Soloy Corporation, the Olympia, Washington firm noted for its turbine engine conversion programs for helicopters, is breaking new ground for its Dual-Pac modification (two turboprop engines spinning a single propeller) by incorporating it into a fixed wing aircraft-a stretched version of the Cessna 208B. The company is calling the modified airplane the Pathfinder 21 (standing for two engines, one propeller and the 21st century).
The FAA product-certification process has always suffered a backlog, and senior FAA officials are providing little consolation to manufacturers. To those who have been grousing about what they say are excessive delays, past FAA administrator David Hinson blames part of the problem on an agency work force that has been cut by 5,000.
American Eagle and South African Airways have begun code-sharing on flights between Johannesburg and three major northeastern cities via New York's JFK Airport. It is the first code-sharing agreement with a foreign airline for the AMR regional group. Eagle Senior Vice President of Planning Pete Pappas has said in the past that the carrier would code-share with both foreign and domestic carriers at Kennedy and Los Angeles. The first domestic agreement was announced recently with Reno Air at Los Angeles.
Duncan Aviation in Lincoln, Nebraska received what it said was the first primary-means STC for the installation of AlliedSignal's GNS-XLS FMS with fault detection and exclusion (FDE) software. The system was installed in a Citation VII. Duncan says the FDE software is necessary for primary-means oceanic and remote airspace approval, ``thus qualifying the aircraft to fly overwater with navigation predicated on GPS only.''
Fire behaves differently in an aircraft than in most other ``structures.'' It moves faster, it burns hotter, it generates more toxic fumes, and, ultimately, it kills quicker. Fortunately, it is rare. Unfortunately, it still happens, and, therefore, we must think about it-constructively if not altogether dispassionately.
Now available from JMCO Publishing is the METAR&TAF Study Guide and Quick Reference Manual to help pilots interpret the new weather formats. The 63-page softcover manual contains over 250 alphabetized METAR and TAF terms and their meanings. A glossary of unfamiliar weather terms is included. Pilots will find a handy list of recently revised NOTAM contractions. Price: $17.95. JMCO Publishing, RR2, Box 725-A7, Montoursville, PA 17754. (717) 326-6614.
Delta Connection SkyWest is celebrating 10 years of inflight service for its passengers, which coincides with its introduction of the 30-passenger Embraer Brasilia in early January 1987 between Palm Springs and Los Angeles. The St. George, Utah-based carrier graduated its first class of 24 flight attendants in early December 1986.
A group of pilots has developed a cockpit aid that redefines the word kneeboard. The new product is about the size of a traditional kneeboard, and attaches to a pilot's leg with velcro like a kneeboard. But there the resemblance ends. The FlightPad is a PC-compatible computer that will offer a wide range of application software. Included in its basic price of $4,395 is ``FlightPad Valet,'' comprising an electronic notebook, ``underlays'' for other pilot-compiled notes, a performance and winds-aloft user page and an IFR hold display.
Thomas Sullivan, 39, president and operator of Connecticut FBOs Million Air Hartford and Million Air Bridgeport, died October 12 of injuries resulting from an automobile acci-dent. An independent FBO owner before his three years with Million Air, Sullivan brought the Million Air Hartford facility into the chain in 1993, and Million Air Bridgeport in 1995.
The Internal Revenue Service is not content with taking a divot out of each of your paychecks and holding you up for more cash in April. Now, the IRS wants to raise your taxes if you have your aircraft's engines overhauled.
You are not alone if you are one of the FAR Part 135 operators that wrote to the FAA in support of a petition asking the agency to drop a controversial requirement that the name of the certificate holder be displayed on the exterior of all charter aircraft.
Many corporate operators, small airlines and charter companies are struggling to find their way through the maze of bureaucratic steps and levels of ap-proval that will bring them the right to fly in the NAT system air-space. The larger airlines--with the strong support of their aircraft manufacturers--are plowing ahead to meet the complex and demanding ICAO requirements.
After a delay of several months, the Canadian government has handed over the administration of the country's ATC system to Nav Canada, a not-for-profit, private corporation governed by a board. Board members represent airlines, labor unions and the federal government, as well as business aircraft operators. Aircraft operators should notice no immediate changes in procedures. But, Nav Canada's source of funding, now met principally by an airline-ticket tax, will be phased out over the next two years and replaced by a user-fee system that will apply to all operators.
Visionaire rolled out its proof-of-concept (POC) Vantage single turbofan aircraft at Scaled Composites Incorporated's Mojave, California facility in November. James O. Rice, chairman of Visionaire, claims to have 44 $10,000 non-refundable deposits for the $1.6-million, six-place aircraft, scheduled to receive FAR Part 23 certification in December 1998. F. Thomas Stark, the firm's president, told B/CA that the next four aircraft to be built will be type-conforming test articles, with two dedicated for flight test and two slated for ground test.
We were VFR some 20 miles north of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in a block of airspace that serves as the unofficial flight-test range for Rockwell's Collins Avionics Division. Captain Henry M. Bulanda maneuvered the company's flying test bed, a unique Sabreliner 50, into an unusual attitude while I remained head down, eyes closed. Seconds later, the g-loading went to zero, and Bulanda called out, ``It's your airplane!''
Boeing, which has dabbled in marketing new-production business jets for years, may be plunging in for the long haul, judging from the announcements at the NBAA convention in Orlando last month. At a news conference held by Boeing Business Jets, the joint venture formed this summer by Boeing and General Electric (B/CA, August, page 24), officials said they have orders for at least four corporate versions of the new-generation Boeing 737s. These are in addition to two going to GE and one to an unnamed customer.
Jet Aviation's Basel, Switzerland facility is building a hangar designed solely for aircraft painting. The hangar, able to accommodate aircraft up to the size of Boeing 737-800s, is expected to be finished by mid-1997
Once again, the NTSB has asked the FAA to require a relatively rapid refit of all transport- category aircraft interiors with modern flame-retardant materials.The recommendation comes out of the Safety Board's investigation of the June 8, 1995 engine explosion and fire aboard a ValuJet DC-9-32 at Atlanta.
It's an overwhelming majority for ``those opposed,'' in the nearly 10,000 comments the FAA received on its controversial proposal to sharply restrict commercial air-tour flights over the Grand Canyon. Close to 4,000 of the responses are ``individual'' comments, while an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 comments are form letters primarily from people who have flown on air-tour flights over the canyon. Comments on the proposal were due November 14.
While the new Hawker's powerplants have roots in the PW305s on the Hawker 1000, the newest version is nearly as different from its forebear as the Horizon will be from its predecessor.
