Bell and Boeing selected the Collins Pro Line 21 for the standard avionics package for their Model 609 tilt-rotor. The configuration in the six- to nine-passenger aircraft will include three 10-by-eight-inch EFIS displays-two PFDs and one MFD. Other Pro Line components in the tilt-rotor will be dual navcoms, VOR/ILS, DME, ADF and Mode S transponder, as well as an engine indication and crew alerting system (EICAS). Optional Collins avionics for the Model 609 include a flight director, the WXR-800 weather radar and the ALT-4000 radio altimeter.
Bombardier will introduce Smart Parts Plus for customers of the new Learjet 45 (scheduled to receive FAA certification soon), as well as for the other Learjet models and the Global Express. Challenger 604 operators already enrolled in the basic Smart Parts plan can join Smart Parts Plus. But, the basic Smart Parts plan will remain available only to Challenger operator.
Salt Lake City-based Perry Group and Fokker Services in the Netherlands have signed an agreement to further pursue a reengine program for the Fokker F28. The two companies, which for the past several months have been cooperating on the effort, plan to announce the selected engine this month. Perry Group officials would not name the candidate engines other than to say they are in the 12,000- to 14,000-pound-thrust category. The two companies hope to be able to start offering engine retrofits in late 1998.
As part of its ongoing safety program directed specifically at Boeing 737s, the FAA issued an AD requiring operators to adopt flight procedures that will enable pilots to maintain control during an uncommanded yaw or roll condition. Procedures also address a jammed or restricted flight control condition. The FAA considers both conditions to be ``remote.'' This AD is the latest action directed by the FAA to address concerns about what caused two similar, but as yet unexplained, accidents involving B737s.
Walt McConnell is the new vice president and general manager of the company's air transport systems division, headquartered in Phoenix. He replaces Don Schwanz, who became president of the space and aviation control division on January 1.
Progress in bringing the Galaxy business jet to market is picking up steam again after faltering in 1996 as a result of missteps between IAI and its former Russian partner, Yakovlev. Development delays have pushed the scheduled first flight of the Galaxy to fall of this year, nearly a year later then originally planned. Consequently, FAA certification is delayed until the fall of 1998. Nevertheless, Galaxy Aerospace Corporation is confident that it will deliver 20 units in its first year of production.
Nearly 25,000 souls descended on Orlando in November 1996 for the 49th NBAA doings, which means there must have been a hundred or so members who stayed home with the flu. The building housing the exhibitors was humongous-so big that there were no crowded aisles. You could have put the entire business section of New Canaan, Connecticut in one half of the convention hall. There were one or two other conventions being held concurrent with ours in the same building.
For passenger viewing pleasure, Aerial View Systems has added another miniature video camera to its product line. The AVS420 zoom camera, with its 24X stabilized zoom lens, allows passengers to zoom from wide angle for taxiing to telephoto for an inflight view both on the main aircraft monitor and on the individual seat monitors. A zoom switch is installed at the principal-passenger seat. If none of the passengers want control, the camera automatically adjusts field of view for taxi, takeoff and landing. The 2.5-pound camera system mounts into the cockpit glareshield.
AlliedSignal said its annual business aviation survey found the highest expectation for the purchase of new corporate jets since the company started the surveys in 1991. Based on these expectations, AlliedSignal foresees sales approaching 4,400 units through 2007, but the forecast figure is fragile. If new user fees resulted in an additional $200 to $300 in hourly operating costs, 33 percent of the respondents said they would be forced to shut down operations.
Lee Monson, former regional salesperson for Gulfstream in the Southwest, joined this company's sales and marketing team. Other members of the team are George Reich and Ken Skoglind, also former Gulfstream sales representatives.
Geoffrey Crowley, who is president, CEO and chairman of Air Wisconsin Airlines, was elected chairman of the board of RAA. David W. Lotterer joined the association as vice president of technical services.
A new company has sprung from Sabreliner's widely dispersed U.S. engine overhaul facilities. Sabreliner Corporation in St. Louis recently established the new company, called Premier Turbines, to unite-under a single roof-the marketing services for Sabreliner's engine overhaul locations in Perryville and Neosho, Missouri; Independence, Kansas; and San Diego (the former Turbotech Repairs). William B. Thompson was appointed Premier Turbines' director of sales and marketing.
Trimble Navigation is teaming with two other companies to expand its business aircraft product line. The Sunnyvale, California firm has joined with AirCell of Boulder, Colorado to develop airborne telephones. Trimble will manufacture the airborne components to operate via a nationwide network of AirCell ground stations. Separately, Trimble and Honeywell now will market business aircraft versions of the HT9000 and HT9100 GPS-based navigation management systems originally developed for the airlines. Trimble will produce the hardware, and Honeywell will market it.
A recent study undertaken by researchers at the FAA's Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI), in Oklahoma City, underscored the old canon that flying sophisticated single-engine aircraft requires a commensurate level of skill and training. By analyzing the performance of a number of GA pilots in a CAMI flight simulator, the researchers found that many airmen were frequently unable to detect subtle autopilot pitch sensor failures or make proper recoveries to other autopilot/autotrim failures.
For the first time, waivers for individuals with insulin-treated diabetes now will be considered in order to grant airman certification. The new policy, however, limits waivers to third-class medicals and only applies to persons who are at a low risk for hypoglycemia. Other conditions will apply. For years, the American Diabetes Association and others have petitioned the FAA to allow such waivers (B/CA, April 1991, page 20). Persons who use oral hypoglycemic drugs have been eligible for waivers for 10 years.
The emphasis on crew resource management (CRM) has made awareness of the value of good cockpit communications ubiquitous among professional aviators. But talk can be cheap, and it's the content and context of what is said that can be more important than the fact that crewmembers are talking to one another.
The aircraft is like a cancer patient,'' the maintenance manager said, referring to the ongoing job of airframe corrosion prevention. ``You have to either treat the affected areas or cut them out.''
Learjet Incorporated said it will introduce an ``enhanced customer interior'' for the Learjet 60 starting this year. The new interior includes: a redesigned passenger service unit that widens the headliner; beverage storage relocated to the right-hand cabinet; a left-hand cabinet option that can store a 14-inch TV monitor and a closet; and more diverse upholstery fabric choices and leather coverings. Also, new chart cabinets will provide storage space to accommodate four Jeppesen manuals.
The two most studied accidents in civil aviation history are the low-altitude upsets of United Airlines Flight 585 on March 3, 1991 at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and USAir Flight 427 on September 8, 1994 at Pittsburgh International Airport. Both of these fatal accidents involved Boeing 737s maneuvering to land. The NTSB has been unable to pin down the cause of either accident. However, investigators suspect a malfunction of the airplanes' lateral or directional control systems may have been a factor in each accident.
The National Air Transportation Association has created Inside Maintenance, a free quarterly publication to keep maintenance professionals informed on regulatory issues affecting their industry
This company, specializing in the development of angle-of-attack-based warning and attitude control equipment, announces two appointments: Donald F. Greene has moved up to the position of executive vice president of the corporation, while Kenneth D. Fluke has been appointed Wichita area sales manager.
The FAA has approved SimuFlite Training International's advanced maneuvers course that explores the causes, characteristics and recovery techniques of extreme roll and pitch attitudes
Three Washington area aviation groups selected new leaders who promise to energize those organizations. The aviation talent pool inside the Washington Beltway recently got deeper, and it's a promising development, given the coming national debate over how the FAA will be operated and funded in the next century.
