Advanced Aerodynamics&Structures, Inc. broke ground in November for its factory in Long Beach, Calif., where it plans to build the Jetcruzer 500, a six-place, single-engine turboprop scheduled to receive certification in late 1998. At press time, AASI said it had orders for 70 of the $1.3-million aircraft (October, page 17).
Dassault Falcon Jet (South Hackensack, N.J.)-Roy Pickens was appointed senior vice president and general manager at Falcon Jet's Little Rock, Ark. location, succeeding William C. Bracas.
Aviation Services Group (Orlando)-Richard Dodson has been named president and CEO of this new business unit combination of Signature Flight Support, Dallas Airmotive and International Turbine Services.
Citing an increase in runway incursions over the last three years, ALPA has asked Congress to make the FAA take corrective action. The airline union is particularly disappointed with what it calls the FAA's "lack of action" on implementing a runway-incursion reduction plan announced in 1995 (June 1995, page 28). Cleveland Hopkins, St. Louis Lambert and John Wayne airports lead the nation with the most incursions, according to the FAA.
It's tempting to say the fix is in for 1997. October's preliminary reports makes it look all but certain that 1997 sales of new business-turbine aircraft will surpass 1996 totals- collectively and individually in jets and turboprops. Less clear is whether 1997 sales of preowned business airplanes will come up to 1996 levels.
Salary data for 37 job titles typically associated with the FBO and air taxi industries-from line service personnel and customer service agents to charter pilots-are contained in the "1997 Compensation Survey Report" from the National Air Transportation Association. Copies of the 90-page report, based on a survey of more than 300 NATA members, are available for $50 each. Phone NATA's Cindy Aloise at (800) 808-6282.
(www.elliottaviation.com)-This revised site gives visitors a review of all the company's products and services, including press releases and "review" from the aviation media. The site also includes a description of each of Elliott's facilities, complete with airport maps and local tourism information. Specifications and photographs of pre-owned aircraft for resale by Elliott also are available at this site.
Photograph: Piper is offering special incentives to operators that buy Mirages now with a firm commitment to trade up to the Meridian. The company had booked 74 orders for the turbine aircraft as of November 1, and it plans to continue to offer the piston aircraft once the Meridian enters the market. Tour guides don't make much mention of the Piper Cheyenne when they lead visitors through the company's Vero Beach, Fla. plant. But the remnants of the line are there nonetheless.
Photograph: Thomas Ratvasky and team will spend another six months reducing data before publishing TIP findings. Four years ago, the FAA and NASA embarked upon a program to quantify the actual aerodynamic performance and handling characteristics associated with ice-contaminated tailplane stall. NASA's veteran de Havilland Dash 6 Twin Otter icing-research aircraft was called into service for the tailplane icing program (TIP).
Gulfstream Aerospace (Savannah)-This aircraft manufacturer has announced two promotions: Joseph Kent Walker to senior vice president of international sales and Shawn W. Vick to senior vice president of North American sales and administration.
A proposed AD will require extensive inspections, and possible repairs, to flap system components on some 1,200 Twin Commanders. The FAA says the inspections alone will take approximately 22 hours per airplane. Comments on the proposal are due January 6, 1998. The AD would supersede AD 94-04-17.
Cepadues Editions has published a dictionary that lists aeronautical terms in English, French and German. Among the entries are technical terms and listings for navigation, meteorology, le-gal dispositions and radio communications. Price: $22. Cepadues Editions, 111, rue NicholasVauquelin, 31100 Toulouse, France. +33 561 405 736.
Photograph: A large investment in Controller-to-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) will be needed to take full advantage of flat-panel, control-display avionics technology. When you fly the next-generation business aircraft and you're in for a pleasant surprise. Avionics technology is reaching a new level of maturity. In as little as five years, you may not feel like the director of a flying digital day-care center, tasked with feeding your CDU's rapacious appetite for key-strokes.
In collaboration with the Flight Safety Foundation, Avedsoft has developed Iceman 4.0, Windows 95-compatible software to train pilots in ground deicing and anti-icing procedures. The single-pilot Corporate Version ($695) is designed for independent study of icing contamination and critical areas identification. The software automatically documents a student's progress and completion date. A Deluxe Edition ($895) with record-keeping features is intended for the larger flight department.
Super Bowl XXXII is scheduled in San Diego on January 25, 1998, and from January 21-27 the FAA will have a mandatory reservation system in place for IFR arrivals at the following airports: Montgomery Field, Brown Field, Gillespie Field and McClellan-Palomar Airport. Helicopter operations will be prohibited at Lindberg Field during this period. The FAA will begin accepting reservations for landing slots on January 19.
An updated version of the Aircraft Electronics Association Membership Directory has been released. The directory lists the names, addresses, phone numbers and the services of the AEA's 1,000 member companies that specialize in avionics and instrument repair. Copies of the directory are available for $50 for non-members and $25 for members. Contact the AEA in Independence, Mo. at (816) 373-6565 or on the Web at AEAavnews.org.
Over 8,000 visitors, nearly 400 exhibitors and at least 150 helicopters combined to make October's Helitech '97 "the most successful in the event's 11-year history," according to show organizers Spearhead Exhibitions Ltd. of New Malden, England.
Financially plagued Mahalo Air will not likely fly again. The Honolulu-based regional has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since July 25 and shut down since September 2. It failed in late October to come up with a new financial plan and the bankruptcy court was holding it out of Chapter 7 liquidation in hopes that its operating certificate could be sold for as much as $1 million.
Mitre Corp., the Bedford, Mass. company specializing in ATC systems analysis, is working to help resolve a bitter dispute between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association over alleged human factors defects in Raytheon's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS). The system is a major element of the long-overdue program to modernize ATC equipment. The dispute threatens to delay STARS implementation, scheduled initially for Boston in December 1998 and, subsequently, at about 170 other ATC facilities (November 1996, page 17).
Eurocopter Canada will be the distributor of emergency floats for AS 350 helicopters, pending the product's certification this fall. The floats are activated by a mechanical valve (to eliminate electrical wiring problems). In addition to water landings, the floats are designed to take hard-surface landings without damage. Kit price for a pair of floats: $42,000, which includes skid extension tubes, floats, inflation system, cylinders, stirrup steps and an instructional video. Eurocopter Canada, 1100 Gilmore Rd., Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 5M9 Canada.
We're past the fashionable stage now and into the hard facts. Cockpit resource management captured a lot of people's imaginations in the 1980s when safety managers and training facilities saw it as a revolutionary approach to safety enhancement in aviation. Everyone piled on and it simply wasn't acceptable to seriously criticize the concept of CRM. CRM was the thing. It had to be right.
International business aircraft operators are reminded that January 1, 1998 is the deadline for upgrading VHF communication and navigation receivers to meet improved FM immunity performance standards. The standards took effect January 1 for newly manufactured VHF radios. But operators will want to determine if currently installed radios need to be modified. The standards are not mandatory internationally across the board, but are being implemented on a country-by-country basis, so operators should check with their handling agents (June 1995, page 32).
An enhanced Professional Line Service Training (PLST) program recently released by the Aviation Training Institute features a new customer service module. The complete program recorded on nine videotapes has been redeveloped and updated since the original production of the PLST. Full-motion videos show line service personnel step-by-step techniques and safety procedures for refueling, towing and servicing turbine and piston airplanes and helicopters. The customer service module highlights interpersonal skills, etiquette and service training.
Indianapolis Airport Authority submitted a bid to take over the long-term lease on the city's heliport to ensure it remains open to the public. The authority already owns the land under the heliport, but an insurance company has a lease hold on the heliport itself, a parking structure and attached offices. Because the offer falls outside the airport authority's normal budget and requires special approval, it likely will take several months to close the deal.
Operators will be asked to share flight data recorder information under a new FAA program dubbed Flight Operations Quality Assurance. The agency, which has been testing the theory for some time (December 1996, page 18), believes that checking routine FDR data could catch safety problems before they cause an accident. The FAA plans to issue regulations to shield operators from FAA enforcement actions and public disclosure.
