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.
A Falcon 50 operated by Pillsbury Corporation is the sixth business jet model to be FAA-approved for the Flight Visions FV-2000 head-up display. The FV-2000 also is approved in all Beech King Airs, the Bell 230, Citation Bravo, Gulfstream IV and Learjet 55. The Sugar Grove, Illinois company is seeking FAA certification for the FV-2000 in the Citation VII and X; Challenger 601 and 604; Falcon 20, 900 and 2000; Gulfstream II, III and V; Hawker 800 and the Sikorsky S-76.
The DOT has issued the final rule requiring boarding devices for the disabled. Airlines operating aircraft of more than 19 seats and the airports they service will have two to four years to provide the devices, depending on the number of airport enplanements.
Our polling of the aviation community about the contractual aspects of aircraft completion resulted in a fascinating--although frequently conflicting--body of opinion and experience. (In several cases, we saw an unwillingness to discuss the subject due to concerns about potential legal liability and disclosure of proprietary, competitive information.) At first, our efforts appeared to produce paradoxical results that later proved only to highlight the diversity of experience that exists in business aviation.
Emulation Systems has introduced the Model ES4000, a twin-engine turboprop non-motion, visual simulator that copies the ``look and feel'' of a Beech 1900. With the point and click of a mouse, the instructor at the menu-driven instructor station can program flight conditions and performance, weather conditions, lighting, setup for normal and emergency procedures, and more. Aircraft aerodynamic profiles also are preset. Many upgrades and diagnostics can be performed worldwide by using the unit's onboard modem.
Check to see if that quiet radio is turned off, turned down, deselected or failed with the Aviation Radio Reception Indicator from Avcheck Corporation. The unit, called Comcheck 422, determines the status of squelch-silenced radios by sending brief radio test pulses intermittently to each com radio. Then, it signals the crew to an operating radio with an aural ``CHECK'' sound and a numeral one or two on an LED display. The unit is one-inch square. Price: $875. Avcheck Corp., 3651 Coats Rd., Burdette, NY 14818. (607) 546-4000.
FAA has published a primer on land-and-hold-short operations (LAHSO). The eight-page booklet explains pilots' responsibilities when they accept a LAHSO clearance, and it provides recommendations for performing the procedures smoothly and correctly. The document also makes it clear that the pilot has the final authority to accept or decline a LAHSO clearance. Copies of LAHSO: A Primer are available at no cost from the FAA's Office of Systems Safety. Fax requests to: (202) 267-7770.
Executive aircraft management company Jet Sales Incorporated has set up a fractional ownership program. The company, an affiliate of Jet Sales and Services Incorporated, is offering quarter shares of refurbished Falcon Jet aircraft. A spokesman said a one-quarter share represents 150 flight hours annually for five years, with a guaranteed repurchase based on market value. Jet Sales plans to operate within a defined geographical area. Presently, Jet Sales has locations in Park City, Utah and Newport Beach, California.
