Precision Helicopter Services in Newberg, Ore. was recently designated by Eurocopter as a factory service, parts and sales facility for the AStar line of single-engine turbine helicopters. The company is also a support outlet for Bell and Schweizer helicopters.
Renton, Wash.--Sky Harbor Aviation, now open at Renton Municipal Airport, provides maintenance and corporate aircraft storage and tenancy in a 27,000-square-foot hangar/office facility. Fueling (Texaco) was scheduled to start in June. (425) 254-0400.
Low-flying aircraft are reminded to stay alert for the appearance of new tall towers, including one expected to be 1,500 feet agl near Skokie, Ill., according to the Helicopter Association International. The HAI also reports these other tall towers under construction: Milwaukee (724 feet agl); Scottsdale, Ariz. (603 feet agl); and Las Vegas (450 feet agl). For more information, contact the HAI at (703) 683-4646.
With the encouragement of FlightSafety International's CEO and Chairman Al Ueltschi, Warren Buffett, the pilot-training company's owner, has agreed to change the name of his Canadair Challenger 600 from Indefensible to Indispensable. Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway's chairman of the board and an Omaha resident, acquired FSI in late 1996.
A battle royal is shaping up among the established and wanna-be players in the international telecom industry, and the aeronautical satcom marketplace is a major objective of some of the contestants. The battle front is located only a few hundred miles above your head.
German manufacturer Grob Aerospace opted out of this year's Paris Air Show, but has generated plenty of activity back at its headquarters in Mindelheim. Preparations are under way to start production of the GF200, an all-composite, four- to five-seat, single-engine recip pusher, with the second prototype due to make its maiden flight this autumn. Production of the aircraft is due to begin in the latter months of 1998 (May, page 126). The aircraft has been in flight test since early 1992 (May 1992, page 18).
It is said knowledge is power, but in the aviation business, it's much more. For us, knowledge is survival. With that in mind, B/CA contributors Mal Gormley and Richard Reinhart, M.D., have spent the last year developing a unique Internet safety site called Safety Resource Center (SRC). It can be accessed from the Aviation Week Group's home page at www.awgnet.com. Press the ``Safety News'' button for access.
A cockpit system designed to provide pilots with real-time weather data around the United States and potentially the world will be flight-tested on a United DC-10 under a NASA contract. The system is being developed by a consortium of avionics and data suppliers led by McDonnell Douglas.
A proposed new, small turbine engine from Allison will look nothing at all like the engine builder's current--and ubiquitous--Model 250 turboshaft. While bracketing the same 350- to 800-shp power range, the powerplant will shun the Model 250's reverse-flow gas path for a more straightforward axial-flow configuration.
Autumn is the scheduled start-up for Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services, a joint venture between Bombardier Business Aircraft and Lufthansa Technik. The operation, based at Berlin's Schonefeld Airport, will provide factory-approved warranty service and maintenance for all Bombardier aircraft.
Although generally pleased with the FAA's plan to privatize five airports (June, page 22), FBOs are concerned over a provision that grants operators of privatized airports exclusive service rights. Speaking for FBOs, the National Air Transportation Association warns that the provision could lead to excluding other aviation businesses from the airport.
Airport authorities are imposing landing fees at Oregon's Portland International, Hillsboro and Troutdale airports effective September 1 for GA aircraft weighing 10,000 pounds or more and for all commercial aircraft. The tentative charges (per 1,000 pounds) are: $1.34 at Portland International, $1.07 at Hillsboro and $0.80 at Troutdale.
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter's MD 900 Explorer returned to service June 7 following a month-long stand down. The fleet of 40 Explorers was grounded in May after an operator discovered during a post-flight inspection a broken link in the collective control system. MDH immediately recommended the grounding, and the FAA followed up with an emergency AD. By early June, MDH had completed a redesign on the link. The aircraft on which the problem was first detected was the high-time Explorer with 1,500 flight hours.
The International Civil Aviation University, which offers an aviation master's degree program through distance learning, has opened a North American regional office at Ohio's Morningstar Airport to answer inquiries and distribute course materials (April, page 34). For information, phone (937) 839-4046; fax: (937) 839-5167.
The E400, a six-place, pressurized single recip recently obtained certification in Germany, its home country. Powered by a 350-hp turbocharged Continental, the E400 is built by Extra Flugzeugbau of Hunxe. Preliminary specifications indicate the E400 will be a close competitor with Piper's Malibu Mirage, the only other pressurized single recip being marketed to the business flyer (May, page 68). FAA certification of the E400 is pending.
In a second team up with Airshow Canada, the Canadian Business Aircraft Association Annual Convention and Trade Show will transform Vancouver, British Columbia and Abbotsford on August 5-10 into a trading center and showcase for business aviation and all-sector aerospace. This year's theme of ``Business Aviation Going Global'' well describes the anticipated 500 exhibitors from 20 leading aerospace countries that are preparing to meet visitors from 80 countries for the dual event.
AvCrew (www.gate.net/ avcrew)--This site gives employers the opportunity to advertise business aviation employment positions, such as pilots, maintenance personnel, flight attendants and flight dispatchers.
Sabreliner's SabreTech unit filed suit against ValuJet for damages stemming from the crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in the Everglades in May 1996. A SabreTech spokesman said ValuJet has ``refused to accept its responsibility'' for the crash and to ``recognize its own negligence contributed to this tragedy.'' SabreTech said it removed outdated oxygen generators from three ValuJet MD-80s while the aircraft underwent maintenance. Then, ValuJet personnel re-loaded the generators on board the flight, said SabreTech.
Collins Avionics' General Aviation Division engineers visited B/CA recently to give us a preview of a basket full of new engineering and updated products including: an attitude/heading reference system (AHRS) based on a miniature solid-state digital quartz gyro (DQG); two new ADS-compliant transponders; and a lighter, smaller, better TCAS II, Change-7 software. We also got a first look at Collins' developing satcom technology discussed elsewhere in this issue (page 60).
Did you know that 36,000 of the pilots in the world--six percent of all aviators--are women? These and other statistics and facts about women in aviation are available in a free brochure from Women in Aviation, International. For a copy, contact the group at Morningstar Airport, 3647 S.R. 503 South, West Alexandria, Ohio 45381. (937) 839-4647.
Burbank Aeronautical Corp. II plans to conclude flight testing of its Boeing 707 FAR Part 36, Stage 3 hushkit and has scheduled September for FAA certification. As the three-year project nears conclusion, BAC II officials in Burbank, Calif. expect the hushkit installation to improve specific fuel burn and overall engine performance as well as reduce external noise levels (March 1993, page 22).
FAA warns pilots that laser light activity is scheduled at Dorney Park&Wild Water Kingdom in Allentown, Pa. nearly every evening through September 2. Airmen can contact Allentown International Airport tower for exact times and days at (610) 264-4539. Several injuries to the eyes of crew and passengers during previous laser light encounters are still under investigation, and the FAA is studying the matter in order to determine an acceptable laser beam power level (April, page 10).
Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque says an impetus from corporate operators could hasten the approval for business jets of a new airframe patching procedure that can be done overnight. The FAA has already approved the so-called ``Band-Aids'' for aluminum-clad airliners with hairline cracks and skin punctures. The speedy technique bonds and heat-cures thin layers of boron-fiber-reinforced epoxy film to the aluminum.
