FAA's recently unveiled inflight aircraft icing plan sets out 13 major tasks that are intended to be the ``foundation for continued improvement over the next several years in our treatment of aircraft inflight icing.'' The most important tasks outlined in the 60-page report include: improving icing forecasting and detection, standardizing icing terminology between pilots and ATC, revising operating rules and improving aircraft design.
FAA says it will restore some of its AFSS 800-WX-BRIEF toll-free phone lines if enough pilots complain to the agency about unreasonably-long periods of busy signals. Starting in January, the number of toll-free lines were cut by more than 50 percent at some AFSS locations. Pilots should report busy signals to the FAA's Mike Sullivan at (202) 267-3061.
Williams/Rolls 2,300-pounds-thrust FJ44-2 turbofans will be installed on Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 001 later this summer for additional envelope expansion. The prototype aircraft has been flying with the smaller FJ44-1 engines. Later this year, the FJ44-2s will be installed on aircraft 002, the first production SJ30-2, which is expected to make its first flight in December. That aircraft is scheduled to be joined by 003 in February 1998. Certification of the aircraft is slated for November 1998.
FAA has discontinued installations of digital ATIS broadcasts until software changes are made to improve the synthesized voice quality. Almost immediately after digital ATIS was installed at several airports in 1996, the Aviation Safety Reporting System began receiving complaints from pilots that the broadcasts were often unintelligible (September 1996, page 24). Pilots also said that because they needed two or three repetitions of the broadcast to understand them, they would miss ATC instructions.
Photograph: Continental Launches Service At HPN American Eagle, in a move to upgrade its fleet, has placed an order for 12 additional ATR 72-210A turboprops from Aero International (Regional). The aircraft will replace 11 remaining Shorts 360s as well as up to 12 ATR 42s that will be taken in trade by AI(R), the former operated in the Caribbean by Eagle carrier Executive. The first aircraft will be delivered in July, with remaining deliveries paced through May 1998.
Society of Automotive Engineers has scheduled its aircraft ground deicing conference and exhibition for June 11-13 in Pittsburgh. The event will feature sessions on deicing fluids, crew training, storage facilities, environmental issues and liability concerns. In addition, 30 exhibitors will display deicing products and services. For information on attending, phone the SAE in Warrendale, Pa. at (412) 776-4841.
Photograph: Aircraft 9001 arrived at Bombardier's Wichita flight test facility in mid October 1996 and has accumulated over 200 hours. If all goes as planned--that is to say if the marketing folks at Bombardier can pry loose one of two flying Global Express prototypes from the flight test program for a week or so--the aircraft may make its formal debut this month at the Paris Air Show.
Pilots who fly in Southern California will need to give the next revisions of the Los Angeles Sectional and Terminal Area Charts a careful look. These charts will depict a partial redesign of the Class B Airspace that goes into effect on July 17. The airspace boundaries will no longer use VOR radials or DME arcs, since locations will be determined by lat/long coordinates. The ceiling of the airspace will be lowered to 10,000 feet. There also will be new Class B areas overlying the Ontario and Santa Ana Class C Airspaces.
Local schoolchildren buried a time capsule at the site entrance of a new FBO at Southampton Airport, on England's south coast. The ceremony was followed by groundbreaking for a hangar and business jet reception center, due to become operational this fall. The new FBO will be operated by Osprey Aviation, currently a European-based charter operator.
Recently privatized Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer posted an 87-percent decrease in losses in 1986, from $306.7 million to $40 million. That reduction came on revenues of $414.6 million, a 14-percent increase over 1995's $362.2 million.
Commercial aviation within the European Union was officially ``liberalized''--deregulated--April 1. Domestic routes within each of the 15 member states plus Norway and Iceland are now open to airlines based in any of the 17 countries. What has not changed is the infrastructure in which those airlines must operate.
Photograph: Left to right: Brian Moss, Dick Whitaker, James Keller, Bill Boisture and Ted Forstmann toast the successful world tour of the G-V. Few of us ever expect to have the opportunity to fly around the world, let alone circle the globe in a week. However, we did just that on board N502GV, Gulfstream's G-V demonstrator, during its World Tour '97 from Monday, April 7 to Monday, April 14. In a little less than seven days, the G-V would fly more than 18,000 nm, pass over dozens of countries and bridge 27 time zones.
Photograph: While MedAire's defibrillator-course instructor Susan Randall (top left) checks on technique, Jim Mullins, a first officer for General Electric, and Stacey Errico, a GE flight mechanic, get hands-on practice using Laerdal's Heartstart 911 defibrillator. Your boss has just watched a network TV newscast, and he saw something about defibrillators being the ``standard of care'' on aircraft these days. Now he wants that extra life-saving insurance for himself and the entire executive team when they are flying in the company aircraft.
Telemedic Systems of Taunton, Somerset, England is introducing a Remote Vital Signs Monitor that can transmit basic medical information about an ill passenger in a remote location to a physician standing by. Equipment like this is giving rise to a service called ``telemedicine,'' which is defined as quick access worldwide to shared and remote medical experts via telecommunications--no matter where a patient is located.
The first two aircraft in a new order for 20 Hawker 800XPs are scheduled to join Executive Jet, Inc.'s NetJets fractional ownership fleet later this year. In the May deal, EJI also optioned for 10 more 800XPs, will add another Hawker 1000 to the 22 currently flying for NetJets owners and will extend its use of the 1000s for at least five more years. Meanwhile, EJI will no longer sell shares of Citation S-IIs in the United States, but will continue offering the aircraft for sale in its European shared-ownership program. Four
A mid-size business jet to bridge the gap between the Learjet 60 and the Challenger 604 is expected to be announced by Bombardier at the NBAA convention in Dallas in September. Industry sources tell B/CA that it probably won't wear the Learjet nameplate, and it will be developed by Bombardier's Canadair division. The new $16- to $18-million aircraft is expected to compete against the Hawker Horizon and the IAI Galaxy.
International consulting firm Arthur D. Little acquired the assets of PRC Aviation and established an aviation consulting subsidiary, R. Dixon Speas Associates . . .
Barnes&Noble's first RVSM crossing will go down as one for the books for this Teterboro-based operator. The company's inaugural RVSM flight, which departed May 2 from Stansted, England for Teterboro, was the return trip for Stephen Reynolds, director of aviation and pilot-in-command of the bookstore chain's Canadair Challenger 601-3A. Ray Harvey served as copilot.
A General Accounting Office report that suggests ways for the FAA to meet future air traffic controller staffing needs ``does not go far enough,'' said the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. The union says the problem of insufficient staffing now and in the future is ``far more serious'' and ``much more complicated'' than the GAO realizes. It would be a ``travesty'' if the FAA and Congress used this report to say ``all is well'' and did not act to correct a situation that is ``growing more serious every day.''
The Triumph Group of Wayne, Pa. has completed the purchase of J.D. Chapdelaine Co., an instrument repair, overhaul and exchange company with facilities in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Austin, Texas. Triumph manufactures and repairs various aircraft components.
TAC Air (Texarkana, Texas)--James L. McPhaul was named vice president of this aviation division of Truman Arnold Companies. He will direct a chain of seven FBOs and a charter operation.
Australia will overhaul its safety regulations to include a requirement for charter operators to upgrade to the same standards that apply to scheduled carriers, and will harmonize its rules with the FARs. The changes are being overseen by an industry/government program advisory panel on which the country's AOPA is represented. Separately, Australia continues to work on a sweeping upgrade of its ATC system (August 1996, page 30).
