Houston-based AR Group formed AirFuel International to take over and expand the functions formerly operated by Air Routing International (Canada). Under the AirFuel name, the AR Group offers worldwide fuel discounts, a 24-hour emergency hot line and credit card services.
AirMobile has joined the Esso Aviation Associate group of FBOs. Based at St. Catherine/Niagara District Airport, the facility offers heated hangar space, passenger lounge, crew snooze room and shower, flight planning room, aircraft cleaning, maintenance, oxygen, courtesy shuttles, rental cars, catering and Customs clearance. (905) 685-4336.
PATS, Inc. is developing a jet-fueled, rotary-engine-powered APU for smaller business jets and twin turboprops that literally will be half the weight (about 150 pounds) and half the cost (about $150,000) of current APUs. Several months of development are still on tap before the Columbia, Md. company receives certification of APU installation kits.
The aircraft of all regional airlines serving Los Angeles International Airport will relocate to separate terminals from their existing locations. The move is said to improve air traffic movement at the airport and reduce delays. The impacted carriers will be American Eagle, SkyWest and Trans States. United Express carrier Mesa and its WestAir subsidiary already are located in a remote terminal.
On December 1, the FAA will begin accepting applications for up to five airports to be selected to participate in a pilot program to convert their ownership from government to private industry. Private companies generally have access to more funding sources than government, but federal rules have restricted the ability of governments to sell or lease their airports. This program is intended to determine if such restrictions should be withdrawn.
Nearly 70 percent of business aircraft passengers described themselves as middle management or technical professionals, which is more than twice the number that said they were senior or top management, according to a Harris poll commissioned by the NBAA for one of its publications. The survey, which interviewed 346 business aircraft passengers, also revealed that travelers use laptop computers aboard business aircraft twice as often as they do aboard airliners.
Landing fees at Hillsboro and Troutdale airports in Portland, Ore. as well as at Portland International Airport are now in effect for GA aircraft weighing 10,000 pounds or more and for all commercial operations. The charges (per 1,000 pounds) are: $1.43 at Portland International, $1.14 at Hillsboro and $0.86 at Troutdale. In addition, on October 1, fuel flowage fees increased at the three airports by one cent per gallon.
Tom Macdonald, a Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotor aircraft test pilot, received the first powered-lift pilot rating. The rating is new and was included in the rewrite of FAR Part 61 that went into effect August 1. A ``Pilot Report'' on the smaller XV-15 tiltrotor starts on page 86 of this issue.
Carriage of oxygen-generating substances on most passenger-carrying aircraft will be banned, if the DOT adopts a proposed rule. Among the 125 items on the proposed DOT-banned list are hydrogen peroxide, swimming pool chlorine, bleach and compressed oxygen. Exceptions to the rule would allow operators to carry a limited number of oxygen cylinders for their own passengers, incubator units required to protect life and human organ preservation units. Comments on the proposal are due October 20.
In June 1955, the world was agog about a new type of commercial aircraft--the turbine-powered transport. American military pilots had been streaking across the skies regularly in jets for more than a decade, but now U.S. airline pilots were going to get the opportunity to make their own contrails.
FAA has nearly finished a study detailing the more than 10,000 reported aircraft bird strikes that occurred in the United States between 1992 and 1996. The study will report that pilots involved in 14 percent of those incidents said the collisions had a ``negative effect'' on flight. Three percent said they had to abort takeoff. About 13 percent of reported bird hits involved business aircraft pilots.
AMR Combs and several Hong Kong and mainland China-based businesses will operate the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre at the new Chek Lap Kok Airport. The Centre is scheduled to open concurrently with the opening of the airport in April 1998. Terminal and hangar facilities are scheduled to be completed by late 1998 when the airport's second runway opens. Separately, AMR Combs acquired the former Dalfort FBO at Dallas Love Field and, later this month, will move into its newly built FBO at San Francisco International.
NTSB is urging the FAA to evaluate cockpit emergency vision technology and take ``action as appropriate.'' The recommendation is one of 22 submitted to the FAA as a result of the investigation into the May 11, 1996 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 in the Everglades.
Pilots in favor of keeping Loran-C navigation service beyond the year 2000 have an opportunity to make their wishes known. The DOT has retained the research/consulting firm of Booz Allen&Hamilton of McLean, Va. to assess the technical merits of extending Loran-C service beyond 2000 and to conduct a cost/benefit analysis of such an action. Comments are being solicited from the aviation community until December 15. For more information, phone Booz Allen&Hamilton at (703) 902-4671.
Photograph: Photograph: The Bell XV-15 is a pioneering tiltrotor aircraft that is now being used to shape the design of the Bell Boeing 609. Typical descriptions of tiltrotors compare the aircraft to helicopters on the one hand, and turboprops on the other. But helicopters and turboprops just represent the endpoints of the spectrum of tiltrotor capabilities. It's the continuum of ``hybrid'' operations that connects those endpoints that really makes tiltrotors unique.
FAA issued its third revised edition of an advisory circular on safety in and around helicopters primarily in FAR Part 91 operations. AC 91-32B suggests ways to avoid accidents and injuries during ground operations. Meanwhile, the investigation continues into a May 21 accident in which an executive for Indianapolis-based Conseco, Inc. was fatally injured when he was struck in the head by a main rotor blade after he disembarked from the company's AS 365N2 helicopter (July, page 16).
Sporty's Pilot Shop now offers aluminum chocks with either a coat of safety yellow paint or a natural finish and they will not split or rust, according to the manufacturer. These chocks feature a concave tire surface, a hollowed-out bottom for better surface friction and a 21-inch nylon connecting rope. Price $24.95, or $30.95 customized with the aircraft's N-number (up to six characters). Sporty's Pilot Shop, Clermont County Airport, Batavia, Ohio 45103. (513) 732-2593; fax: (513) 732-6560.
How much use do you get from your computer's speakers and sound card? If you're not using them to listen to your favorite CDs while you're cruising the Internet, balancing your electronic checkbook, playing gameware or composing e-mail, we have discovered a new use for them. Aviation Weekly is an hour-long, Internet-based, aviation-topical, talk-radio style broadcast that you can tune into every Friday at 1200 Zulu.
At press time, Media Aviation at Burbank Airport was scheduled to complete the first phase of a facility renovation. This phase includes an expansion of available hangar space and a face-lift for the company's executive terminal to include two conference rooms (able to accommodate 16 persons each), a crew lounge and separate quiet room, flight plan room, shower and vending-machine area. A separate lounge area is provided for passengers. (818) 843-8311.
Alberta Aerospace is developing a four-seat civil version of the Jet Squalus, a 10-year-old Italian-built military trainer. The Calgary, Alberta firm says the Phoenix Fanjet will be powered by a single William Rolls FJ44-1. FAR Part 23 approval is scheduled by December 1998.
Operators of larger corporate aircraft and airliners flying in Canadian airspace get a temporary reprieve from ATC user fees when flying in Canada. Nav Canada has deferred the start of the fees from November 1 to March 1, 1998. New user fees for aircraft weighing less than approximately 18,000 pounds were on the original schedule to start on November 1, 1998. (See this issue's Observer, page 34 for details).
FAA dropped plans to designate Class B airspace for Nashville International Airport, conceding that the facility no longer meets established criteria. Nashville was first considered for Class B airspace five years ago when American Airlines was using the airport as a hub. American ended its hub operation at Nashville in mid 1995, but the FAA didn't close its Nashville Class B project until recently.
