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.
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.
