Escalating construction costs will cause a significant delay in the opening of Bangkok's new Nong Ngu Hao Airport, according to Airports, a weekly newsletter published by The McGraw-Hill Companies' Aviation Week Group. Airports says the scheduled completion date of 2000 has been postponed for at least three years. The project was originally budgeted at about $3.79 billion (U.S.), but is expected to cost more than $6.63 billion.
AIR, Inc., an Atlanta-based aviation career information company, purchased the assets of its former competitor, the Future Aviation Professionals of America. FAPA abruptly went out of business in September 1996 (B/CA, October 1996, page 14). Because AIR purchased only the FAPA assets, there is no requirement for the company to handle any outstanding obligations for the 8,500 former FAPA members. However, AIR says it will offer former members ``similar services at a lower cost than those offered by FAPA.'' AIR, Inc.
The third annual convention of the European Business Aviation Association is slated for March 18-20 in Brussels, Belgium. Issues to be discussed at the meeting include aircraft aging, RVSM, ETOPS, JARs, flight-time limitations and preventing CFIT accidents. For more details, contact the EBAA in Brussels. Phone: +32 2 721-4272; fax: +32 2 721-2158.
To mobilize fast assistance to a disaster site, the NBAA, in cooperation with GAMA, has developed an emergency-response program to provide transportation for an American Red Cross Quick Response Team of disaster experts and their necessary supplies.
It was a brief episode in the life of a young Navy pilot--one that would become a legend in the Atlantic fleet. It was not to be an honorable legend, mind you, but a legend nevertheless. Oh, and don't ask who it was. I am thankful it was not me, but compassion keeps me from identifying this otherwise nice person.
-- The International Aviation Maintenance Conference, backed by nine industry trade organizations and the FAA, will be held February 9-12 in Washington, D.C. The conference will address topics of concern to both general and commercial aviation. Workshops and tutorials will focus on human factors, global maintenance practices, repair station issues, parts and standardization of policies and practices. Sessions on record-keeping, aging aircraft and JAR OPS maintenance issues will be part of the program.
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.
