Operators looking to bring their Gulfstream IIs and IIIs into compliance with FAR Part 36, Stage 3 noise levels may embrace a hush kit scheduled to be available from Dallas Airmotive in early 1988. Although an OEM Stage 3 hush kit has been available for G-IIs and G-IIIs for several years, it hasn't been a ``hot seller,'' primarily because it results in a performance penalty unacceptable to the majority of operators.
The Aircraft Electronics Association Convention and Trade Show, to be held at the Palm Springs Convention Center on April 20-23, will give avionics and instruments repair facility owners, managers and technicians a one-stop opportunity to see and experience the newest general aviation technology. Participants will be able to browse at more than 150 exhibits and attend technical workshops led by numerous manufacturers. Shop-owner issues will be covered in a line up of general sessions.
Telford Aviation (Bangor, Maine)--Scott Hansen has been named vice president of sales and marketing for this charter operator, aircraft management and general services company.
FAA is reviewing a noise-compatibility program proposed under FAR Part 150 by Arizona's Laughlin Bullhead International Airport. The agency is scheduled to approve or disapprove the proposal by October 13. Public comments should be submitted to the FAA by April 15. Phone: (310) 725-3614.
There are more than 1,200 mineral springs in France, many of which have been used for medicinal purposes since prior to the arrival of the Romans. Some local folks claim ``les bains'' can even roll back the clock on the effects of aging. Glance at the performance improvements of Dassault's Falcon Jet 50EX and you might believe that Dassault discovered the true fountainhead among those springs.
Max Karant--journalist, general aviation champion and retired first senior vice president of the AOPA--died on February 1 at the age of 83. During his tenure at the AOPA from 1948 to 1978, Karant's legendary battles with government officials came to symbolize the association's defense of GA flying in the face of growing airline and military flight operations.
This month, the Lynton Group, a diversified aircraft services company with offices in London, England and Morristown, N.J., launches HeliShare, a helicopter fractional ownership program, using its newly acquired Eurocopter AS355N. The AS355N will be offered for sale in one-quarter shares to owners needing transportation throughout the Washington, D.C./New York/Boston corridor.
Saab Aircraft AB has registered some new 340B and 2000 sales, albeit in small numbers. Anchorage-based Peninsula Airways (Pen Air) has taken delivery of the first of two pre-owned 340Bs, and Slovakian regional Tatra Air has placed firm orders for two 2000 50-passenger high-speed turboprops.
Business aircraft manufacturers' maintenance and operations workshops are fast approaching. M&O meetings scheduled for this year include: Cessna Citation, April 28-30 in Wichita; Gulfstream Aerospace, June 2-5 in Savannah; Raytheon Hawker, May 18-21 in Colorado Springs; and TBM 700, May 22-23 in Ft. Lauderdale. See B/CA's Calendar for more details. Falcon Jet and Learjet are not hosting M&O meetings in 1997.
Sure, we're all in aviation because we love it. But at the end of the day, we also have to face cold, hard economic reality. B/CA gets calls every week from readers wondering how much money pilots make in general, and how a particular pilot's salary, bonus and benefits compare to his or her peers. We've done salary stories in the past, but this time, we went straight to the source--our pilot readers--for answers. Our data reveal the average annual salary a corporate pilot is $61,548. The median salary reported is $57,100.
U.S. commuter airlines turned in their best safety record in 15 years during 1996, the NTSB reports. Those scheduled FAR Part 135 carriers with 30 passenger seats or less posted a fatal accident rate of 0.032 per 100,000 departures. That compares to 0.037 fatal accidents per 100,000 departures for Part 121 scheduled carriers with aircraft of more than 30 seats.
Nearly 20 years ago, B/CA established a section in its annual Planning&Purchasing Handbook devoted to aircraft that were under development but had not been flown or flight tested enough to substantiate the kind of detailed performance numbers that are included with the aircraft listed in the Handbook's charts.
The new interim Display Channel Complex Rehost (DCCR) computer system at Chicago Center was on the outs with air traffic controllers shortly after the equipment was dedicated in late January. Reportedly, the trouble resulted from two failures of the interface between the system's display computers and the machines that collect flight information from radar--not the computer equipment itself. The first outage lasted only six minutes, but the second required the usage of backup systems for two hours.
American Eurocopter agreed to pay nearly $25 million in fines and penalties after pleading guilty to fraud in connection with the sale of five military helicopters to Israel (B/CA, March, page 22). The case also has resulted in federal government indictments against several individuals, including David O. Smith, American Eurocopter president, who denies any wrongdoing. Smith's trial is set to begin May 5.
In a move to prevent the inappropriate re-use of parts, American Eurocopter says it will start advising all of its U.S. customers whenever one of its helicopters is considered destroyed. Each advisory will contain the serial number of the destroyed aircraft and a warning that none of its components can be used as a replacement part for another helicopter without ``specific written permission from the company.''
The big difference between inventors Bill Lear and Dee Howard, aside from the two decades age disparity, is that Bill Lear had more formal education than Dee Howard. Bill completed nearly one year of high school, whilst Dee was an eighth-grade dropout. Lear's singular achievements need not be chronicled here; he is thoroughly documented elsewhere, including the U.S. Patent Office. Dee Howard, having fewer patents, may be a lesser light by a few watts, but his contributions to our industry are legendary.
It doesn't matter whom you talk with in the aviation business these days, the complaint is always the same: ``All these damn regulations are driving me crazy!'' The president of a prominent aircraft management and charter provider in the Northeast is bracing himself for another round of calls to his management clients. He has to deliver the unwelcome news that they'll have to shell out yet another $50,000 for a digital flight data recorder and $200,000 for a TCAS in order to keep their aircraft flying on his FAR Part 135 operating certificate.
VisionSafe, the Hawaii-based company that developed the Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS), is threatening to sue former FAA Administrator David Hinson for allegedly saying at an industry luncheon that the FAA has tested EVAS and ``it doesn't work.'' Pointing to the fact that EVAS is ``fully tested,'' FAA-certificated and is installed on a few aircraft, VisionSafe says his statement is ``categorically false and malicious.'' This threat of a lawsuit is the latest round in an ongoing battle between the company and the FAA over its regulations for coping with smoke in t
Rex-Cut Products has introduced an abrasive wheel that removes caked-on dirt, grit and sludge from seat tracks. One wheel installed on a die grinder can clean one seat track, while removing burrs and rough edges. Non-woven cotton fiber and abrasive grains do the dirty work. Cleaners are available in 54 and 80 grits in aluminum oxide grain mounted on a 1.25-by-1.5-inch shank. Price: $3.05 to $3.99 for each abrasive wheel, depending on quantity purchased. Rex-Cut Products, 960 Airport Rd., Fall River, Mass. 02722. (508) 678-1985; fax: (508) 677-4850.
In addition to a $9,000 charge for relevant service bulletins, Dassault Falcon Jet outlined these costs associated with its RVSM data package: updating the air data computer, at least $5,300 for Falcon 900s and $3,500 for Falcon 50s/200s; labor for ADC testing, one to two hours; labor for aircraft skin inspection, three to four hours; and labor for functional checks of the ADC and the pneumatic system, eight to 10 hours. Falcon 2000s, 900EXs and 50EXs incur no ADC costs. FAA and JAA approval of RVSM data packages for the above aircraft models is imminent, said Dassault.
