The Career Pilots Association (CPA) believes that the ``trend toward low entry-level pay scales, buy-a-job pay-for-training practices and the bottom-line thinking prevalent in today's aviation environment'' is wrong and compromises the health and safety of the industry. According to the organizers of the new, non-profit CPA, ``Today's flightcrew members are increasingly being asked to perform more work with less prestige, benefits or respect than ever before and are being paid below minimum wages.''
General aviation facilities could be affected by the U.S. government's recent moves to increase aviation security intended for the airlines, according to the National Air Transportation Association.
A Fluidplastic noise and vibration canceling system from Lord Corporation's Mechanical Products Division in Erie, Pennsylvania is being tested for use in helicopter cabins. Fluidplastics combine the capabilities of elastomeric elements with the effects of fluid moving between sealed chambers to reduce the rotor-induced, four-per-rev vibration common to most turbine helicopters. Initial tests are being conducted in the Bell 430 and Agusta 109.
On the brink of the FAA's release of the proposed revision to FAR Part 145 repair station rules, the National Air Transportation Association is warning that the costs associated with new requirements contained in the proposal ``will effectively double the financial and administrative burden on repair stations.'' The Part 145 rewrite process is now in its seventh year, after being launched in mid 1989 (B/CA, September 21, 1989).
To be available in early 1997 is Monsanto Company's Skydrol 5, a new hydraulic fluid that will eventually replace Type IV. Skydrol 5 still has the fire-resistant properties of Type IV, plus claimed improvements in erosion protection, toxicity characteristics and weight savings. Available by the quart, gallon, five-gallon pail and 55-gallon drum. Call Monsanto for prices. Monsanto Co., 800 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63167. (214) 694-1000.
In a move anticipated for more than a year, Horizon Air has decided to return its 12 Dornier 328 high-speed turboprops and standardize on a new fleet of de Havilland Dash 8s. The Alaska Air Group subsidiary has ordered 25 firm and 15 ``conditional,'' plus 30 options for the Dash 8 with the right to convert Dash 8-200s to -300s, or -400s on short notice. This elevates the orders from 37 to 50 and 70 seats, respectively.
Century Aerospace (the former Paragon Aircraft) claims its planned single-engine business jet will have a direct operating cost of approximately $250 an hour, about the same as a cabin-class piston twin, yet it will go ``twice as far, twice as fast.'' The Columbus, Ohio company says the $1.8-million Century Jet (previously known as the Spirit) will cruise at more than 400 KTAS over a 1,300-nm range at altitudes up to FL 410. First flight of a production-conforming prototype is scheduled for the fall of 1997.
The makers and marketers of aviation computing systems have been busy during the previous 12 months, introducing new or upgraded versions of their software, retiring older products, making proven products more versatile and powerful, launching or embellishing Internet services, selling their products outright to other vendors and scrutinizing the marketplace to anticipate the next wave of development.
Space-Ray has introduced a series of infrared gas tube heaters appropriate for hangars. Available in both natural and propane gas-fired models, the Space-Ray Cold Blocker comes in a smooth, 9.25-foot-long cast iron U-tube design with aluminum reflectors for uniform heat distribution. Units come factory assembled at mounting heights from six to 20 feet above the floor. Four different capacities can be ordered, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 BTUs per hour. Price range: $800 to $1,600. Space-Ray, 305 Doggett St., Charlotte, NC 28236. (704) 372-3485.
Unless there is another postponement, and there have been several, the transition of Canada's government-operated ATC system to Nav Canada, a non-government, nonprofit corporation, is scheduled to occur on October 31. The changeover, which was originally targeted to occur on April 1, calls for the new organization to be funded totally from user fees, and many of them will be increased. The present Air Transport Taxes system will be phased out over a period of two years. Nav Canada is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, and Ken Copeland is the chief executive officer.
On November 4, U.S. Customs will start allowing pre-approved aircraft operators reentering the United States from Canada to clear customs by phoning (800) 98CLEAR. To participate in the General Aviation Telephonic Entry (GATE) program, operators must complete Customs Form 442 and submit it to the customs office nearest to the applicant's most frequently used airport. The forms should be available from local customs offices, but at press time some offices were not aware of GATE and didn't have forms. Direct questions to U.S. Customs in Washington, D.C.
Lack of federal funding has terminally paralyzed TCAS IV, the planned next-generation, GPS-based TCAS that would have offered a number of enhancements over TCAS II. But software Change 7 for TCAS II comes to the rescue: it will incorporate virtually all of the functions of TCAS IV with plenty of room for growth. Change 7 is expected to be released to the industry by the end of this year. (For a status report on TCAS, see page 60.)
Renovation of the terminal lobby, the acquisition of updated aircraft service equipment and the construction of a 50,000-square-foot hangar are all scheduled to be completed at Million Air's Salt Lake International Airport FBO by the middle of this month. The facility, which changed ownership early this year, operates on a 24-hour basis and includes a repair station. In addition, the company plans to offer aircraft management services.
Remember TCAS IV? That was to be the next-generation, GPS-based TCAS that would have offered a number of enhancements over today's TCAS II. TCAS IV proponents will tell you that development is quiescent, awaiting future federal funding. Wrong. TCAS IV is beyond coma-tose, much less resting comfortably. It's virtually dead. And in the absence of a Lazarus-like miracle in Congress, it won't be revived. (TCAS III never made it past the computer-aided-design screen, a victim of technological limitations on its horizontal collision avoidance logic.)
With its fuel pump teething pains now far behind it, the TFE731-40 is on course toward becoming one of AlliedSignal's most successful engines. Compared to the first- generation -3A 3,700-pound-thrust turbofans that power the Astra SP, the new 4,250-pound-thrust -40 produces 21 percent more high-altitude thrust, and it squeezes six percent more energy out of a pound of fuel. The -40, which weighs 119 pounds more than a -3A, has a scaled-down version of the wide-chord fan fitted to the -5B engine that is installed on the 731 Falcon 20 and Dassault Falcon Jet 900B.
Executive Jet Aviation's recent order for 45 Citation business jets, valued at more than $600 million, may be the largest multi-business-jet purchase in history. The order for 25 Citation Xs and 20 Citation VIIs is certainly the biggest single order Cessna has booked. Starting with deliveries in 1997, EJA will add the Citations to its NetJet fleet of aircraft sold on a fractional-ownership basis. EJA has been buying Citations since shortly after NetJets was formed in 1987 and currently operates more than 50 Citations.
Dallas-based TXI Aviation is considering adding helicopters to its new shared ownership program, ``Jet Partners.'' The company is offering 25-percent shares initially in a Falcon 10 and a Falcon 50, with each quarter-share entitling the buyer to 200 flight hours annually. No set length has been established for the term of the contract, and TXI is offering a money-back guarantee if an owner wants to drop out of Jet Partners within six months. The company also provides a buy-back guarantee of the aircraft's residual value.
Certificate programs are becoming the cornerstone for continuing education in many professions, including aviation. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, for example, offers an aviation safety certificate program through its Center for Aerospace Safety Education (CASE) and its Division of Continuing Education. This program has been expanded and is now offered in fall sessions.
On September 11, legal counsel representing the AOPA, NBAA, GAMA and others filed suit in federal district court to prevent Chicago from closing Meigs Field and turning its property into a park. The Illinois DOT was expected to file a similar suit the next day. Also, the State of Illinois was taking steps to ``exercise its statutory right to acquire the title to Meigs Field'' to ensure the airport's continued operation.
Challenged by a contract guarantee with launch customer Crossair that the average cabin noise for the Saab 2000 would not exceed 76 dBA, Saab and engine-maker Allison Engine Company have come up with a fix. Even with an elaborate electronic active noise control (ANC) system, the noise level has been stuck on 77 dBA since the aircraft were first delivered. Although the company declined to provide details, B/CA is told the fix involves a one-inch propeller shaft extension, which moves the propeller tips down and out in relation to the fuselage.
Learjet Incorporated has modified the leading edge of the Learjet 45 wing to reduce airflow separation at high angles-of-attack. The modification came following a series of stall tests, and the company said the aircraft's stall speeds are on target and that it has ``excellent'' stall characteristics. FAA certification of the new aircraft is scheduled for the first quarter of 1997. Meanwhile, China certificated the Learjet 60, paving the way for delivery of a Model 60 to Hainan Airlines, which already operates a Learjet 55.
News that a business aviation center and a second runway are on tap for Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong's new international airport, triggered about 60 proposals from companies seeking to build and operate the corporate aviation FBO (B/CA, August, page 30). Proposals were submitted by companies in North America, Europe and Hong Kong. The airport is scheduled to open in April 1998, but the second runway will not be completed before October 1998. The business aviation center should open around April 1999.
Mesa Air Group says it will launch ``high-frequency, low-fare'' jet service from Fort Worth next May, answering one question of how it plans to employ its new fleet of 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ). A company statement said the service, building up to 60 flights daily within the first year, will operate from Meacham Airport ``to destinations throughout Texas and the region.
