Fred Towers has taken over as manager of flight operations for this charter and management company. Previously, he was manager of business development for Universal Weather and Aviation.
Imagine a regional airline that offers a corporate jet to haul those victims of over-booking. You do not have to imagine, because Rolim Adolfo Amaro, chairman of Brazilian regional TAM plans to do just that. Comandante Amaro has ordered five Cessna Ultras--the first to be his own personal aircraft, and the other four to be detailed to Transportes Areos Regionais (TAM) to support the company's regional carrier.
A six-month trend of stable sales ground to an end in the third quarter of 1996 when declines in all but one category erased slight gains of the first two quarters. But 1996's new business-turbine aircraft sales remain within striking distance of 1995 levels and may yet shake off the impact of slow summer sales to exceed last year's, according to a nine-month review of business-turbine aircraft sales by the Wichita-based research and consulting firm, Aviation Data Services.
Simulators operated by FlightSafety International and Pan Am International Flight Academy are getting upgrades. A Gulfstream IV simulator operated by FSI in Savannah recently received FAA Level D certification. The accuracy of Level D eliminates the need for any inflight training in most circumstances, says FSI. Meanwhile, the Pan Am training operation in Miami is scheduled to receive FAA Level C certification in early 1997 for a Boeing 737-200 simulator that it acquired recently from Lufthansa Airlines.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based Innotech Aviation received certification by Bermuda's Department of Civil Aviation as an approved maintenance facility. The approval covers virtually all corporate jets as well as the Fokker F27 series.
By Robert O. Besco, Ph.D. (captain, American Airlines, retired)
Pilots who make mistakes, commit blunders or cause omissions that lead to accidents or serious incidents will have their performance scrutinized, analyzed and verbalized to great lengths.
Eagle jet is not an airplane. It is a clause in the new American Airlines pilot-union scope clause. The provision--still unratified at B/CA press time--would allow AMR Eagle to operate up to 67 regional jets of up to 75 passengers and 75,000 pounds gross weight. That number could increase based on a formula linked to the American fleet.
An incorrect mathematical conversion resulted in the wrong gross weight being used throughout ``Cost Index Analysis: The Poor Man's FMS'' (September, page C6). Instead of reading 8,607 pounds, the weight should be 41,887 pounds.
There are more than 3,700 authorized GPS non-precision approach procedures around the world, according to Bill D. Kellogg, Jeppesen-Sanderson's program manager for NavData. The vast majority of these approaches are in the United States, with a smattering in Canada, Switzerland and Germany.
A dingy-looking floor is a likely candidate for a custom epoxy-urethane floor coating from Redford Corporation. Whether the coating is used for the installation or resurfacing of hangar floors, the company claims it is wear-resistant, high gloss and chemically resistant to acids, hydraulic fluids, oil and fuel. Price: $1.00 to $1.50 per square foot installed. (Example: One gallon of chemical-resistant urethane is priced at $49.20 and covers 300 square feet.) Redford Corp., 1075 Kingwood Dr., Kingwood, TX 77339. (713) 358-4100.
Theunis Botha has been appointed as an executive director for this overhauler of turbine engines, with worldwide product responsibility for the Pratt&Whitney Canada PW100 engine series.
FAA is reviewing a noise-compatibility plan proposed under FAR Part 150 for Idaho's Boise Air Terminal. The agency is scheduled to approve or disapprove the plan on or before March 17, 1997. Interested parties have until November 20 to submit comments on the proposal. Earlier, the FAA determined that noise-exposure maps previously submitted are in compliance with applicable requirements. For more information, contact Dennis Ossenkop, FAA Airports Division, ANM-600, 1601 Lind Ave., SW, Renton, WA 98055.
General Electric Engine Services recently acquired majority control of Companhia Eletromecanica (Celma), a jet engine overhaul and repair facility in Petropolis, Brazil. GE, which formerly held 9.7 percent of the company, now has a 74 percent stake. About half of Celma's business is derived from overhauling GE and P&W airliner engines, but the company also overhauls GE CJ610, P&WC PT6 and Rolls-Royce Spey business aircraft engines.
Greenwich Aircraft Corporation's dream of launching an STC program to replace the Falcon 20's 4,500-pounds-thrust GE CF700 turbofans with 4,750-pounds-thrust P&WC PW305s has fallen victim to lack of financing. In March, the Sausalito, California company was saying it hoped to have financing secured in June (B/CA, April, page 17). Now the company is re-evaluating the feasibility of the entire project and dedicating its resources to marketing its turboprop DC-3 conversion program.
The Royal Aeronautical Society of London, England, which has been honoring outstanding achievers in the world aerospace industry since 1908, bestowed an aviation journalism award on B/CA Senior Editor Perry Bradley during the recent Farnborough Air Show. Bradley received an award from the Society for his article ``The Active Assault on Cabin Noise'' in the September 1995 issue of B/CA (page 122). The article won in the Society's aircraft systems and components category.
For the first time, ASRS data are available to anyone who wants them. A database of reports logged from 1988 to the present is available on CD-ROM. Aeroknowledge of Pennington, New Jersey produces the disks, and Aviation Research Group (ARGUS) in Cincinnati is marketing them. Single-copy disks cost $135, while a one-year subscription with quarterly updates sells for $520. The database manager is a DOS application, although a Windows version is almost ready for rollout. To order, call (513) 247-1010.
In the wake of successful tests in winter 1995 of an infrared heating system designed for quickly and cleanly deicing airliner-size aircraft, Process Technologies has designed similar InfraTek systems for general aviation aircraft (B/CA, June, page 32). For an installed cost of $450,000, the System 250 will accommodate aircraft up to King Air sizes; the $700,000 System 500 will handle aircraft up to Gulfstream IV and Challenger sizes. The company is located in Orchard Park, New York. Phone: (716) 662-0022.
Las Vegas-based TriStar Airlines has dropped its Los Angeles-Eugene, Oregon and Eugene-Reno, Nevada service, effective October 1. CEO Don Martin said the carrier is concentrating its assets in the ``Golden Triangle'' cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Without a plan or checklist, controlling the potential financial, legal and perception damage in the aftermath of a disaster may be as difficult as dealing with the physical damage caused by the disaster itself. David Carlisle, co-captain and safety officer for the flight department at SunTrust Banks of Orlando, recently completed a Corporate Aviation Contingency Plan for his company and-with the following scenario--he goads those who still have such a plan on the back burner:
Mesa Air Group was hit with a $500,000 civil penalty in September by the FAA for indiscretions in the number of flight, maintenance and ground personnel as well as training and internal audit programs. The only problem is that the safety agency ``leaked'' details of the enforcement action before the tentative agreement between the two parties was official.
The publishers of the Air Charter Guide, a handbook packed with data on air taxi operators, brokers and their aircraft, recently introduced another information service. Released this fall, the Air Charter Guide Operations Statement is a compilation of survey information gathered to help flight departments evaluate jet charter operations around the world.
The latest volume of McGraw-Hill's AIM/FAR books uses liberal cross referencing and shaded areas to quickly identify new and changed information. Other features include a four-color airport markings section, the FAA's ``Flight Forum,'' thumb tabs and page headings. A free postage-paid midyear up-date is offered to all readers. Price: $26.95 hard-cover; $13.95 paperback. McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, 11 W. 19th St., New York, NY 10011. (800) 262-4729.
