Photograph: Hawthorne Dulles became the second FBO on the airport when it opened in September 1990. The full-service facility plans to occupy a new 18,000-square-foot hangar and a 12,000-square-foot office complex on the west side of the airport by year-end. The city that made the filibuster famous--it's little wonder that airport development has lagged behind demand for aviation facilities.
Now available from Sporty's Pilot Shop is the DTN Weather System--a weather service provider that does not require a computer or dial-up charges. Subscribers can choose from three weather packages: the Basic Weather Package ($1,183) with over 70 full-color radar and satellite weather maps, Aviation Center Level I ($1,555) for the regional flyer and up to 18,000 feet msl, and Aviation Center Level II ($2,143) for pilots flying aircraft nationally and internationally up to 45,000 feet msl.
Bombardier and Lufthansa hope to start operations of their new Berlin-based charter company, European Business Jet Services, in the fall (January, page 18).
Chemical Technologies Group (CTG) has developed Jet A Fuel Lubricity Additive for Jet A fuel used in ground support equipment. OEMs have found that low-lubricity Jet A causes premature wear in fuel pumps. CTG's additive was formulated to prevent such wear and tear. Price: $143 per case of 12 quarts (one quart treats 300 gallons of fuel); $152 per case of two, two and one-half gallon containers. Chemical Technologies Group, 5165 Broadway, Ste. 241, Buffalo, N.Y. 14043. (201) 226-6316; fax: (201) 228-0068.
Performance Data Solutions software is a performance and preflight plan- ning program for Learjet 35A/ 36A crewmembers, and was designed for use with a Psion 3a or 3c palmtop computer. The program performs takeoff, enroute, approach and landing performance calculations, along with weight and balance calculations based on the specific Learjet's performance manual.
FAA has contracted with Hughes Information Technology Systems of Reston, Va. to supply a new system to upgrade ATC computer maintenance monitoring and control. The FAA says the National Airspace System Infrastructure Management System (NIMS) is designed to help technicians keep ATC equipment up and running. It is scheduled to start operating in 1999.
Aviation has been captured by an irony--a very great irony. Men and women who expected to participate in a great adventure of individualism and personal control are memorizing tedious procedures manuals. Spirited people who hoped for a career of spontaneous action are forced to program computers. It is an irony. It is a great irony called . . . automation.
In addition to the appropriate sunglasses, leather jacket and big wristwatch (analog readout of course), you can add a credit card to complete the ensemble for the stereotypical pilot image.
Table: Emerging Aircraft Target Dates: (This table is not available online. Please see the June 1997 issue) July 17: LAX Class B--Effective date for the revised Los Angeles Class B Airspace. Among the revisions: ceiling will be lowered 10,000 feet msl and boundaries will be defined by lat/long instead of VOR radials or DME arcs. August 4: New FAR Parts 61 and 141--On this date, the long-awaited rewrite of the requirements covering pilot certification, training and flight schools goes into effect.
What a difference a month can make. Last issue we reported a steep drop in first-quarter sales of new and used busines-turbine aircraft--with a caveat. We hedged because of a known, albeit undocumented, logjam of transactions, sales for which the paperwork had not yet worked its way through sundry national and international reporting networks to Aviation Data Services, the premier aviation research and analysis company, based in Wichita, Kan.
Occasionally there's more to learn by looking back than by staring at today or trying to crystal-ball the future. Last year's end numbers illustrate the point--weak start turned into a solid gain. Only international new-turboprop sales declined, in the end. Looking back only a month also works. Four weeks ago March looked like only life-support sales kept it alive, down as it was: off 194 units and 77 percent. The quarter looked only slightly better, down 264 planes for a 39-percent decline.
The 7000/CE (shown) and the 5000/CE Argus moving-map displays with color graphics are available now from Eventide. Pilots can choose their own color schemes to ``color-code'' data such as Class B and C airspace. Graphics are displayed in red, green and yellow. New hardware and software additions to these Argus models include flight recording, an internal barometric pressure sensor, a rotary encoder for easy data entry and data-base updates. Price: $8,995 for the 7000/CE (3.2- by-4.8-inch cutout) and $6,995 for the 5000/CE (standard 3.2-inch-square cutout).
Mary Schiavo may not be seeking employment in DCA, but she effectively burned her bridges in leaving her post as inspector general of the DOT, accusing the FAA of toothless inspections and a deaf ear to safety warnings. She has written a book called, Flying Blind, Flying Safe, in which she fries and refries the FAA for carelessness, callousness and complete indifference to red flags of potential hazard amongst our nation's skeds.
American Eurocopter has developed a repair for the tail booms on some 132 U.S.-registered BK117s, and approval was expected from both the FAA and the LBA (Germany's aviation regulatory agency) by press time, said Tim Rudick, the firm's director of customer support in Grand Prairie, Texas. Inspections of the twin-turbine rotorcraft were mandated following the crash of a BK117 in New York City after an apparent tail boom failure. A Colgate-Palmolive executive was killed, and another passenger and two pilots were injured.
K-C Aviation says that when its dedicated aircraft paint hangar, which is currently being built, opens in October, painting capacity will double to 35 aircraft a year. The hangar, in Appleton, Wis., will be large enough to accommodate a Global Express or Gulfstream V.
Operations by U.S.-registered aircraft within North Korea's Pyongyang Flight Information Region east of 132 degrees east longitude are prohibited until further notice. The ban is effective pending the resolution of what the FAA calls ``outstanding questions related to safety of flight.''
U.K. leasing company Centreline has established an aircraft charter division. Day trip and soccer sports groups are among the target markets for the new London Air Charter Centre, which is managed by John Ellis. Parent firm Centreline specializes in the lease of British Aerospace 146 regional jets, as well as in offering contract flying services.
Garrett Aviation's Jet Center in Van Nuys, Calif. is expected to be named a Boeing Business Jet completion facility. Garrett joins K-C Aviation of Dallas and Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland as authorized completion firms for the business jet--a hybrid of the new Boeing 737-700 and 800. The BBJ is scheduled to receive certification in late 1998.
Signature Flight Support (Orlando)--Wayne Turnquist, former president of International Aviation Services, was named regional vice president of the company's operations in Palm Beach, Miami, St. Petersburg/Clearwater and Orlando.
Table: Top 50 Regional Airlines - 1996 (This table is not available online. Please see June 1997 Issue) U.S. regional airlines registered 14.22-billion passenger miles in 1996, for an increase of 11.6 percent over 1995. That compared to only a six-percent increase in revenue-passenger miles the previous year. Available seat miles were up 5.1 percent to 26.85 billion. That represents an average load factor of 52.98 percent--the highest in the industry's history. The carriers had hit a previous high of 50.54 percent in 1994. The U.S.
Clients of Jet City Entertainment are offered two basic packages of inflight movies for rent in VHS format. Package A provides 10 movies ($150 per month), and Package B delivers 20 movies ($200 per month). Both feature a variety of action/adventure, drama/ suspense, comedy, romance and classic titles. Custom-designed packages also are available. At the end of each month, clients send current movies back in their shipping box with pre-paid postage. Jet City Entertainment, 2601 Elliott Ave., Ste. 4205, Seattle, Wash. 98121. (206) 448-4954; fax: (206) 448-4981.
The FAA's Office of Aviation Medicine has released a study regarding the formulation of a general model of an ``expert pilot'' that could be used for training pilots in aeronautical decision making (ADM) skills. The study, which is targeted at general aviation, was undertaken by Richard Jensen, et al. of Ohio State University.
Cessna Aircraft says it is working with the FAA and the NTSB on a concern the Cessna Pilots Association has raised about the exhaust system on turbocharged Cessna twins. This spring, the CPA sent a letter urging owners to pressure-check their aircraft's exhaust system immediately. The group said that in the last two and one-half years, at least 29 people have died in 12 crashes of these aircraft due to either known or suspected exhaust-system failure.
The refueling incident described in Intelligence in the May issue (page 10) occurred on a Beechjet 400. The item incorrectly stated the aircraft as a Beechjet 400A.
