In a series of fast-paced events, the case of TPI International Airways took a new twist in late October. On October 18, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) denied the small Brunswick, Georgia cargo carrier's request for reconsideration of its $28 million breach-of-contract suit against the Air Force.
The yellow Xs were painted on Chicago-Meigs Field's single north-south runway on schedule September 30. It appeared at press time that Mayor Richard Daley and his White House friend Mr. Clinton had won their battle against virtually all of aviation and the state of Illinois to turn the venerable airport into a lakefront park.
A fly-by-light engine-control system will not be introduced by Raytheon in the foreseeable future. More than two and one-half years ago, the company announced it hoped to obtain certification of such a system in Beechjets this year (B/CA, June 1994, page 15). Raytheon officials now tell B/CA that ``we have slowed down our work on control-by-light to devote financial and personnel resources to new aircraft development.'' The company is referring to the Premier and Horizon business jets.
Atlantic Aviation and Texaco are collaborating on developing an FBO at Arturo Michelena International Airport. Scheduled to open in early 1997, the facility initially will include fueling and various ground support services. For more information, contact Atlantic Aviation at (302) 322-7594.
Brazil's civil aviation agency has approved a program that allows operators of P&WC PT6A engines to extend major overhaul intervals to as much as 8,000 hours. Called MORE (Maintenance On Reliable Engines), it consists of four parts-trend monitoring, spectrometric oil analysis, borescope inspections and vibration analysis. The company is based in Minden, Nevada (B/CA, September 1995, page 51). P&WC does not endorse the program and said MORE engines are not eligible for warranty service.
In Fargo, North Dakota, the 119th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard is not a hotbed of fighter jocks scooting about on Harley Davidsons, sunglasses at the ready and beer busts rampant when the sun is over the yardarm. Here are balding, paunching pilots with other employment at insurance companies or farms, or perhaps flying as corporate pilots. When one of these seniors fastens into an F16, the younger USAF drivers defer not only to their seniority, but to their record because the seniors are still the best air-to-air combat flyers on our planet.
Bell Helicopter and Boeing Aircraft plan to jointly introduce a nine-passenger tilt-rotor aircraft to the civil market in 2001, the companies announced at the NBAA convention in November. The aircraft will be produced under a new partnership between the two companies, which is an extension of their teaming on the military V-22 Osprey program. Bell will have a 51-percent stake. The first aircraft will be the Bell-Boeing 609, which is designed to carry six to nine passengers and is scheduled for first flight in 1999.
The story of the Hawker business jet is told in a new book, Hawker: The Story of the 125, published by Airworthy Publications in England. Initially, British Aerospace and then Raytheon commissioned author Bill Gunston to write the history of this successful mid-size corporate aircraft. The 166-page book costs $37.50 and can be ordered from AirData Publications, Southside, Manchester Airport, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 4LL England. Phone: +44 (161) 499 0024; fax: +44 (161) 499 0298; e-mail: [email protected].
National Air Transportation Association has initiated a drive to double its core membership by the year 2000. Core members (FBOs, air-taxi operators, repair stations, flight schools and suppliers) now comprise 925 companies at more than 1,100 locations. While growth is sought in all core markets, the association is aiming at general aviation FAR Part 145 repair stations. NATA estimates that it currently represents about 20 percent of this market. To launch the initiative, the association has lowered the dues for aviation businesses with fewer than seven employees.
Charles E. Hillman was appointed vice president of operations, with responsibility for directing all U.S. manufacturing of the company's aircraft products.
The shipment of 151 new U.S.-built business jets in the first nine months of 1996 compared to the 164 delivered during the same period in 1995 represented a 7.9 percent decrease, according to GAMA. The drop continued a decline in deliveries that started in the first quarter of this year (B/CA, June, page 16). However, GAMA reported an 18 percent increase in deliveries of new U.S.-built turboprops in this period-197 in 1996 compared to 167 in 1995. Therefore, total turbine aircraft shipments for the period had a net increase of only 2.4 percent-713 units to 730 units.
NASA has contracted with Williams International, the manufacturer of the FJ44 turbine engine for business jets, to be part of a four-year project to find ways to substantially reduce the acquisition price of small powerplants
Pacific Jet Aviation recently opened an FBO at Clark International Airport (the former Clark Air Force Base), which is currently undergoing modernization. The new operation is headed by Robert R. Rada and Richard Kimm. Rada is a former marketing executive with British Aerospace, while Kimm spent several years in marketing for FlightSafety International and Page Avjet. The FBO's services include fueling (Air BP), ground transportation and customs clearance. In Manila: +045 599 2818; in the United States: (864) 862-8633.
More than 53 percent of 336 companies that operate 849 corporate jets said they plan to purchase a head-up display in the next five years, according to a blind survey by HUD manufacturer Flight Visions of Sugar Grove, Illinois. Respondents willing to pay between $51,000 and $100,000 for a HUD made up 47 percent of those surveyed, while 30.7 percent would be willing to spend over $100,000. In a 1994 survey, just 28 percent of respondents said they would pay more than $50,000.
A group of tenants and users of Denver's Centennial Airport have filed suit in District Court to block planned development of an apartment complex adjacent to the airport. Mayo Aviation, Aspen Flying Club, Mid-America Freightways of Texas and other plaintiffs allege that the apartments would encroach upon the approach zone and traffic pattern for Runway 17L/35R. For many years, the airport has been popular for business operators, but activity has increased since Stapleton Airport closed.
Fleet Capital Leasing, a Providence, Rhode Island subsidiary of Fleet Financial Group, has teamed with Stamford, Connecticut-based Prime Airborne, an aircraft management and charter company, to offer fractional shares in new as well as used corporate jets. The venture, known as Prime Fleet, will operate out of New York's Elmira-Corning Regional Airport. Operations initially will be designed to serve northeastern corporations, according to John Dow, executive vice president and general manager of Prime Fleet.
A 1997 FAR/AIM series from Aviation Supplies and Academics consists of three volumes with free mid-year updates. This year, the unabridged FAR/AIM ($14.95) has added FAR Parts 119 and 142. Other additions are the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System form and the new TAF/METAR weather format information. A complete FAR index has been appended to the FAR for Flight Crew ($16.95). The FAR for Aviation Maintenance Technicians ($18.95) also has a comprehensive FAR index and includes AC 65-19G, Inspection Authorization Study Guide.
General aviation fared well in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 1996, which covers the agency's funding and operations through fiscal 1998. Perhaps the most significant victory, in the eyes of the AOPA, GAMA and the NBAA, was the defeat of user fees or proposals to make the FAA a quasi-government agency. The user-fee proposal would have charged pilots for many FAA services, including ATC, weather reports, aircraft certification and airmen licensing.
Northwest Airlink carrier Mesaba Holdings will operate up to 36 Avro RJ85 quadjets beginning in April 1997. The aircraft will be operated on behalf of the senior partner as Northwest Jetlink, replacing 60-passenger DC-9-10s that range from 28 to 31 years in age.
The former Owners Jet of Texas FBO at William P. Hobby Airport recently became the 25th member of the Million Air chain. Million Air Houston provides 24-hour fueling, on-site catering and customs, and engine maintenance. The facility also features a gymnasium, billiard room and heated swimming pool. (713) 641-6666.
Stewart Airport will get another FBO to compete with long-existing AMR Services. Rifton Enterprises, an air charter operator currently operating out of Teterboro, is planning to open an FBO at the upstate New York airport this month. Initially, the operation will provide maintenance, charter and training, with fueling coming shortly afterwards (pending approval from New York's DOT). (212) 684-4440.
The recent addition of 12 more FAA parts manufacturer approvals brings to 70 the number of PMAs that Perkins Aircraft Services has received for its replacement aircraft transparencies. The latest approvals cover: Cessna 441 windshields, EMB-120 passenger windows and side-cockpit windscreens, Westwind inner windshields and side windows, Gulfstream passenger windows, Learjet 23 windshields and passenger windows, and Citation passenger windows. The FAA also has approved Perkins to manufacture Hawker Jet passenger and DV windows in the original and new, improved versions.
FAA has issued a set of ``special conditions'' that Jetstream Aircraft will have to meet if it wants to install passenger air bags in its Jetstream 41, a 30-passenger twin-turboprop commuter. Jetstream has been working with Phoenix-based Simula Incorporated for two years on an air bag system (B/CA, January 1995, page 30). The air bag will enable the J41 to meet FAR Part 25 head-impact criteria for seats facing bulkheads.
Neither sleet nor snow will stay these crewmembers from their appointed rounds, if new emergency response equipment at Boston's Logan International Airport works as the FAA advertises. Logan recently became the first airport to deploy the Driver's Enhanced Vision System (DEVS) for firefighting crews.
