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.
The Dassault Falcon 50 has been approved to operate at London City Airport. The facility is just six miles from downtown London and has no slot restrictions. However, to obtain approval to use the 4,000-foot-long runway, operators are required to fly no less than a 5.5-degree approach angle and to generate no more than 94.5 EPNdB noise levels. The Citation V was approved to use the airport in 1993, the G-IVSP got the nod in 1995, and the Falcon 2000 received the okay earlier this year.
Austrian regional Tyrolean Airways has confirmed an order for two additional Canadair Regional Jets scheduled for delivery in January 1997 and March. The order will bring the Innsbruck-based carrier's CRJ fleet to seven aircraft. The value of the order was placed at approximately $44 million.
Impact Dynamics plans on being able to offer air bags for FAR Part 23 light general-aviation aircraft beginning in the first quarter of 1997. The Wichita-based firm says its system would mount in the control yoke or on the instrument panel and would cost about $1,200 to $1,500 per seat for installation on new-production aircraft as well as for retrofits. The company has no immediate plans to expand its research into developing air bags for larger aircraft. Call (800) 285-7670 for more details.
The Illinois Court of Appeals, which earlier stayed a lower court decision to block the city of Chicago from demolishing Meigs Field, extended its stay through at least early this month. Meigs was closed in September (B/CA, November, page 17), and the courts are considering two legal actions to reopen it. In September, six plaintiffs, including the AOPA, GAMA and the NBAA, filed suit in federal court, and the State of Illinois filed suit in state court. The plaintiffs believe it could be late this month or early in 1997 before oral arguments are heard.
First flight of the No. 1 prototype of the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 twin-engine entry-level business jet at San Antonio on November 8 signaled the start of a flight-test program that eventually will involve two additional prototypes. The No. 1 prototype is currently powered by 1,900-pounds-thrust Williams-Rolls FJ44-1As. But, when the new 2,300-pounds-thrust FJ44-2As become available, they will replace the -1A engine for completing the FAR Part 23 certification program, scheduled for late 1998.
A go/no-go decision for a March 27, 1997 implementation date for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) standards was scheduled to be made at a December 9-11 meeting of the North Atlantic System Planning Group (NATSPG), an organization representing the aviation authorities of ICAO countries. If an ``insufficient'' number of aircraft are expected to have RVSM approval by March 27, that date could slip again. In that case, the NATSPG has agreed RVSM wouldn't start until January 1998.
