Iowa's annual Airport Conference, organized by the Iowa DOT, is scheduled for October 9-10 in Ames and will include various general aviation topics. In the planning stage are FAA safety seminars on Global Positioning Systems and weather operations, pilot regulations on certification and medical requirements, maintenance topics and navigational systems for general aviation. For regis-tration information, call (515) 237-3302.
Two federal legislators, who are not members of the powerful aviation subcommittees, have introduced legislation in the House and Senate that would restrict the FAA's emergency certificate revocation and suspension powers. It would force the agency to follow certain procedures and demonstrate that just cause existed for taking emergency action.
The Honeywell/Pelorus Satellite Landing System (SLS-2000) is the first differential GPS system (DGPS) ground station to receive FAA certification, and the agency is expected to commission the system for the world's first operational use at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport shortly. Next begins the chain of FAA certification of airborne equipment to use the ground station, starting with the airlines. Newark International is among other U.S. airports working on installation of the SLS-2000.
The Department of Aviation Sciences at Baylor University in Waco, Texas and the Renewable Aviation Fuels Development Center (RAFDC) will host the second International Conference on Alternative Fuels on November 6-8 to discuss new directions in GA fuel development. Max Shauck, Ph.D. would like ethanol, a compound that can be produced from feedstock and from the waste streams that come from some industries, to replace 100LL.
As promising as Thermion's system might be for helping fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft combat ice, the company believes that as much as 75 percent of its business could eventually come from non-flying applications, mostly outside aerospace.
New from BFGoodrich Avionics Systems is the Stormscope WX-500 Series II Weather Mapping Sensor. The sensor was designed to detect electrical charges generated by thunderstorms within a 200-nm radius of the aircraft and to display the information on the new generation of multifunction displays. The sensor provides two modes of operation: strike mode and cell mode. Other features include heading stabilization and 360-degree and 120-degree views. Price: $5,995 (includes processor and omnidirectional antenna). BFGoodrich Avionics Systems, 5353 52nd St. SE, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Flightcrews using the MagnaStar C-2000 airborne telephone now can get a CHIP (Cockpit Headset Interface Panel) from Teledyne Controls that will allow them to place or receive calls using the aircraft's audio panel--without removing their headsets--and then to go back quickly to the normal headset function. Price: $4,590. Teledyne Controls, 8414 154th Ave. NE, Redmond, Wash. 98052. (206) 861-6906; fax: (206) 885-1543.
June's Paris Air Show attracted 1,853 exhibitors--up 13.4 percent over the participation in the 1995 show--and 121,908 aviation professionals, according to the Salons Internationaux de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace. Attendance of 216 official foreign delegations from 97 countries and the fact that foreign exhibitors accounted for 62 percent of the total exhibitors attested to the show's ``internationalization.'' The value of the contracts signed or deals closed reached $11.3 billion.
The Galaxy's Collins Pro Line 4 avionics suite looks a lot like the system installed in the Astra, except for its five-tube configuration, which includes a centrally positioned EICAS display. Standard Pro Line 4 equipment includes a dual-channel autopilot, dual attitude-heading reference systems and dual digital air data computers, all of which give the aircraft potential for RVSM certification. The package also in- cludes dual ARINC 429 Pro Line comm/nav/ ident radios, including dual DMEs, ADFs and integrated radio tuning units.
An organization's 50th commemorative year does come but once in its lifetime, and the NBAA is planning to celebrate its golden anniversary with a shindig in Dallas not to be forgotten. Booth sales for the NBAA's 50th Annual Meeting and Convention are booming with a total of 3,242 and counting, while an estimated 190 aircraft will be on static display at Signature Aviation/Dallas Airmotive facilities on Dallas Love Field.
WedgCor fabricates steel buildings for aviation use--from single-unit hangars to structures with a 200-foot span. Using computerized planning and engineering, WedgCor building systems offer three choices of door construction--bifold, sliding stack or curtain doors. Designs are available in a variety of roof pitches. Price: Custom engineering is worked out for each purchaser. WedgCor, Inc., 6800 E. Hampden Ave., Denver, Colo. 80224. (303) 759-3200; fax: (303) 759-3025.
Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the veteran pilot and legislator, deserves kudos from the pilot community for attempting to curb a continued abuse of power by the FAA. Inhofe, along with Senators John Breaux (D-La.), Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), recently introduced legislation to require the FAA to ``show just cause for bringing an emergency revocation action against a certificate holder.''
The City of Chicago told B/CA that the purchase of an ILS for Meigs Field is on hold pending further talks with the FAA, the Illinois DOT and the airport's tenants as to whether a precision approach or a non-precision approach ``is the best technology'' for landings at the airfield in inclement weather. Central to the debate is disagreement over building a longer runway to accommodate an ILS. Sources close to the debate expect the decision to be a non-precision approach (February, page 11).
FAA has approved Gulfstream Aerospace's RVSM inspections and test procedures for the G-IV, and the company has prepared a Customer Data Package to assist operators in obtaining final FAA approval. The company also can provide a GPS Monitoring Unit in Savannah for the required approval flight. The specified cost for the required inspections is $14,000.
You've just completed three hours in the simulator, where you were concentrating on the many scenarios thrown at you by the instructor. You're tired and ready to head home as soon as the debriefing is finished. You're still pumped up by your accomplishments, however--so much so that you aren't concerned that you're a bit shaky when you walk to the classroom. But as you walk to your car a little later, you feel nauseous and kind of dizzy, and you're aware of a strange feeling of unsteadiness. ``Maybe I'm coming down with the flu,'' you grumble to yourself.
While the acrimonious war between Boeing and Airbus plays out on a global stage, one little battle will be fought in corporate aviation. Just one year after Boeing announced its joint venture with General Electric to offer the BBJ version of the new 737 to corporate operators, Airbus at the Paris Air Show said it will sell a corporate variant of its A319 that will be capable of flying 6,200 nm non-stop with 10 passengers.
Currently, it's under construction at FlightSafety International's Simulation Systems Division. When completed, the first unit will be installed in Tucson. Initially, it will lack any FAA approvals and will be used as a familiarization and procedures trainer. FAA Level A certification is due January 16, 1998, and Level D certification should occur by mid 1998. A second simulator will be installed at FlightSafety's Wichita Learjet learning facility. WHERE'S THE SIMULATOR?
Don Spears was born in Quebec, on the U.S. border. His companions were from both sides of the border; hence he grew up fluent in French and English. Fast forward to Pearl Harbor. By consuming banana by the stalk, Spears was able to up his weight to an acceptable level to join the U.S. Army. Shipped to the U.K., the Army duly noted his fluency in French and asked him to volunteer for a special OSS mission. He did. He was then sent to an estate in central Britain for several months of intensive training.
OriginPacific Airways, a new air charter company based in Nelson, New Zealand, has introduced the first British Aerospace Jetstreams 31s to operate in the country. The firm is operating four of the twin-turboprop aircraft, one configured as a 10-seat executive aircraft. The other three have 18 seats laid out in a conventional six row, two-by-one-seat commuter configuration.
PATS, inc. of Columbia, Md. has acquired the former Georgetown Aviation facility in Georgetown, Del. as its base for the installation and functional testing of the auxiliary fuel tank system for the Boeing Business Jet. Previously, Boeing chose PATS to produce the auxiliary fuel tanks, which will allow the BBJ to reach its projected 6,200-nm range. The total order is worth $200 million to PATS.
Galaxy Aerospace Corp. will break ground at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth during NBAA convention time for its new 140,000-square-foot, $12- million headquarters complex. New facilities are expected to be operational in September 1998--in time to start completetions of the new intercontinental Galaxy business jet--now being developed at Galaxy Aerospace's partner company, Israel Aircraft Industries, in Tel Aviv.
Certificated repair station Mid-Ohio Aviation in Wooster, Ohio was recently FAA approved for airframe and powerplant (P&WC PT6 and JT15D) repairs on light piston and turbine aircraft
