RVR distances now are available as part of AAI Corporation's Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) II. Produced by the company's subsidiary, Systems Management Incorporated, the ASOS II is an international version of the FAA-certificated NEXWOS (Next Generation Weather Observing System). The Hunt Valley, Maryland company says its ASOS II has many unique features, such as plug-in expandability (allowing users to add specialized sensors as they are developed or needed), self-diagnostics and remote maintenance monitoring.
If operating an ``airline-size'' transport is a possibility for your flight department, you would do well to familiarize yourself with Daniel Systems Incorporated (DSI) of Opa Locka, Florida. The company's low profile in the maintenance management business belies the scope of its capabilities. Daniel Systems has been providing its aviation asset management software support to airlines, fleet operators and aircraft repair centers since 1968, and currently provides operators its services in two versions: COMPS and DSIS.
During fiscal year 1995-96, the FAA received just two requests for heliport development, even though Airport Improvement Program funds can be used for that purpose. Arizona's Wickenburg Municipal Airport netted $250,000 in AIP funds, mostly earmarked for heliport construction. Buffalo received an FAA grant for $99,000 to conduct a master plan study for a downtown heliport. Separately, the city of Chicago, which closed Meigs Field in the fall, has leased the Bank of America's downtown helipad and will make it available for public use on a per-request basis.
FAA is reviewing a noise-compatibility plan proposed under FAR Part 150 for Ohio's Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. The agency is scheduled to approve or disapprove the plan on or before March 18, 1997. Interested parties can comment on the proposal. Earlier, the FAA determined that noise-exposure maps previously submitted are in compliance with applicable requirements. For more information, contact Lawrence C. King, FAA Detroit Airports District Office, 8820 Beck Rd., Belleville, MI 4811.
Has the FAA's low-level wind-shear alert system (LLWAS) at New York's La Guardia Airport been working improperly for two years and, therefore, has ATC been ignoring LLWAS advisories? Controllers are making those claims to the NTSB during its investigation into the non-fatal crash landing of a Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-80 on October 19, according to Aviation Week&Space Technology magazine. Between 1976 and 1992, LLWAS was installed at 110 U.S. airports, and there has been a long-standing plan to improve its capabilities (B/CA, January 1992, page 28).
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.
