The debate continues-should American Eagle be permitted to operate regional jets? About 20 percent of American's pilots are vehement in their view that it would cost ``Big Bird'' jobs. But there is another group that fears their employer would lose out competitively if Eagle is not permitted to fly jets. Actually, the existing Allied Pilots Association (APA) contract with American permits the Eagle operation of jets-as long as they do not exceed 70 passengers and 75,000 pounds. Additionally, the entire Eagle fleet cannot average more than 50 seats.
For an employee identification security system in an instant, Polaroid Corporation suggests its PhotoPad Scanner with IDware software. This software/scanner combination transforms a PC and a Polaroid ID camera into a photo ID system. PhotoPad scans color and black and white photos up to four by six inches --both 35-mm and instant format--and is compatible with Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. An image can be scanned and fashioned into IDware in 60 seconds or less, with or without additional security devices such as signature, bar code and magnetic stripe.
On January 1, 1997, Terry D. Stinson will start serving as president and chief operating officer of Bell Helicopter Textron. Stinson, who joined Textron Aerospace in 1991, replaces Lloyd Shoppa, a 32-year veteran with Bell who was president for one year. (Shoppa will be vice chairman until he retires in August 1997.) Also as of January 1, P.D. Shabay becomes executive vice president of operations, and Fred N. Hubbart becomes senior vice president of commercial and foreign military business.
One of the marvels of modern business has been the advent of miniaturized electronic devices that allow people to compute and communicate while on the move. But while portable electronic devices (PEDs) have made life easier for those seated in the back of corporate aircraft, PEDs have been suspected of causing problems for those in the airplane's front seats.
Cabin and cockpit emergency simulation training can once again be trucked to you. Like the fabled phoenix, the latest version of HBAcorp's mobile aircrew emergency simulator has risen from the ashes, and has been dubbed FACTS-III. The Olympia, Washington-based training company built the new-and improved-truck-mounted mobile training device after it lost its FACTS-II in April in a head-on collision with another vehicle near Kingman, Arizona. (See Intelligence, May, page 22.)
The Horizon program will be the launch application for Honeywell's new Primus Epic avionics system. But equally significant is the extent to which Honeywell will be integrating, and even controlling, basic aircraft functions. The cockpit will center around five eight-by-10-inch flat-panel liquid crystal displays, including two primary flight displays, two multi-function displays, and an engine indication and crew alert system (EICAS) display with seven synoptic pages for various aircraft systems.
Richard J. van Gemmert, president of New World Jet Corporation at Long Island MacArthur Airport, has a considerable amount of completion experience and some interesting views about how the business should develop in the future. Van Gemmert has introduced a number of management innovations to business aviation and has shared much of it with the community. His suggestions parallel trends in the business that already exist, particularly the growing dominance of OEMs in the completion market.
British Aerospace obtained a temporary restraining order in late October forbidding TriStar Airlines from flying its four BAe 146s. The carrier was back in the air a week later flying a single 146. More aircraft could follow. Don Martin, president of the Las Vegas-based start-up, said there was ``dispute over lease status,'' but that negotiations with the lessor were continuing.
The list of STCs for PATS, Incorporated auxiliary fuel tank installations in airliner-size business jets recently got longer with FAA certification of a system in a corporate McDonnell Douglas MD-87. PATS officials in Columbia, Maryland said the MD-87 system has 10 tanks, providing an additional 25,460 pounds of fuel and extending the range to 4,200 nm. The company currently holds auxiliary tank STCs for the DC-9, MD-80/90, Boeing 727/737/757/767, Canadair Regional Jet, and Fokker F70 and F100.
The new $14.5-million Hawker Horizon-like the Raytheon Premier I-will have a composite fuselage and metal wings. The eight- to 10-passenger aircraft is being designed to fly 3,100 nm with NBAA IFR reserves at 0.82 Mach. It will be powered by two P&WC PW308As that will produce 6,575 pounds of thrust at takeoff. Honeywell's new Primus Epic was selected as the avionics system. Empty weight is 20,930 pounds, and MTOW is 36,000 pounds. First flight is slated for late 1999, with deliveries beginning in spring of 2001. (See our feature article beginning on page 50.)
NTSB investigators continue to search for clues into the cause of the October 30 crash of a Gulfstream IV while attempting to take off from Runway 34 at Illinois' Pal-Waukee Airport. Killed in the accident were pilots Martin L. Koppie and Robert H. Whitener, flight attendant Catherine Anderson and passenger Arthur F. Quern, chairman and CEO of AON Risk Services Companies in Chicago. The aircraft, N23AC, belonged to Alberto-Culver in Wheeling, Illinois. The accident was the first fatal crash of a G-IV and the first fatal crash of a U.S.-operated business jet this year.
An online helicopter parts locator site has been opened by the Helicopter Association International. Buyers pay no fee to search for parts on Helicopter Online's page for HELPS (Helicopter Parts Search). Parts sources are identified by name, address, telephone, fax, e-mail address and Web site. There is also no charge for sellers to list their parts and pricing, unless the listed inventory exceeds 10,000 parts. In that case, for each 10,000 parts, a monthly charge of $25 is set for HAI members and $50 for non-members. HELPS is located at http://www.rotor.com.
After a 10-year struggle, the Piper Aviation Museum Foundation found a site to serve as a permanent Piper aircraft museum-a three-story building plus three hangars at W.T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
FlightSafety International has closed its Alliance, Texas helicopter flight-training facility and allied itself with Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated to establish a facility at Louisiana's Lafayette Airport. The new operation will provide initial and advanced helicopter pilot courses on both piston- and turbine-engine helicopters, along with a selection of maintenance technician training programs. The new facility is under the management of FSI's John Naschle and PHI's Mike Hurst.
Peter Simmonds became this statistical data company's new research director after Harry B. Adams, who held the position for 20 years, retired at the end of September. Adams continues as a consultant.
Just as automobile air bags are coming under increasing criticism for their danger to occupants, the FAA has proposed a rule that will allow the British Aerospace Jetstream 41 to be fitted with them. The airplane currently does not comply with the ``Head Injury Criterion (HIC)'' of FAR Part 25.562 for the front row of passenger seats facing the forward passenger-cabin bulkhead.
After January 1, 1997, VHF com transceivers that do not meet a frequency stability tolerance of at least 30 parts per million and that do not have 25-kHz channel spacing are no longer authorized for use. FAA Advisory Circular 90-50D explains the FAA's policy on 25-kHz spacing and the relationship to tighter tolerances. In addition, the Aircraft Electronics Association in Independence, Missouri has prepared a list of radios that can and cannot be modified to meet the required standards. Phone: (816) 373-6565.
New from Safe Flight Instrument Corporation is an N1 computer/display. The system provides quick, accurate N1 settings. As a function of the anti-ice and environmental control system configuration, the system displays the appro- priate N1 for takeoff, go-around, maximum continuous and maximum cruise thrust settings. The system's three-digit display includes a control for crew selection of N1, temperature or test. Weighing less than a pound, the one-piece system is currently certificated on the Raytheon Beechjet. Price: $9,650 uninstalled.
Mark Hofmann, Ph.D., the agency's chief scientific and technical advisor for human factors, retired after more than 28 years of government service. Jan Brecht-Clark is now the acting chief while the FAA searches for a successor. Richard A. Weiss, manager of the general aviation and vertical flight office, also left the agency to become the Washington representative for the European Airline Association. At press time, a replacement had not yet been named.
Dallas-based SimuFlite Training International now offers training on its Gulfstream IVSP simulator equipped with Honeywell's SPZ-8400 integrated flight control system (IFCS). Since April, SimuFlite has been offering training on its G-IVSP simulator equipped with the SPZ-8000 IFCS. The two systems are interchangeable, and SimuFlite officials say its G-IVSP simulator is the only one offering an SPZ-8400 configuration.
The sale of Innotech Aviation's business jet completions division to Bombardier (see item above) will permit Innotech to expand its maintenance, refurbishing, mod and FBO services in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, according to company officials. To that end, in April 1997, Innotech is scheduled to start building a 60,000-square-foot service center, which is expected to open in September 1997 at Montreal International Airport (Dorval). Innotech will remain an authorized Challenger service facility.
Innotech Aviation's business jet completion division will become a unit of Bombardier. A purchase agreement signed between the two Canadian companies in November was expected to close this month. The facility, adjacent to Montreal International Airport (Dorval), will continue Canadair Challenger completions as well as specialize in completions of the Global Express. Bombardier also plans to continue Challenger completions in Tucson, although that location focuses primarily on Learjet completions.
After acknowledging that boarding-assistance devices will not work well with some smaller aircraft, the DOT is exempting operators of commuter aircraft with 19 seats or less from new requirements to provide such devices for passengers with disabilities. New rules required commuter airliners with 19 to 30 seats and airports to jointly develop a plan within the next several months to provide boarding-assistance devices for passengers with disabilities. Previous rules permitted operators to deny access to disabled passengers (B/CA, December 1992, page 34).
