K-C Aviation of Dallas has sold its Jet Professionals Incorporated division (a Shelton, Connecticut-based provider of crew personnel) and the charter and management operations that it acquired four years ago from Executive Jet International. These units now will come under the wing of Jet Aviation, the West Palm Beach division of the Switzerland-based company (B/CA, September 1992, page 32).
Now, lissen up. President Bill Clinton has presented us with an outrageous and upsetting proposal that NATA President James Coyne charges ``is a serious threat to corporate aviation.'' Clinton proposes a $225 fee per flight on business jets and turboprops to pay for his national literacy program. Just who is he going to make literate? In addition to this ridiculous proposal, he would impose a $10 increase in the international departure tax to pay for community college education. We could live with this.
In her memoir, Bill and Moya Lear, An Unforgettable Flight, Moya Lear gives readers her view of the life and times of one of general aviation's most colorful figures. Her book is a reminder that Bill Lear's genius extended far beyond one of the first corporate jets. Lear talks about development of the ADF, car radio, autopilot, the Learstar, the Learjet, the Learstar 600 (basis for the Canadair Challenger), the eight-track tape, a failed attempt at building steam-powered cars and, finally, the Learfan.
Researchers at Baylor University in Waco, Texas will step up their investigation into the use of ethanol and various blends of alternative fuels in aircraft turbine engines. Part of a $1-million grant from the Texas Alternative Fuels Council, a government and industry group, was used to purchase a King Air A90 that will be instrumented to monitor the impact of ethanol and other potential fuels on air pollution and engine performance. Researchers said the aircraft is the first to operate with a blend of fuel alternatives.
Berkshire Hathaway, the Omaha-based conglomerate, is about to acquire another company: FlightSafety International, the simulator-training organization of Flushing, New York. The two firms entered into a merger agreement in mid October in which FSI is expected to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire by year-end or early 1997. Warren E. Buffett, chairman of the board of Berkshire, implied that Al Ueltschi would remain chairman and CEO of FSI.
Tinsley Advertising Agency, a large, Miami-based firm, has been selected to spearhead GA Team 2000, an industry-sponsored and financed general aviation promotional effort (B/CA, May, page 11).
General aviation flying in ICAO contracting states (excluding the C.I.S. and China) was estimated to have decreased slightly in 1995 to about 38 million hours from the 1994 volume of approximately 39 million hours.
Fairchild Dornier subsidiary Merlin Express has leased 17 Fairchild Metro IIIs from British Aerospace Asset Management-Turboprops. The aircraft will augment Merlin's existing fleet of 25 Metro aircraft. The San Antonio-based carrier operates throughout the United States and the Caribbean in cargo service for larger cargo carriers and freight forwarders in the small-parcel express business. In addition, Merlin operates three Metro IIs for Yute Air Alaska in scheduled passenger service out of Anchorage.
Flight departments may see additional crewmembers on long-haul flights as a relatively straightforward solution to the possibility of severe crew fatigue or to avoid running out of established duty time. But some operators are finding that option may present its own problems. Thoughtful planning and firm discipline must be part of an augmented crew plan to ensure that the most rested crew are in position. Otherwise, the extra crew could end up being a burden during critical phases of flight.
Operators of large and small aircraft maintenance facilities will appreciate the ease-of-use features found in the Log Book Organizer 2000. LBO 2000 is a new CD-ROM developed by Tim Carr, a former maintenance facility and charter operator owner. The program was designed to ease the record-keeping of maintenance, operating hours, cycles and other information. It features a suite of five databases: airframe, propeller, turbine engine, recip engine and APU.
For the quarter of 1996, worldwide new-jet sales dropped 22 planes to 53, off 29.3 percent from the same period in 1995; new turboprop sales plunged further, off 65.5 percent to 10 from 29. Again, as has been the case most of the year, there was a vast gap between U.S. and international sales. New-jet sales in the United States were 77 percent of the global total although down 26.8 percent to 41 from 56; international new-jet sales of 12 in the period were down 36.8 percent from 19 in 1995's third quarter.
Some might consider flying for one of the shared-ownership programs the best of both worlds: Pilots fly a fixed schedule like their airline counterparts, but have the variability and direct customer contact that adds spice to life in the corporate ranks. There seems to be no shortage of pilots seeking to make the transition. In the last year, Executive Jet Aviation (EJA) had 3,700 applicants vying for just 125 jobs-an acceptance rate of just under 3.5 percent.
U.K.-based Aircraft Charter Services has opened a free Web site for finding charter operators serving Europe. The customer is asked to furnish the departure location, seating capacity, type of aircraft desired and required dates. The program responds with a profile of the charter company and the aircraft available, including photographs. The site also lists deadhead legs available for charter. Operators can join the database for an annual membership charge of 900 (about $1,400 U.S.) plus 200 (about $300 U.S.) per aircraft. For more details, visit http://www.oacs.co.uk.
Northstar Technologies' 12-channel, automatic M3 approach GPS navigator now has TSO C-129, Class A1 approval for en route, terminal and non-precision approach operations. Using the automated feature, the pilot programs the entire approach into the database, complete with each leg of procedure turns and holds. Then, it's a hands-off operation--just follow the CDI, says Northstar. The M3 GPS Approach is available with a choice of four Flitecards built from Jeppesen NavData. Price: $6,395. Northstar Technologies, 30 Sudbury Rd., Acton, MA 01720. (508) 897-6600.
It's been just over 20 years since the FAA and NASA launched the ASRS--a means by which pilots and others could report safety issues right away-anonymously-and without fear of being charged with breaking an FAR. That guarantee remains 100 percent fulfilled. ASRS program officials have processed 338,000 aviation incident reports, and not one has violated the confidentiality of a person filing a report.
There are the ``haves'' and the ``have-nots'' in the regional aircraft marketplace, according to today's conven- tional wisdom. The haves are those companies or consortiums with a family of products to present-from small to large, from turboprops to jets. The have-nots are those manufacturers that have opted not to link up with others and those that have chosen to expand their product lines on their own. Discussions with top manufacturing executives during the recent Farnborough Air Show clearly revealed this divergence.
MentorPlus isn't just marketing FliteStar, FliteMap and Approach Pro. The Aurora, Oregon-based company recently teamed up with GTE DUATS to develop a 32-bit Windows-based version of GTE's automated DUATS briefing and communications software. The product reportedly looks and operates like a simplified version of FliteStar for Windows. GTE will be making this software available free to more than 180,000 pilots.
A three-judge federal appeals court panel hearing arguments in October on a lawsuit to repeal the FAR Part 121 ``Age 60 Rule'' wanted to know why the FAA allows corporate and air-taxi pilots to fly beyond age 60. The FAA responded to the court that the duty of an air carrier to provide service with the highest possible degree of safety is different from that of other air transportation entities.
Would you like to increase your chances for promotion, salary increases and a more desirable job, or to improve your standing in your current job--and at a minimum of pain and inconvenience? A subcommittee of the NBAA Management Committee is working to make pilots' career goals come true with the introduction of a professional development program for NBAA members. The program is the substitute--a member-friendly substitute--for the NBAA's proposed certification program (B/CA, Intelligence, June 1994, page 15).
A proposed rule would order air-taxi operators, as well as airlines, to maintain passenger manifests for all flights to or from the United States. The manifest would have to be submitted to the DOT in the event of an ``aviation disaster.'' The manifest information must include the passenger's name, passport number and country of issue (if a passport is required for travel), and the name and phone number of an emergency contact.
Hans Kruger will be replaced as president of Saab Aircraft AB effective January 1, 1997, although that date is not confirmed. The move sustantiates rumors that have been circulating for some time. He will become head of the JAS-39 Gripen jet-fighter business unit after just under three years in the job of leading the commercial aircraft program.
Is South Korea's Samsung Aerospace Industries the white knight for bankrupt Fokker NV of he Netherlands? The Dutch press seems to think so. The two parties are mum. Dutch press reports have called Samsung an imminent rescuer of the remaining assets of Fokker in a proposed takeover package in which Samsung would control 70 percent of a new Fokker aircraft company. The Stork Group, which now controls some former [profitable] Fokker assets, and the Dutch government would each hold 15 percent of the regional-aircraft manufacturer.
