Nordam Manufacturing of Tulsa has agreed to license new thrust-reverser technology being developed by Artech. If it proves itself, the new technology ultimately could replace Nordam's trademark ``four-bar'' design. Artech's target-type reverser is a single-pivot design intended to be simple and light, while providing a positive lock against uncommanded deployment. Nordam got into reverser manufacturing through the purchase of Rohr in 1994 (B/CA, March 1994, page 26).
Sales, customer support and product development of the former Marietta, Georgia-based Flight Watch International will be integrated with those of Atlanta-based Seagil Software, producers of the BART flight department management software. Seagil recently purchased Flight Watch. The full integration of Flight Watch clients with Seagil software and support likely will take about a year, said company officials.
Bombardier says the maximum range for the Global Express has been increased to 6,700 nm at 0.80 Mach with NBAA IFR reserves. The key to the boost in range is a 2,500-pound-capacity fuselage tank, plus the ability to carry in the wings all the fuel necessary for the previously promised 6,500-nm range mission. As a result, maximum gross weight of the aircraft has been increased from 91,000 pounds to 93,500 pounds. Empty weight has not changed from the previous spec of 48,500 pounds.
American Eagle has furloughed its last 19-passenger airplane. On December 2, 1996, the carrier's Wings West unit flew the last Jetstream Super 31 as Flight 3386 from Carlsbad, California to Los Angeles. During 1996, the airline retired its entire fleet of 44 Jetstreams, most of which operated on the West Coast following the pull-downs of American's Raleigh/Durham and Nashville hubs.
Checkers Industrial Products has introduced its Flight Line Series of lightweight wheel chocks for business aircraft use. Checkers claims that the chocks, which are manufactured from impact-absorbing urethane, are resistant to oil, chemicals, fuel and hydraulic fluid. A set of chocks features a 24-inch replaceable nylon rope lanyard and an anti-slip traction base to prevent chock slippage. Price: For Model 3518 (18 inches long), $36.50 per chock; for Model 3521 (21 inches long), $39.15 per chock. Checkers Industrial Products, 2888 Bluff St., Ste. 129, Boulder, CO 80301.
It was okay until 1978 to operate FAR Part 135 single-engine aircraft under instrument flight rules. Then the FAA reversed itself and said that such operations would only be permitted under visual flight rules. Now, the agency has again reversed itself.
Twenty-five years ago, Pratt&Whitney Canada achieved certification on the first of a new family of JT15D light turbofan engines that has become one of the most reliable turbine powerplants ever designed.
Avfuel Corporation's new educational videotape series offers safety and preventive training for FBO line workers. Produced in conjunction with the American Association of Airport Executives, the six-tape program covers topics such as operating refueler equipment, properly receiving a transport load of fuel, quality assurance programs, aviation fuel inspections, customer service and com- munications, and fuel farm maintenance, as well as aircraft fueling. Each tape is self-instructional, is 22 minutes long and comes with a test manual.
In addition to the seminars, forums and technical briefings conducted during Heli Expo (see related item), the Helicopter Association International is offering its usual battery of pre-show educational programs. Here is a list of the programs and a brief description of each: January 27-February 1: Helicopter Operator Management Course-The objective of this course is to provide leadership skills to new or veteran managers of civil helicopter operations. Members, $1,445; non-members, $1,725.
Miller Aviation in Binghamton, New York, has been appointed as a distribution and installation center for the Lord Corporation NVX internal noise control system for Conquests and King Airs
This FBO announced two staff changes: Richard Spencer was named chief engineer of the avionics department and John Hill was appointed as avionics installation manager.
A little more than 14 years ago, Universal Avionics Systems Corporation (then known as Universal Navigation Corporation), a small upstart avionics firm, introduced its first FMS product, and it turned a lot of heads. The UNS-1 grabbed the attention of the business aircraft industry because it offered an unprecedented level of performance features. It was the first widely available navigation system capable of weighing and blending inputs from both short-range and long-range navigation sensors for optimum guidance accuracy.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has honored Preston A. Henne, senior vice president of the Gulfstream V program at Gulfstream Aerospace in Savannah, with the 1996 AIAA Engineer of the Year Award. The presentation was made at the 1996 World Aviation Congress and Exposition awards banquet held October 24 in Los Angeles.
Brian Barents, president and CEO of Galaxy Aerospace Corporation, said Astra business jets will continue to be completed in Israel until the company sets up a U.S. completion center. He labeled ``inaccurate'' Astra Jet Corporation's statement to the press at the NBAA convention that emphasized a change in policy allowing future customers to take their aircraft to a completions facility of their choice.
Dassault Aviation has traditionally taken a conservative approach to corrosion control, starting with protective treatments to the bare metal used to fabricate Falcon Jet airframes: chromic oxidation for aluminum, cadmium plating for steel and phosphate coating for titanium.
Dallas Airmotive and Jet Support Services have entered into negotiations toward providing a menu-driven power-by-the-hour maintenance program for P&WC PT6A and JT15D engines and Rolls-Royce Spey and Tay engines. Dallas Airmotive president George Derby said the program ``covers both scheduled and unscheduled removals, LRU/accessory maintenance, troubleshooting and on-site field support, engine removal and reinstallation, and, . . . provides loaner engines any time the customer's engine is unavailable.''
The latest avcomps buzzword is real time. This month's new or upgraded avcomps all share the ability to do what they do in real time-as it happens. In today's real-time, globalized business world, extending this capability to business aviation seems only natural.
FlightSafety International is widening its effort to make standardized checklists for the aircraft in which it conducts training. Late in 1996, new checklists were scheduled to be available for the Learjet 31A and 35 equipped with the Model 200/300 AP. A new checklist for the G-IV also was set to be available by December. This year, the FSI/manufacturer project will result in new checklists for the Learjet 24D, 25D, 45, 55, as well as King Air Models F90, 200 and 350.
Steven J. Brown was appointed as the agency's chairman of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee, and Robert E. Robeson, Jr. has been named vice chairman. Brown is the AOPA's senior vice president of government affairs, while Robeson is vice president for civil aviation with the Aerospace Industries Association.
Several fatal accidents of Mitsubishi MU-2Bs while flying in icing conditions prompted the FAA to order revisions to the flight manual of the twin-turboprop aircraft. AD 96-25-02 establishes a minimum airspeed for sustaining level flight in icing conditions, limitations on the use of flaps and cues for recognizing hazardous icing that is specific to the MU-2. The AD also requires wing illumination and taxi lights to be operational prior to flight at night into known or suspected icing conditions.
