products regularly. The pocket-size, laminated cards contain "at a glance" measurements, ratios and weights for various fuels and fuel additives. To request a Fuel Facts, fax your mailing address to Hammonds at (281) 847-5129.
The new Bombardier Aircraft service center at Schonefeld Airport in Berlin, currently a JAR Part 145-approved facility, expects to receive FAR Part 145 certification this month. The facility, a joint venture between Bombardier and Lufthansa, is the first factory service center outside North America. It opened in fall 1997 (September 1997, page 22).
The best sales companies for business aircraft of all shapes, sizes and motive power are not to be found in Wichita, Savannah, Montreal, Vero Beach et al. They are omnipresent at every airline terminal throughout the land.
Russ Meyer, chairman of Cessna Aircraft Co., appointed Charles B. Johnson to succeed him immediately as president and chief operating officer. Johnson was executive vice president of operations. Meyer, 65, who has headed Cessna since June 1975, is expected to retire from the company in 1999.
AlliedSignal Engines is testing a new engine core that could be the technology basis of a family of 4,000-pound-thrust to 8,000-pound-thrust turbofans for new-generation business and regional jets. The new core consists of three axial compressors and one centrifugal compressor. AlliedSignal does not see the new family, if it is developed, competing with its current family-the TFE and CFE series of turbofans.
It has become a real rhubarb for the two major players at Chicago O'Hare: American, United and their respective affiliates. DOT is offering a few "expansion slots" at this high-density-rule airport for niche carriers (such as Frontier or AirTran), service to under-served communities and essential-air-service communities. Those under-served communities have caused the uproar, with both the cities and their congressmen and senators wading into the fray. The two protagonists argue that the other has captive control over their regional affiliates.
A special exhibit on business aviation is scheduled to open on June 10 at the Smithsonian Institution's Air&Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The display, titled "Business Aviation-Time is Money," will include a Citation 500, a King Air C90, a TFE731, a JT15D and a Collins Pro Line 21 avionics demonstrator. Storyboards and videos will explain the variety of ways that general aviation aircraft are used for business purposes. Scheduled to be in place for a year, the exhibit has been supported through a fund established by the NBAA (July 1996, page 30).
