Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has chosen Meggitt Electronic Components, Endevco Products, to be its exclusive supplier of vibration accelerometers for the Health&Usage Monitoring System and active vibration control system on the S-76 and S-92 helicopters.
An updated third edition of FAA Medical Certification: Guidelines for Pilots by Richard O. Reinhart, M.D. is now available from Iowa University Press. Readers can look to this volume for an explanation of the aviation medical certification process, how to maintain or regain certification, invalid reasons for grounding, and ways to improve and maintain health.
The Honeywell Primus 1000 avionics suite has posed major challenges during the certification process because of its unprecedented four-tube EFIS/EICAS configuration. All previous EFIS/EICAS installations have used five or six tubes, thereby easing the burden of designing reversionary displays. With four tubes, designing backup modes is much more difficult. Learjet, Honeywell and the FAA finally reached agreement on the display modes and appropriate symbology, thus removing a major obstacle to certification.
This table shows the results of a July survey of U.S. fuel suppliers. The survey, by Fillup Flyer Fuel Finder in Cincinnati, reflects fuel prices reported by up to 1,863 FBOs. All prices are full retail--before any discounts--and include taxes and other fees. Contact Fillup Flyer for individualized customer fuel surveys and logistical data maps at (800) 333-7900 or on the Internet at www.fillupflyer.com.
In the wake of the July 19 midair collision involving a Cessna 172 and a Beechcraft Bonanza near Chicago's Meigs Field, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association recommends that Congress immediately halt the contract-tower program and that the FAA resume operation of all privately operated facilities. ``Lives should not be at the expense of bottom-line profits,'' a NATCA spokesperson said.
A Texas jury awarded two families a combined $12 million in connection with the fatal 1994 crash of a Sea Link-operated Eurocopter AStar off Galveston, Texas, after a hydraulic servo in the main-rotor flight controls allegedly failed. The pilot was the sole survivor and testified that he lost control while the aircraft was cruising at 2,000 feet. Four passengers were killed. Two families previously settled a suit.
This FBO network announced these shifts in staffing: Keith Goodrum has been appointed project manager for the Boeing Business Jet completion program. Promotions went to Pat Murphy as director of sales support and to David Harsay as customer service representative.
Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) has sponsored an amendment seeking a six-month reprieve--no later than February 1, 1998--from pilot record-sharing requirements for Part 135 on-demand operators. The delay would allow the agency to work out ways ``to facilitate the passing of information'' and discussions with the industry. The senator argues that Part 135 operators need information from the FAA ``in a more timely manner than the airlines'' and acknowledged that the agency is trying to respond within 15 days.
FAA has pulled from the shelves the Atlanta Helicopter Route Chart. Helicopter route charts carry no expiration dates, and the Helicopter Association International--to no avail--had urged the agency to at least sell existing stock. Currently, the FAA and NOAA maintain seven helicopter route charts designed to help rotary-wing pilots avoid fixed-wing traffic, obstacles and noise-sensitive areas in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.
German technicians are being trained at Bombardier Aviation Services in Connecticut, and construction is on target for the fall opening of a factory service center for Bombardier Challenger and Learjet aircraft at Berlin-Schonefeld Airport in Germany. The facility, a joint project of Bombardier Business Aircraft and Lufthansa Technik, will cover 80,729 square feet, with a 50,000-square-foot hangar, workshops, conference rooms and offices. Currently, 160 Learjet and Challenger aircraft are based in Europe.
To attract more business aircraft tenants and transients, Luchthaven Lelystad Airport near Amsterdam, the Netherlands intends to build a new, 2,300-foot runway and to extend its existing runway from 4,100 feet to 5,900 feet by 1999 or 2000. A new terminal also will be built by September 1998 and will include a VIP lounge and meeting rooms with an 80-person capacity.
Shipments of new GA aircraft increased 16.5 percent to 586 total units for the first half of this year, compared to 503 at the halfway mark in 1996, according to GAMA. GA manufacturers' billings soared to almost $2 billion, 60 percent more than last year to date. Jet deliveries tallied at the end of the second quarter reached 142 units, 50 percent more than 1996's total of 95 units. Piston-engine aircraft shipments reached 345 units for the six-month period, for a 26.4-percent gain.
Allworld Aviation International offers an FAA/PMA-approved stainless-steel, replacement mainlanding-gear door strut assembly for Hawker aircraft. The single-piece construction unit eliminates the OEM requirement for x-rays every 48 months. Price: $1,550 each. Allworld Aviation International, 2382 Camino Vida Roble, Ste. J, Carlsbad, Calif. 92009. (619) 931-0941; fax: (619) 931-1102.
Bombardier's efforts to quiet cabins have made the leap from the company's regional airliners into its corporate jets. A version of the active noise canceling system on the de Havilland Dash 8Q is now an option in new Challenger 604s and will be offered to existing Challenger operators as a retrofit.
Rockwell Avionics and Communications demonstrated a prototype version of its Collins APR-4000 GPS approach sensor during the Experimental Aircraft Association convention. Using a King Air B200, the company made 15 precision approaches to Fond du Lac, Wis. using a Raytheon Monteck differential ground station to provide Special Category I precision-approach accuracy. With production versions slated to debut in mid 1998, the unit combines an upgraded GPS-4000 with a VHF receiver serving as the datalink for receiving approach waypoints and differential corrections.
Edited By GORDON A. GILBERTPerry Bradley CAMI OPENS SURVIVAL COURSE TO GA PILOTS
Most people think paying taxes is a pain in the neck, but the FAA is using your tax dollars to make available--free of charge--a survival course that could help save your neck.
Ryan International of Columbus, Ohio received FAA approval for its ATS-9000 upgraded TCAS collision alert system. Ryan says the new system provides continuous coverage above and below an aircraft, and also will be the platform that will enable the company to expand its product offerings. The unit, with two receivers, sells for $12,850 uninstalled, and uses transponder data to warn pilots of nearby aircraft. Warnings include relative altitude and range to the target, but not bearing.
One immutable fact of business is that time is money. Despite the advent of modern communications technologies that speed the flow of commerce, aircraft remain the fastest way to transport priority people and cargo.
