An HF-based data-link communications service will be available to aircraft flying the North Atlantic in the near future, if current testing and proposed business arrangements between ARINC and the Irish Aviation Authority are successful. The proposed service would use ARINC-developed systems in conjunction with Shannon-based HF radio facilities.
Harris Corporation of Melbourne, Fla., which developed a weather satellite data access system for the U.S. military and weather processing systems for use by FAA meteorologists, has created a sophisticated new weather and flight planning system for general aviation.
TI Group's Dowty Aerospace in Wolverhampton, England will design and develop fly-by-wire flight control actuators for the Bell Boeing 609 civil tiltrotor aircraft. The England-based company will produce 15 primary flight control actuators per aircraft and six test rigs. Messier-Dowty, the Anglo-French joint venture between the TI Group and Snecma, also was selected to design, develop and build an integrated landing gear system for the Model 609. The aircraft is scheduled to fly in 1999.
FAA scrutiny of repair stations has moved to SabreTech's Texas and Arizona operations. SabreTech-under threat of license revocation by the FAA-voluntarily surrendered the repair station certificate of its Orlando facility in mid January. The company is asking the FAA for a complete recertification of that operation. SabreTech's Orlando station was the second of its facilities to fall under FAA enforcement actions .
A federal district judge in Tucson has ordered the FAA to present the proper authority, statutory basis and regulations upon which it relies to revoke a certificate for failure to comply with its safety regulations.
Ronald F. Premo, aviation product manager for David Clark Co. in Worcester, Mass. died January 10 of an apparent heart attack. He was 52. Premo joined Clark, a manufacturer of headsets and communications equipment, 30 years ago.
Tridair Helicopters is proceeding with enhancements for its Gemini ST twin-engine modification of the Bell JetRanger, and also hopes to offer the same mod for the new Bell 407. The Costa Mesa, Calif. company has asked the FAA to allow it to pursue the Gemini 407 program under the same STC that covers the Gemini 206. Another program aims to add 300 pounds of useful load to the Gemini 206L-1 and L-3. The same weight increase was approved for the 206 L-4 in 1996, and involves about 15 structural modifications.
Starting in the second half of this year, the S-76B and S-76C+ will be delivered with a new cockpit display. Sikorsky says the display, using ``improved'' flat-panel, multicolor liquid crystal displays, promises to provide clearer, sharper visibility through better resolution compared to the current display. Other claimed features of the display are better cross-cockpit viewing, built-in test modes and reversionary capability.
Allison Engine Co. predicts that deliveries of new, civil turbine helicopters worldwide will experience a slight swell through decade's end, peaking in 2001 before slowly leveling off each year through 2006. In the 1997-2006 period, the Indianapolis-based company believes there will be 6,073 civil turbine helicopters delivered-essentially no change over Allison's forecast made at Heli-Expo `96 (B/CA, April 1996, page 30).
In response to recent rulings restricting air tour flights at the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain National parks, the United States Air Tour Association is appealing to Congress to ``clamp down on an overzealous FAA''.
Gert Schyborger is the new president of Saab Aircraft AB effective March 1. At the time he was appointed, Schyborger was president of defense electronics company Celsius Tech AB. He replaces Hans Kruger, who has been named president of Industrigruppen JAS and head of the Gripen (fighter aircraft) business unit within Saab AB.
Business aircraft fly to more than 5,500 airports in the United States-roughly 10 times the number served by commercial airlines. At many large air terminals, the solution to the challenge of crosswind conditions is to build plenty of crosswind runways.
After an average decrease in FBO business throughout fall 1996, sales activity increased modestly in November, according to the most recent NATA business index. Led by higher jet fuel sales and billable maintenance hours, the index average climbed to a point 10 percent over the baseline average (October-December 1995). However, air charter hours flown by NATA members continued to rank at the bottom, posting still lower numbers than the association expected.
The overwhelming majority of business jets flying the North Atlantic will not be approved or equipped to operate in the airspace designated for RVSM (reduced vertical separation minimums) by the scheduled implementation date of March 27. At press time, only the Canadair Challenger was RVSM-approved (see Intelligence 3). RVSM will initially apply from FL 330 through FL 370 within the MNPS airspace of the North Atlantic Tracks.
Fokker Aviation, the surviving support arm of Fokker, will fit the thrust reversers of Fokker 70 and 100 with an additional safety device and warning system to prevent inadvertent deployment of the reverser.
Mid-Continent Instrument Co. has premiered its MD41-900 GPS annunciator control unit. This 0.75-pound, panel-mount annunciator is especially designed for use with the new AlliedSignal KLN-900 GPS receiver. The unit combines navigation-source switching to the pilot's primary course deviation indicator or HSI with key GPS selection and annunciation functions. Up to seven remote relays and three separate switches are replaced by this unit. Price: $995. Mid-Continent Instrument Co., 7706 Osie, Wichita, Kan. 67207. (316) 683-5619; fax: (316) 683-1861.
Dassault Falcon Jet (Teterboro)-Roy Pickens was named vice president of industrial operations at Falcon Jet's Little Rock, Ark. facility where he will be responsible for new aircraft completions. Pickens was previously with Raytheon Aircraft's service operation in Little Rock.
One of Eurocopter's stars at Heli-Expo `97 was the EC-120, which made its North American debut during the show. The EC-120 will in the future be known as ``Colibri'' in French, which means hummingbird in English. The five-place, single-turbine helicopter will sell for $770,000, a price guaranteed through 1998. Production will begin in the second half of this year.
Cessna Citation IIs flown by Jet Aviation crews who have received special training in steep approach procedures have been cleared to land at London City Airport. Because of the relatively small size of the airport and its closeness to downtown London, operators are required to fly no less than a 5.5-degree approach angle, to employ noise-abatement departure procedures, and to generate no more than 94.5 EPNdB noise levels.
Table: FAA Funding Fiscal Years 1990-1997 (This table is not available electonically. Please see the March, 1997 issue). If you feel like you've heard it all when it comes to the arguments over user fees, you're probably right. The debate isn't new, nor are most of the ideas being pressed by advocates and opponents of the various plans to reinvent the FAA's funding stream. What is new this year-and what warrants the attention of everyone with an interest in the system-is a tremendous array of pressures in Washington to do something.
How much of the FAA's costs should be fairly allocated to general aviation is the subject of considerable debate. The most-recent publicly available study from the FAA looks at costs in 1991 and concludes that services to general aviation represent about 26 percent of costs, compared to 62 percent for the airlines and 12 percent for the public sector, primarily the military. The study concludes that in 1991, the government recovered about 97 percent of the cost of providing service to airlines.
Fibre-Shield steel storage tanks from Brown-Minneapolis Tank provide un-derground storage for fuel without the need for corrosion-protection monitoring. (Monitoring is not mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency). All tanks are built to ACT-100 standards using UL58 single- or double-wall steel tank construction, and are coated with polyester resin. Tanks in 300- to 50,000-gallon capacities are available in single- or multi-compartmented designs.
Global Aviation (Singapore)-David M. Sheehan has taken over as CEO of this Singapore-based charter operation. Sheehan recently retired after 30 years with Mobil Corporation's flight department.
La Guardia and O'Hare airports are testing a system designed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. that displays a range of weather information, including if there is a need for ground de-icing.
Skyplan FBO Management has taken over the control and operation of Shell's Aerocentres at Calgary International Airport and Edmonton City Centre Airport in Canada. Under an agreement hammered out by Shell Canada Products Ltd. and RMO Site Management, Shell Canada keeps a leasehold interest in both facilities, while Skyplan assumes administrative responsibilities.
