Bell Boeing says orders for its Model 609 civil tiltrotor aircraft total 29 to date from 20 different customers representing a broad range of missions including airlines, corporate, oil support and emergency medical service. Among the customers are some of the most recognizable names in the industry--Evergreen Helicopters, Canadian Helicopter Corp. and Helikopter Services of Norway. All but one of the customers so far are end users, rather than brokers, says Bell Boeing. (For complete details on the Model 609, see ``The Tiltrotor Takes Shape'' starting on page 78.)
Elliott Aviation (Moline, Ill.)--This Midwest FBO chain has promoted two executives: Warren Tanner to director of special projects and Alan Nitchman to vice president of operations.
Usually, we wait until the NTSB declares the probable cause before reporting details of business aviation accidents. However, two mishaps on the Safety Board's agenda deserve immediate note. The first is the fatal accident involving a Beech Super King Air 200 while on the ILS approach to Salt Lake City International Airport's Runway 34R last March; the second is a severe inflight fire onboard a Citation III in April.
Now that McDonnell Douglas Helicopter has received FAA certification for its MD 600N, the company hopes to deliver 30 units before this year is over. The first of the new, single-engine turbine rotorcraft went to AirStar Helicopters in June (March, page 18).
There was the turtle and the hare, and then there was the Lockheed Electra and the Boeing 707. The turtle won the race, but so did the 707 in the race between the turbojet and the turboprop. Is history repeating itself? The industry is choosing up sides; emotions capture the one and economics takes the other. The telling of the story occurred at the May convention of the RAA in Reno, where the panel on the future of 19-seaters drew one of the largest audiences--if not the largest--of the three-day event.
Officials at Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin, Pa. want their facility to be one of the first to apply for participation in the FAA's trial program to convert five airports from government ownership to private industry (June, page 22). The application is pending conclusion of negotiations to lease the airport to COMARCO, a Washington, D.C.-based management firm.
The FAA has proposed an airworthiness directive that would require the installation of automatic ice-detector systems on all Embraer EMB-120 aircraft. The proposal stems from the crash near Detroit last January of a Comair Brasilia that claimed the lives of all 29 people on board.
FAA certification of the Eurocopter EC-120 Colibri is expected soon, now that the helicopter has received JAA certification. Eurocopter says the EC-120 is the first single-engine helicopter to meet new JAR Part 27 regulations for the structural strength of the seats and the fuel system. The EC-120 carries a $770,000 price guaranteed through 1998.
Cessna Aircraft established its first company-owned Cessna Service Center outside the United States with the recent purchase of Euralair International facilities at Le Bourget Airport. The center is expected to handle maintenance for operators based in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. In the last two years, the European fleet has grown from 308 Citations to 332 Citations. Meanwhile, Cessna has authorized Jet Aviation in Dusseldorf, Germany to service the Citation III, VI and VII series.
The trend toward fewer completely new aircraft and component designs in favor of changes to existing designs has prompted a proposed rule to harmonize the certification basis for changed products and newly type-certificated products. To accomplish this, the FAA will require all proposed changes for all type-certificated products to comply with the latest airworthiness amendments. Comments are due September 2.
Even if the wars of the future truly do turn out to be economic, business executives flying in the Bell Boeing 609 civil tiltrotor will benefit from experience gained in designing air-craft that shrug off damage and keep fighting.
A supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking that would require the replacement of even more engine crankshafts on Continental engines has evoked vehement opposition from owners and operators. The notice escalates a 1995 proposal that would require the replacement of crankshafts manufactured under the airmelt process with those produced by the vacuum arc remelt process (December 1995, page 22).
(Fillup Flyer Fuel Finder--May 1997) This table shows the results of a May 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.
International Civil Aviation University (www.icau.com)--ICAU's new home page offers information on its master's degree in aviation programs, including admission requirements, course structure, teaching methods and costs.
It might be new to the civil market, but the 609 tiltrotor embodies more than 40 years of pioneering research at Bell, and represents, by the most conservative count, fourth-generation tiltrotor technology.
Paris' Le Bourget Airport is the site for Air Luxor's newest FBO. In addition to line services, the facility offers a passenger and crew lounge, rental cars, customs clearance, charter and management, and paint and refurbishment. The firm, with another FBO in Lisbon, is planning to start an operation at Macau International Airport late this year.
A sweeping, 14-point plan to address inflight icing issues has been adopted by the FAA and could result in an overhaul of aircraft flight-into-icing certification criteria. The plan also calls for initiatives that will lead to better icing forecasting capability, better inflight icing detection and a better understanding of how to simulate icing for certification purposes. The new plan springs from the FAA's 1996 international aircraft icing conference, which was itself an outgrowth of the October 1994 American Eagle ATR-72 accident near Roselawn, Ind.
Under Bombardier's Dependability Plus program, buyers of new Learjet 31As will receive, at no charge, AlliedSignal's MSP for one year (or 400 hours) and a three-year enrollment (up to 400 hours a year) in Bombardier's Smart Parts Plus plan. The program also guarantees buyers a trade-in value equal to 85 percent of the original purchase price.
Version 2.5 of Flight Level Corp.'s Logbook Plus includes a number of improvements such as personalized due dates, expanded search capabilities, international settings for date and monetary values, automatic backup/restore/compression, and Windows 95/97/NT compatibility. Upgrade price for registered users is $49. The full version is available for $99. For more information, visit Dallas-based Flight Level at www.flightlvl.com, or phone (214) 327-1001.
Factory construction has begun in Ames, Iowa for VisionAire Corp.'s vision--the Vantage--the first single-engine jet designed for business aviation. Completion of the plant is scheduled for mid 1998 to enable aircraft deliveries to start in the second quarter of 1999. Chesterfield, Mo.-based VisionAire originally hoped the factory would be operational in June of this year (September 1995, page 24). Yet, the delay apparently hasn't hurt interest in the aircraft: VisionAire said it is holding more than 60 orders to date, representing the first year of production.
Newman, Ga.--In a major push to attract corporate operators, the new management for Newman-Coweta County Airport--Airport Technologies, Inc.--has started several major developments, including the installation of permanent fuel storage tanks to replace trucks that are now serving as storage carriers. An upgraded AWOS also is planned. (770) 254-9406.
