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.
``If a CIC [corrosion-inhibiting compound] program is instituted when an aircraft is being manufactured, the airframe should last up to 20 years,'' Rick Freeman, aviation manager of LPS Laboratories of Tucker, Georgia, told B/CA. LPS manufactures CICs and the equipment used to apply them.
Despite the fatal crash of a Gulfstream IV on October 30, 1996, the U.S. fleet of business jets (FAR Part 91 and Part 135 on-demand oeprations) ended the first 10 months of 1996 with a better accident record than in the same period of 1995, according to Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, Florida. However, the same cannot be said for non-U.S. business jet operaitons, nor for the U.S. and non-U.S. fleet of turboprops.
For avionics bench testing, the Sprint from Georator Corporation is a way to get a wallop of power conversion in a portable package. The 54-pound Sprint gives users up to 1.25 kVA frequency and voltage conversion. The unit can convert input power from 50 to 400 Hz to fixed frequencies of 50, 60, 400 or 420 Hz. Sprint measures 19 inches by 18 inches by 13 inches. Price: $2,695. Georator Corp., 9617 Center St., Manassas, VA 22110. (703) 368-2101.
Mercer County, New Jersey will issue a request for proposals before it chooses any new FBOs to serve the state's Trenton Airport. However, issuance of an RFP must wait at least 12 months, when former U.S. Navy property at the airport is scheduled to be turned over to the county. At that time, the county says it will solicit proposals from parties interested in building an FBO.
Rulemaking that has been urged by the U.S. air-taxi industry for years has been set in motion by the FAA. Under a proposed rule, the agency will allow single-engine aircraft-piston- or turbine-powered-to carry passengers for hire under FAR Part 135 IFR. Currently, only cargo can be carried by single-engine aircraft under Part 135 IFR. The agency, however, will impose special conditions, including engine trend monitoring with oil analysis, an autopilot or copilot, and redundant electrical systems or a standby battery. Comments on the proposal are due February 3.
This table shows the results of a November 1996 survey of U.S. fuel suppliers. The survey, by Fillup Flyer Fuel Finder in Cincinnati, reflects fuel prices reported by up to 1,863 FBOs. All prices are full retail-before any discounts-and include taxes and other fees. Contact Fillup Flyer for individualized customer fuel surveys and logistical data maps at (800) 333-7900 or on the Internet at http://www.fillupflyer.com.
John Rosanvallon, newly appointed president of Dassault Falcon Jet in Teterboro, New Jersey, looks forward to what he terms ``a consolidation of our leadership at the top end'' of the business jet market. He said Dassault will deliver at least 55 new-production aircraft this year. On taking office, Rosanvallon promised the company will continue to ``focus on customer needs'' before as well as after the sale.
Wilcox Electric is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to review the FAA's decision canceling the company's contract for the Wide Area Augmentation System and awarding it to Hughes Aircraft. In October 1996, the FAA rejected Wilcox's protest of the Hughes contract. ``Wilcox continues to believe that the FAA made a mistake in not re-competing the WAAS contract after easing technical requirements and extending contract delivery,'' said the company. WAAS is vital for primary-means, GPS-based precision approaches.
The NBAA and the University Aviation Association are moving ahead in their joint effort to get colleges, universities and other learning institutions to participate in the ``Corporate Aviation Management Professional Development Program.'' The NBAA/UAA team is to survey approximately 800 schools and organizations to ask what they can offer within the curriculum guidelines and how they can deliver it to ``students'' who are employed full time, travel and can't attend classes.
Financially troubled Lone Star Airlines has been sold to Peak International, the Aspen-based air services company that has contracted for Lone Star's services for the past 18 months. Founder and President Phil Trenary resigned to make room for the transaction. Allen McGinness, vice president-operations, was named interim president.
Universal Avionics designed the UNS-1M to be an affordable FMS alternative for turboprops and light jets, but the airline market has proven to be even larger. The box was certificated to TSO C115b (multisensor navigation systems) and TSO C129a (GPS navigation systems) in September 1996. Since then, many enhancements aimed at the airline market have been incorporated.
When he sat down for an exit interview with B/CA editors, former FAA Administrator David Hinson brought with him the golden hammer he'd just used to knock down a wall in the employee cafeteria, marking the start of a renovation project. As an ex-military man, he said, he knew the importance of keeping the troops well fed.
Now available from Icom America is the new IC-A22 Sport, an alkaline-battery-powered version of the company's handheld IC-A22 Nav/Com trans-ceiver. The Sport is about $200 less expensive than its NiCd-battery-powered sibling, the IC-A22. While this five- watt portable unit has the same size and capabilities of its sibling, it does not come with a headset adapter, a carrying case or a charger. The Sport measures 6.45 inches high by two inches wide and is 1.25 inches deep.
Contender Aircraft reappeared at the NBAA convention in November 1996 showing a full-size, but uncompleted, mockup of the largest of its three Williams-Rolls FJ44-powered business jet designs. Aircraft designated Models 202, 303 and 606 have been under development by the Reno, Nevada company for over 12 years. The Contender models are all-metal, pressurized, high-wing aircraft with forward canards. All three feature standup head room, galleys and lavatories (B/CA, November 1993, page 30).
Oil analysis might well be called the forensic science of aircraft engine maintenance. Just as police detectives are able to coax damning evidence from hair and fluid samples, oil-analysis labs are able to uncover an engine's dark secrets by examining minute particles carried in oil.
Elliott Aviation of Moline, Illinois will supply its UltraQuiet interior noise reduction system to Twin Commander Aircraft Corporation for marketing to Twin Commander aircraft owners. UltraQuiet is an active noise canceling system manufactured for Elliott Aviation by Ultra Electronics. The system was introduced in 1995 and originally was made available to King Air C90s, 200s and 300s (B/CA, August 1995, page 24).
